CV Carburetor Question and Help

Yep that would be the case also.but i think it would not idle to well also if the paper gasket is covering the air bleed hole it will run rich as a pig.

It doesn't seem to be a jetting problem though, since it was running fine before and then started running too rich and he's at the same altitude...if the jetting was good and not changed,it should still be good....That damn vacuum operated petcock sounds logical,I've never had one and don't think of it....

Good morning all, well put it all back together and set it up as you said baggerpaul, it started fine warmed it up for some time 5min or so and noticed that the rear cylinder was missing firing, I have true duels and the left side of the exhaust was no way as hard pushing out than the right side for the front. Front was a lot more power. I checked the compression, by thump method and it had plenty of compression, seemed to be just like the front one ( did both). It also sounded like the engine was missing at 1000 rpm. I changed the plugs to see if that would move it to the front cylinder and it did not, still mis fire on the rear cylinder but not all the time. I did test the coil yesterday and seemed to test good on both, the secondary was a bit low on the spec chart 10300 ohms spec is 10,000-12,500. I will have wires coming in a few days, a bit hard to get parts local they have to come from the mainland at a Harley dealer in Lisbon Portugal which takes a few days. Now I am thinking electrical with good compression, plugs are new and cleaned again before placing in and adjusted mixture as best as I could but just a guess. Any ideas guys?

by the way it is a new petcock, from Harley in the states. tried it and no leaks.

If your plug wires are long enough put the rear plug wire on front cylinder and front on rear ...see if the misfire goes to the front ......that'll tell you if it's the plug wires or not....

Hi Licifer, yeah the wires are too short, might be able to find a long one to test it though, thank you that is a great idea
FLHT biker, got one coming in a care package Thank you, found out the hard way that I need one of there

ok easy enough to check grab one of the old plugs . set the gap at about 60 thou very wide ! leave the other plug in the cylinder use a jumper wire for the plug to have a ground put the rear spark plug lead on the plug with the wide gap that will tell ya if the coil is week for the rear tower on the coil . thats a great coil stress test it should be able to jump that wide a gap if it does not the coil is weak or we have a bad voltage drop to the rear coil tower.

Thanks baggerpaul I will test it later today, Thank you Much

Good morning all, baggerpaul, I did the stress test on the coil with the spark plug as you suggested yesterday and it did show a less of a spark then the front, although on the on the rear it also showed a bit of uneven firing, but hard to tell it could be just the movement. I could not check the wire as it was a holiday here yesterday, just the local gift shops were open, going to see if I can get a long spock plug wire and see if the running gets better. I am bummed now I have a fuel leak, just not my day or week even. The 90 degree plastic fuel feed nipple on the carb has a bad crack, so I am adding this (brass replacement) to the care package to be sent asap from the states. Baggerpaul if I get the wire and it shows the same amount of weak spark do you think it is the coil?? I maybe be able to add it to the package. Thank you and I will keep you updated.

Hi All, I was able to get a wire for the test of the rear plug and same thing happened, misfiring. I also rechecked the stress test on the coil and at best both were weak and the rear seemed even weaker they had very little if at all jump from the outside of the electrode to the ground bolt, both had spark although in my HO it was weak from the center post to the inside electrode. Think at its age (1996) going to replace the wires and coil and see what happens unless their is any other checks I can get, any ideas
Thank you all again for your ideas and help. will have to wait about a week or so, I will keep you updated so maybe will someone else that has problems.

Good Morning, I received the care package yesterday from the USA with the coil, Plug wires, the choke cable and the new brass press in fuel inlet for the CV carb yesterday and installed all the parts and the bike runs perfect!! did some fine tuning on the carb and runs like a champ. The high humidity of the Island and the age of the wires that tested only ok but think they were porous enough under a load was the major problem. going to take her out for a longer ride, but the short ride she ran killer, not bad for 60,000 and 18 years old. While I was waiting for the parts, (slow boat from China so to speak and held up in customs) took almost a month, I took apart most of the electrical connections cleaned them and put die-electrical grease on all, The starter started to give me some minor problems and this solved that too. Just wanted to Thank everyone for the issues and suggestions for testing and trouble shooting. Ride on Brothers and be safe in the wind.
Just a side note, since moving here and bringing the bike it makes 35 Harleys on the Island and have learnt a lot about getting parts, found a Harley Dealer on the mainland that are very nice to work with.

Great news enjoy!

Hey Cowboy, I am still tweaking the Carb, It is running much better but still running a bit rich, I think I am going to adjust the Needle one notch up bringing the needle down a bit and try it. I adjusted the mixture screw and idle already and still has a bit of black smoke on a blip of the throttle . I do believe it is also the gas, the lowest octane fuel here is 95 and no ethanol in the fuel. I will keep you up to date. There was some great info here, and did all the baggerpaul recommended and it got it up and running without popping, just have to tweak now.

OK I am at a lost. I lowered the needle valve in the carb, checked for leaks again around the Carb, manifold and even looked at the rubber on the top of the slide and now it acts like it is popping and spitting going town the road test and still running rich. I lowered the jet size to 170 and there is a 42 on the slow jet, I can't seem to get a handle on this. I adjusted the mixture screw in all the way in and it did not kill the motor, made it run rough but didn't kill it and screw it out till it ran a little rough and placed it in the middle by sound. seems to be more from the rear cylinder but both are showing very rich on both plugs, dry but very black. placed a picture of both plugs here, although not the greatest pic, it gives you an idea on how rich it is running. I am going to borrow a compression tester today and see what that shows. I think it is still fuel system just running real rich. Help!!

Hi FLHTbiker, Yes the Island is great, just want to fix this Road King so I can see more of it on it, ran fine state side. Lived in RI moved to Azores both about sea level within a few hundred feet.
The mixture can be screwed all the way in and it does not stall the bike makes it just a bit rough running.
Well I put the smallest Jet on the main a 150 and the front plug is burning a lot cleaner a golden tan, the back is black and dry, no oil fowl. still pops on the rear cylinder through the exhaust. Going to look for a leak again with the carb spray. Will see again if I find a leak, tried it once already.
this is what was done so far
New Plugs, New Wires, New coil and tried a number of jet sizes.
It will idle fine with some minor popping on the rear cylinder. Any ideas or checks that you can think of and a question, does the high octane make a difference?