i have a 98 wideglide stock with the cv carb, i have never been able to get the cv to perform right. it smoked like a bus but ran good and good mpg. messed with the jets, starts hard doesnt smoke as bad but lost some mpg, thought about a s&s super e, any ideas?

 

My CV performs great. get a kit from www.harley-performance.com to tune the carb. Or you could use a dynojet kit. The dynojet is more expensive though. Whatever you do, don't drill out the slide! Also the boyessen x-wing can really wake up your throttle response.

 

I learned here how to rebuild my S&S Super E. It runs like a jet! Not even cold natured. Easy to work on, no complaints on my Sporty. Plenty of happy riders using them daily. I can give some links to maintenance, setting and rebuilding them if needed. Let me know.

RD

 

I'm wondering why you recommend not drilling out the hole in the slide if you're putting a kit in the CV carb?

I do think the CV carb is capable of performing as well as the S&S carbs, either the Super E or the shorty, with someone knowledgeable installing the tuner kit.

 

I really like my Super E, but like anything they need a little TLC from time to time, but not very often..

 

the larger hole can cause the slide to move up and down while at constant throttle... it causes problems in cold weather and inconsistencies in performance in the low to mid rpm range. The fluttering movement is called hunting. I originally had a dynojet Kit in my carb when I first did the stage1. Did not like the way it ran when rolling on the throttle and had problems with cruising along at constant rpm(inconsistencies in vibration and occasional hesitation when rolling the throttle). Anyways I installed the 88 sporty needle and was very happy for the last year although the bike did not have the responsiveness or pull of the dynojet. Fast forward to 2 weeks ago and making adjustments for the recently installed cams. On a whim I reinstalled the dynojet kit after having tuned the bike with the sporty needle and correct jets. The bike responds way better and pulls much harder with the dynojet in there. The slide is not hunting and my fuel mileage is excellent. I no longer have any signs of detonation that I did when rolling hard on the throttle from about 2K rpm like the sporty needle did. Anyways, reps for dynojet have been reported recommend to people don't drill the slide. I found reports from tuners and end users that also said, don't drill the slide. Now I have a dynojet kit in there without the slide drilled and my bike flat out runs awesome! The Harley-performance kit I referenced to....well I contacted the people at Harley-performance to ask about the kit and they as well say do not drill out the slide due to the hunting problems the larger hole will cause. So many people say the dynojet kit is a waste of money or sucks or the gas mileage is horrrendous, well the dynojet kit works killer as long as you don't drill the slide! Also the Harley-Performance kit is supposedly and excellent kit as well.

 

Cool.

Now clarify for me if you were running a stock engine when you installed the Dynojet kit and enlarged the hole in the slide or were you running a full stage 1 at that time.

.....and thanks for the insight

 

stage 1. I never tuned the bike when it was stock. People drill the slide cause it supposedly allows for quicker throttle response, IMHO It is unnoticable and really causes way more problems than it is worth. I have owned 3 slides for my carb, I drilled my original for the dynojet, next one I drilled a little smaller hole and smooth the bottom edge and polished it. The one in there now is completely stock. The stock one behaves the best. It provides the best fuel mileage, least amount of vibration, and seems no different in response from the other slide mods I did.
There is also another area of flat out bad advice out there in addition to drilling the slide, it is using the stock needle and shimming it with #4 washers. This is not a good idea....The needle rests in the slide and the spring guide has a recess to fit over the top of the needle and rest on the floor of the slide. Shim the needle and the spring guide is now floating above the bottom of the slide. This causes the spring to be preloaded more, and I also believe that because the spring guide is floating above the floor, the spring will bend as opposed to just move up and down. If you compress the slide spring, the first thing it wants to do is bend before it compresses as it is such a light spring. So, you accellerate, the slide moves up and bends a little this way or that and what happens... the slide moves too slowly, inconsistently, or maybe just too fast. Anyways, I have tried the shimming of a stock needle and it just works way worse than getting a new needle that fits correctly. Of course some did this cheap mod and feel it is fine, I did not and can confirm that it is not nearly as good as using the 88 sporty needle, the dynojet needle, the NOKK needle, or any other needle designed for the carb. Anyways, this is my experience with working with my CV carb, others may feel differently.

 

S&S is a great carb if you have a BIG inch motor or are drag racing.
If you messed with your jets and it ran worse, you did something wrong.
Did you check for an intake seal leak?
I prob change 1 or 2 pairs of intake seals a week.
Is your accelator pump working?
The CV carb has a flat spot in the mid/transition. it's a characteristic of this carb.
I've gotten pretty good at tuning them. usually by shimming the needle slightly and
adjusting the mixture screw.
Put and S&S on and waste your money.
But I would try and correctly diagnose what's going on with your bike
before you throw a ton of cash at it for nothing.
Worst case you need a carb, I would go Mikuni before I go S&S.
way easier to tune and you can get jets anywhere.

 

I forget what washer I used to shim the needle. I know the OD was small and it was thin and nylon. it's been in there since 03. 20k on the bike since then. no problems.
I do have a mikuni waiting in the wings though. but like they say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Alot of people think because it runs crappy it's the carb, which isn't always the case.
Checking intake seals if very important. And it's usually the culprit.
spend 6 bux and 45 mins to change them.