Have a 2001 Electra Glide and have been getting really bad gas mileage (about 25mpg). Checked spark plugs and they are super black and have non-shiny sooty look. Based on what I see online this would imply engine is running rich. Sometimes when I'm stopped at a red light or after a ride I smell a slight gas smell. Power feels fine, and only other thing I notice is if I try starting bike a few times in a row I sometimes need to wait a little before it would start (presumably from flooding the engine maybe).

I cleaned the air filter, changed the spark plugs, and ran some seafoam with a tank of gas, and that didn't solve the issue. Did a lot of searching online and can't figure out exact next step here. Would it be trying to tune the carb to make it run leaner, or somehow testing/replacing other parts? I don't have much experience with carbs as I mostly had Fuel Injection in the past, so don't want to start messing with things until I know I am look at the right thing.

Appreciate any input. Thanks

 

First thing I would do is rebuild the carb...make sure your air cleaner isn't plugged...then branch out from there

 

There's definitely probably Lots information still out there on carburetors I have my own preference for Mikuni. What carburetor do you have the CV?

A thought you might try in a different section of the forum where the bikes are more likely to have carburetors there's probably somebody really still in touch with carb tuning. Maybe like the Evo section?

 

I believe it is whatever the stock carb is. What would I do to check? And does it sound like a carb adjustment issue or something else you think it might be?

 

If your're not sure about overhauling the carb take the bike to your local indy and have him do the over haul for you. Not to bust your chops, but when you start the bike using the enrichener **** you have to push that **** back in after the bike is running, otherwise it can and does foul out plugs. That's a good source of extra fuel going through the engine.

 

Here in southern California I never need to use the enrichener...

 

If you bought the bike and it got this mileage, sounds like someone put a jet kit in it, Replace the needle, needle jet and emulsion tube. Also make sure the pilot jet is no larger than a 48.

 

I do recall the previous owner saying the bike was rejetted when he switched to straight exhausts. When I rebuild the carb, are needle/needle jet and emulsion tubes parts you always replace, or things to inspect and only replace if bad? And if the pilot jet is not larger than 48 should I still downsize it or tweak anything else, or should be fine as is?

Sorry for the newbie questions.

 

On your bike, typically you only replace the pilot and toss a washer or 2 under the needle in the slide. Stock it should have a 190 main (IIRC) which is good enough for a stock stage 1 motor. So does the bike have drag pipes on it? If so it might require a little more tuning but I'd say it should be close. Anyway pull the emulsion tube and it should look like this one..



If different you may want to change it back to stock. If the needle has a clip that can be moved up and down, the needle won't be stock either and should be replaced. Stock needle has a pressed on hat so it's position is fixed. Some of the kits out there do wonders for throttle response but pay for it with pretty crappy mileage.