first hi to all ,i amnew to this forum and need some help.

I have a 2001 FXDX Sport twin cam 88,except for the plugs in the stock exhaust being knocked out the bike is stock.

As I was coming home from work 1 day I pulled up to the front of the house,killed thebike with the thumb button,(just above idle) the bike hada misfire ,went inside ,came out 15 minutes later to run wife to work,bike would not run correctly,only with choke open would it run.

I pulled the carb to look for any trash,nothing super cleane inside,jets all looked good,bled out all passages with compressed air,reassembled ,bike still has problem.

I take bike to dealer to have problemfixed,fluids changed,new tires installed, $ 770.30 dollars
later I push bike out the door to start.[sm=yikesomg.gif]

The Factory authorized dealed calls and tells me I have blown intake or intakes gaskets,that need replaced, I think this sounds correct due to the choke needing to be out to make bike run at all.

Next he tells me my carb is plugged ??and needs to be rebuilt ?? ( just looked at it 3 days ago)
I tell him to just replace the intake gaskets & then try to see if bike will run.he call me and tells me the bike is ready.

Bike starts funny as compared to the first 9000 miles,motor is rocking much more now, black smoke from exhaust as itsits ideling.( the *** istent tells me this is correct for a stock bike)the only thing we did to the carb is wipe out throttle bore where some build up is accumulated.
it has not done this for the first 9000 miles.)we are both shaking our heads by now[sm=chattypair.gif],he gos to get the manager looks & listens &takes it for a ride,he agrees there is a problem somewhere in the idle circuit,he tells me the tech had to use a wire to clean out a jet.(now I have 2 stories about the carb that was not to be worked on) He tells me the tech did not feel safe to drive bike on the public street due to thin brake pads,so he could not get it up to operating temp ??
the service manager feels the same about the brakes but feels it is safe to drive around the parking lot [sm=bicker.gif] I sk for refund he tells me no,i then proceed to get the [sm=escape.gif][sm=escape.gif]out of there.

I have the bike safe at home now,still not running,but protected from any more abuse from the unamed store at 290 & Highway 6 crossroads here in Houston Texas.

Now I need to find out what the problem is by way of your help.
I took carb apart again,looked & looked and just do not see any thing that is amiss with the carb,it is stock,clean??

Any ideas ??

Sorry for the long drawn out post

 

I think the problem is all carburetor related. I would drill out the idle mixture cap underneath the carburetor if it is still there. Then adjust that accordingly....all the way to the right just before it dies.....all the way to the left, just before it dies....then adjust it right in the middle where the motor seems the happiest. The black smoke will probably go away.

Bypass the small black plastic charcol canister around the left side the neck of the frame. This being clogged up can do weird things to the bikes. EPA crap!

Idle should be a stable 1,000 on fully warmed engine.

Other than a crappy idle....does it ride down the road alright? Fuel mileage? Any spit and sputter or even bog down when it shouldn't? After it is reved up....does it return to idle fast or slow? Excessive amount of oil in the air cleaner?

 

 

I'm betting on the petcock

have seen many do the same and have seen good techs stumped on this one

the test is whether or not you can pull fuel through the vaccuum

sounds silly but again top noch guys I've seen stumble over this deal for weeks on end

and after installing a new motor the problem persisted

check that fuel valve or replace it to rule it out

 

When you frist said this I thought,naw I checked it the other day,I sucked on the hose that controls the valve and got the gas to flow.
Now I am thinking maybe a backfire may have ruptured the rubber??

Are you saying that a backfire may have caused the rubber diaphram to rupture and that extra gas might be being pulled into the carb thru the vacuum hose
to make it run rich during low speed idle.

WOW I think I will check that idea,it might just be the problem if I am thinking about thia correctly.

I will get back to you on this when I get a chance to check it.
If this is the problem I will owe you a beer.

Mark