I have a 1999 Electra Glide. I have had some issues over the past 3 months, but working with folks on the forum I got them resolved and the bike is running.

I replaced the coil, the crank Shaft position sensor ( which I think was the issue)
I also removed and cleaned the carb. I replaced the coke cable as the plastic locking nut was broken.
The bike starts and runs but once I close the choke completely the bikes dies, almost seems like when you run it out of fuel.
I did notice that it will not restart unless I pull the choke out and I noticed today that raw fuel is coming out the front of the carb where the air cleaner is.

When I put the carb back together I found 3 small washers which the dealer told me my needle was not stock as it is adjustable and I should put those 3 washers back in as they are probably a shim.

I also had removed and cleaned the air\fuel mixture value and set it back at 1 3/4 turns from seating position.

Any thoughts if either of these could be causing this?


Thank You!

 

Put the washers back.
They raise the needle, so that more fuel will flow. It's probably riding too low, and the needle is blocking the jet to sustain enough fuel to idle.
If its the notched clip type, you can just move the clip down a notch or two.

 

The stock needle does not have have washers. The dealer is correct. You have aftermarket parts. Since you don't know what is installed in the carburetor, that is a small problem. Easily solvable. A lot of those aftermarket parts kits include different jets, different needle, and a drill bet for drilling out the slide.

One thing that you could do, is rebuild the carburetor with stock parts.

At idle, there are two circuits. The pilot jet draws fuel, which is regulated by the fuel mixture screw. The more turns in, the less fuel. That air/fuel mix goes to the engine from the idle port, which is in front of the throttle plate. The 2nd circuit is your enricher. People call it a choke. Fuel flow is regulated by you pulling and pushing on the ****.




If the enricher cable is pushed in, and the bike dies, that means that there is a problem with the pilot jet circuit. It could mean a lot of things. The fuel mixture screw isn't out far enough. The fuel or air passage is clogged. The pilot jet is clogged.




As you roll the throttle, several things happen. The throttle plate opens, which allows for fuel to come through the main jet circuit via the transfer ports. The fuel pump squirts more fuel. The vacuum slide goes up, and raises the needle, which allows fuel to come from the needle jet circuit. This is the part where your aftermarket needle with the washers, needs those washers to be spaced correctly. This is where all of those aftermarket parts are suppose to work. The drilled out slide is suppose to respond faster and smoother. The aftermarket needle, with the correct washer spacing, is suppose to allow the perfect amount of fuel to flow. This is also the part where the aftermarket parts fail - as in they do nothing that they claim, and actually make the bike run worse.





The needle seats into the needle jet. A common problem is that people install it upside down. Not saying you did that. Just saying that it should be double checked.



As for fuel spraying back out into your air cleaner...... it could be several things. Maybe there's a vacuum leak. Check your gaskets. Air is sucked in, towards the engine. With vacuum pressure, nothing should go in reverse. First, take the air cleaner off, and see what is happening. Where is the fuel coming from? Which hole is is spraying out of? Just an FYI, the goofiest thing that I have seen is that someone messed around with the accelerator pump nozzle. It is suppose to point towards the engine, right? So that fuel sprays into the engine, right? Well, it wasn't. So fuel was spraying in the wrong direction. I don't even know that could have happened.

 

I did take the carb apart and cleaned it. I did put the washes back as the dealer indicated. I also removed the air\fuel jet and cleaned that up, opened it a 1 and 3/4. When I pulled it at some point the spring came out and then I steel washer but I never did see the rubber o-ring and since I can't see that close up I just guessed it was in there.
I will restart the bike with the air cleaner off and see if I can figure out where it is coming from.
The fuel pump is spraying in the correct direction, prior to cleaning it I was not getting a good stream but after cleaning it is. I also need to replace the K&N air filter, I bought the bike used with 8,000 miles and I know have 120,000, so I do not know when that was put on and I have only ever cleaned it. I am in the Northeast and I use the bike as a commuter from late February till end of December and sometimes beyond. I ride in all kinds of weather, rain, shine, snow, cold so I don't get much downtime, I need to work on that.


Thank You!

 

Will the bike run when you crack the throttle open a bit? Never had a carb equipped HD but had a number of Japanese bikes with Mikuni or Kehin CV carbs which yours is likely one of the two. The choke only cuts off air thru the idle circuit not the main venturi. if it dies at idle it sounds like maybe a plugged or restricted idle bypass circuit. there are it seems a million small holes and orifices in a carb, what I would do is disassemble the carb, pull out all of the removable jets and parts and use air pressure to blow out all of the circuits.
One last question did the bike run before working on the carb?

 

I would take it off and go through it again - taking it apart and verifying it is. I'd also take pictures for reference. It doesn't take long to do this either.

 

At idle, air goes through a little hole in the front of the carburetor, mixes with fuel from the pilot jet. That mixture goes to the idle port, which feeds it into the engine.

In the image I attached, which is a bike I worked on, you can see that the air inlet was obstructed. In this instance, oil spit out from the breather. Top breathing engines breath, or vent, through the top breather bolts which are threaded into the heads of a Harley Davidson motor. The air inside a motor is saturated with oil. As designed by Harley Davidson, the breather routes back to the carburetor. You can see that in the photo. The black tubes on either side, with a little drop of oil at the end.

Over time, the oil clogged the air passage. Pretty easy fix in this case. Just clean it out. It will happen again. When people modify their air intakes, they buy different types of breather kits, and sometimes breather bolts, to redirect the flow.

 

Look up into the hole with a mirror and a flashlight. Get a small pick. You want to gently pull it out of there. It's old. This is your chance to install a fresh seal. There are parts kits with a new spring, washer, and o-ring seal. Otherwise, you will just have a leak later.

Think about an aftermarket screw. Something made for easy adjustment.

Don't forget that on the external parts, there is also an idle speed screw. You can adjust this screw while you are adjusting the air fuel mixture screw.

 

Make sure that the enrichener cable is specific for your bike. My CV carb had a vacuum leak at the enrichener cable. I found out that the enrichener cable I was using was from a Mikuni carb and is not compatible with my CV carb. If you are using the wrong cable, it will cause a vacuum leak, and you will get a bad running bike at start up. You should also change the spigot to manifold seal. Those tend to also cause vacuum leaks.