Want to put another carb on my 74 XLH. Mikuni 38mm or the S&S Super E? Thx.

 

Have a super E on my 79. Easy to adjust though took awhile playing with jets to try and perfect it. Still has a slight hesitation if I try to nail throttle quickly. If I roll into throttle normal it does fine. Dont know anything about the Mikuni.

 

And I do not know much about an S&S carb, but do know a lot about a Mikuni VM38 and have used one for years.
I have said it before and I will repat myself again...... the Mikuni is the very best carb that I have ever owned in the 52 years of riding I've done. Jeez,....... I hate to date myself like that, but the carbs I have owned and used are Amal, Bing, Delortto, Bendix, Tillotson, Mikuni, and some others I forget their names.
Clearly, the Mikuni carb(s) have been the best by far.
Tillotson have been the worse by the same measure.

I am sure the S&S is a very good carb as many, many people use them and like them. I just have no experience with them myself, so I cannot comment.
The Mikuni really makes starting a Sportster a pleasure though. One kick and the engine is running. A drawback for me is the exposed throttle cable. I like the enclosed cable in the handlebar and that is why I am running a Bendix at present.
Another thing about the Mikuni..... It almost makes my Sporty run to smooth. The idle is smooth and steady and as a result the Sporty sounds more like one of my old BSA twins rather than a Harley.
It runs that good.

Now, the possible drawbacks to owning a VM38 Mikuni are the availability of parts (or lack of I should say). In year 2000 I tried to get gaskets from Sudco and was told that the parts for that carb were no longer made.
Well, I recently see where Sudco still sells the VM38, so are parts available? This question was addressed in another post by another member who is wanting to get a Mikuni. I could not give him a positive answer.
So if anyone knows if parts are to be had, please let all of us know about it.........pg

 

Thanks for the info piniongear. A friend also runs a mikuni on his 73 XLCH and loves it. Where is the best place to purchase one?Thanks again.

 

gearhead,Would that be a mikuni vm38-9 from sudco?

 

I do not know if this is the best place to get a Mikuni, but Sudco is the distributor and claims to sell them.
Contact Sudco at........
http://www.sudco.com/
and see what they have. The Mikuni kit runs about $321 and change. It should include the carb, manifold, rubber adapter and I believe they include a K&N air filter with it.
Be sure to ask them these two things before you buy.......
1) Since it is going on a Sportster it needs to have a throttle cable with a 90° elbow coming off the top of the carb. This will allow the throttle cable to get under the gas tank. Does it have the ell?
2) Do they stock parts and gaskets for the VM38-9 carb?
If you get a yes answer to both questions I would go ahead and buy it. A no on either question would cause me hold off on the purchase.
If you find they still sell parts for the VM38 please let all of us know.
There are a couple of people wanting to find out at present.........pg

 

I found this site.Tejas Thump Cycles.http://www.tejasthumpcycles.com/Part...arburetors.htm. $280.00 for the kit.

 

I had to do some real digging to find Sudco's real address and phone number. Their website invites you to call but nowhere is there a phone number or address listed. Well they have now been busted......
Sudco Intl. Corp.
3014 Tanager Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90040
(323) 728-5407

You should give Sudco a call and ask the questions I listed previously.
Also, the tejas thump cycles website I quickly looked over. The price of the VM38 kit seems like it is line and perhaps they are a distributor for Sudco products. So call them as well and ask those same two questions.
One thing that does bother me a bit is looking at thump cycles illustration of the kit I do not see a 90° ell on the throttle cable.
Without this ell you will be running the throttle cable over the top of the gas tank! So ask them about that and be sure they provide the rubber boot (it used to be rubber) to connect the carb to the manifold. Their illustration looks like they have a very short ( I will call it a semi manifold) metal adapter piece with a flange that would bolt up to the standard Harley manifold that is on your bike now.
Good luck with it and let us know what they tell you. I would like to find a place where I could get gaskets for my VM38............pg

 

OK,after further inspection,I have found that Tejas Thump Cycles has been "closed for re-structuring & will re-open in the near future". learn more here. http://www.tejasthumpcycles.com/about_us.htm and thx again for the help.

 

The sudco website offers some parts for the VM38. They list some gaskets but did'nt see the ell.http://www.sudco.com/vmpart.html