So I posted this once before, but have been dealing with it. However today when I was going to work it was a nice warm sunny day. Gave the bike a little extended warm up, and had no issue on the ride to work. Got off work a few hours ago, and it had cooled down. I didn't warm the bike up as long as I did before work, but when I took off from the parking lot I had the coughing from the carb and the momentary loss of power again. It lasted maybe a mile intermittently, and then the rest of the way home no issue. I had a friend say it could be a carb jet issue, but if it went away on my ride home I'm not sure if that's the case. I have a set of plugs I'm gonna put in so I can get a good idea of if I'm running rich/lean. I have a 2002 softail standard with the Mikuni EZ kit. Could it just be a seal that is going out, and by giving it a little extra warm up, warmed up the seal a bit to expand it to seal a leak? It's not really that cold out maybe mid to low 60's when I got off work, was in the high 70's when I went to work. The only other time I can remember it didn't cough and lose the power was when I rode it during the day where it was warm out. I say warm because where I'm at in Washington the 70's to 80's is warm. Anyway any help or opinions on what I could do to check is appreciated. I know I should stop being lazy and go get some carb cleaner to spray around the intake to check for vacuum leaks, or a little propane torch maybe.

 

Sounds to me like you are not letting it warm up long enough, or are taking off the enrichment adjustment too soon. Some bikes need a good 4 minutes or so to reach optimum heat to run smoothly when first started. Often riding the first 1/2 mile or so with a slight "enrichment" is all you need to take off a little quicker.

You could still check for intake leaks, it's a common issue with many models and years of Harleys.

 

The way you describe the problem, the first thing that comes to mind is a choke issue. Is yours an automatic choke or manual? My wife had a carbed low rider with a manual choke. She had a bad habit if turning the choke off too soon and it would cough and spit until it got warmed up real good. If yours is manual, leave it on longer. If its auto, then you should see if it's working properly..

 

Thanks for the replies. I probably need to adjust the tension on the choke as it is supposed to be automatic, it's a new cable due to snapping the old one. Bought the bike in Hawaii where it didn't really get that cold. I just wanted to cover all my bases since I swapped the CV for the Mikuni as soon as I got the bike unpacked here in Washington so had no baseline for comparison here. I did notice yesterday when I left work I sat on the bike smoking while she warmed up, and letting her warm up for about 5 minutes seemed to help. Had only a couple small coughs with no loss of power.

 

Coughing thru the carb is symptomatic of a lean condition.It will usually occur when cool.

 

With the Mikuni EZ kit you can utilize the stock Harley choke cable. It's been awhile but I believe you have to change out the spring and plunger on the end of the cable. This is all explained in the instructions within the kit. I had difficulty using the stock Harley choke cable with my Mikuni and switch to a Mikuni choke cable. You can order the Mikuni parts from JP Cycles. You'll need the Cable, Spring, and Plunger.

Additionally, If your Carb was set up in Hawaii and you're now in Washington, you should readjust the Idle mixture and Idle settings. You'll find good tuning information on Mikuni's web site

 

So far having adjusted the little tension **** on the choke cable has been good, no issues with the Harley cable in he Mikuni. Also yes I did swap the Harley spring and plunger for the Mikuni that came with the carb. I installed the carb the day I got my bike here in Washington so I'm sure some fine tuning would help, however she has been set to run in Washington with the little I did adjust things. Been gone a lot lately for work, but the times I have been able to ride letting her warm up has gotten the issue taken care of. Running most of the old gas out, and putting in fresh gas has helped a little as well I'm sure. Now I just need to invest in some cold weather riding gear.

 

I had the same problems with my bike. Replacing the intake seal is what finally fixed it.