Need help with tuning my 1980 IRONHEAD

I have a 1980 Sportster Ironhead 1000cc. I just bought it and replaced the Eddlebrock "QuickSilver II" carb with a CV style carb, as it was so rich it fouled the plugs and puffed black out of the exhaust. The gentleman I bought the carb from re-jetted it with a 42 idle jet but i am unsure of the main jet size. I tried to tune it first but have turned the mixture screw out 5 and 1/2 or 6 turns out and it still won't idle properly without the enrichner at least half way out and it still coughs through the carb. I dont know if exhaust is stock or not. The pipes look stock with tapered slip-on mufflers. There is no cross-over section. I would like to install 40" straight drag pipes, 1 3/4 diameter, baffled. The service manager at my local dealer gave me the air cleaner assembly off of a 93 Fatboy he had laying around, the cover says "Screamin Eagle" on it, would this be considered "High Flow"? From what i've read it is running too lean. The service tech I bought the cv carb from also gave me a 45 idle jet. Is this enough or should I buy a basic tuner kit? If so, how do I know what to order? Sorry for all the questions, this is my firsy Harley and I can't wait to get her all set to jet! Any help will be greatly appreciated!!

First thing to check for would be intake leaks....2 1/2- 3 1/2 turns out from gently seated on the idle mix screw and a 42 pilot jet should allow the bike to idle without pulling the enrichener cable half way out. If you don't find any air leaks, second thing to check for is a weak ignition.
If the backing plate on the breather kit you were given is just a flat round piece of metal it is the SE kit.
Get the bike idling properly before you start making any other changes

could also be a bad or cloged jet, had trash in mine once and it would only run with the inricher out.

Okay, I checked for intake leaks, used carb cleaner. Sprayed around manifold seals at head, cv adapter and air cleaner housing. No change. I checked out the ignition, It is a Dyna 2000 with 2 5.0 ohm coils. As far as I know the engine has stock cylinders, pistons, heads, valves and cams. I erset the mixture screw to 3 turns out, With the cover plate on the air filter the engine idles well at 1000 rpm. It gets a little weak if I turn the idle down to 800 rpm or lower. Also, When riding, the engine backfires through the carb during acceleration at 1800 to 2200+ rpm. If I pull the enrichner the backfire goes away when accelerating and the idle raises to 1600-1800 rpm.

Does this mean that the current jet is running to lean? I tried turning the mixture screw out to 3 1/2, 4, 4 1/2 and even 5 turns out. Idle was good but backfiring continued with acceleration unless the enrichner is pulled out. I haven't yet had a chance to get to 3/4 to full throttle to see if the main jet seems lean. Any suggestions on how to fix?

Popping through the carb usually means lean...if it does that with the 42 pilot and since you have a 45 ...try that in it and see how it goes, but I think a 42 should be large enough for 1000cc . I think your leanness at those RPMs is the needle jet... N65C or N72A needle jet might be the fix.
Here's a list of CV needles with HD part numbers
CV_Needle_Information.pdf on iPaper By Scribd - powered by Box.net

sounds like exactly what happend to me mine backfired through the carb so bad it blew it off the intake, that was before I had the breather bolted to the engine, didn't relize that the hole carb was hold'n on with only rubber gaskets. rode like that for about 4 years:roflmao: I finally had to take it to the shop, took them a week to figure it out. they changed the jets and said I had a piece of plastic in one of the jets.

what size is the Carb? A big Twin Harley SE can get away with a larger size CV Carb...The bike you have might only need a 38 or 40 CV ! Bigger isnt always better!

I installed a few on some bikes with the press on adaptor plate I bought from Motorway Engineering to mount it to a S&S manifold getting rid of the rubber thingy ! Good soild mount if you use good clamps and rubber seals or o-rings !

Idle should be set 1050-1100 rpm - do NOT set it lower. A lot of people do 'cause they like the "potato-potato" sound, but the oil pump doesn't do much of anything @ low rpms. Baseline on the idle mixture screw is 2.5 turns out & you should not have to go more than 1/4 turn either way to hit the "sweet spot" between too rich & too lean.

The dreaded "carb farts" - that's the needle & the most common replacement is the infamous N65C. Now I can't find the dadgum part #, but it came stock in 1988 XL1200's & most dealer parts guys know the N65C 'cause it's been used as a tuning tool for 20 years. With most stock needles, the carb goes way lean for a moment as the neesle rises & you start to draw fuel from the main jet & that's where the "carb farts" come from. The N65C's different taper smooths that transition phase out. The kit "kenfuzed" has includes a needle designed to do the same thing & may very well do it even better, but I haven't tried that kit yet.

When adjusting the idle mixture screw does nothing, or next to nothing, that almost always means the slow jet is too big. Stock for 883 & 1200 Sportsters is a 42 & with the 1000cc engine, you definitely do not want to go bigger. It's been very common to throw in a 45 to cure the "carb farts", but that's just a Band-Aid for a problem the proper needle will fix & makes the low rpm range way too rich, which causes other problems like fouled plugs & gasoline-contaminated oil.