Hey all
I have a question pretty much what I see on here from most others. I have a 06 1200 Custom. Installed Cycle Shack slip-ons, turnouts about 3 weeks ago. Was bone stock before that, is idling rough in cooler weather (65 to 75 degrees), black smoke from rear pipe. Ive ordered a rejet kit, Kurakyn, from J andP,with an arlen ness big sucker on the way, PhatPerfomance. Got the carb off the bike, havent gotten into the float bowl yet. Im installing an ez just screw and going to tune the bike first without messing with jets, dont know what size they are yet til i get into the bowl.

When starting, I idle with the choke and one turn on the throttle for about a minute, in cooler or warm weather, and ride with it on halfway for 1 to 2 minutes in the cool weather, closed in the warm. 10,000 miles so far, does run good when warmer and fully warmed up, no smoke.

Also, the choke lever doesnt want to stay out after riding a little ways. I try to refrain from choking as much as possible. But I think early on I used it too much. Going to just tune the bike first to see if too rich or too lean. Pulled the plugs before all this...definite black soot.

Im new with working on this, but really love doing it myself, and love my bike also. Was a dream since i was 15 to own one, and been a good run so far. Id read that 06's were coming richer from the factory, but had also read threads with the same cycle shacks and no rejet work needed, but since mine were put on, this has started.

Of course once the air cleaner gets here I will rejet for sure, but wondering about the meantime, dont wanna tear nothing up this machine. Anxious to see what the jet sizes are on this machine when i get in.

Love any tips and thanks! having a blast riding and workin

 

They usually come lean from the factory for EPA reasons. Hence the reasons for stage 1, rejet, air filter and pipes. If anything it would be expected that only pipes would lean the bike out, as it is exhaling faster than it can inhale. If you are going that deep into the carb I would recommend going ahead and rejetting while you are there. It is easy enough, and if you don't now, you will be going back into the carb to do it shortly with the upcoming mods you listed.

 

Added the Big Sucker Stage 1 WOW!

Try this link. I posted my experience doing the same as you except for V&H slip-on's. Hope it helps.

 

hey thanks for the great tips extremely extremly helpful. I'd read so many things so far, I had no idea the 06's were running 180's, so I'll leave that alone, being rich already with the black plugs, and will change to the 45 and tune when done.

I've got a new spring, and 2 needles in the kit, but am reading a ton of info on not getting into the top of my carb, risking tearing up the diaphragm, so Im going to leave that part alone and stick with the oem parts, as well read the original oem parts are best to stay with. any opinions on that?

great looking stuff here and would love to hear more.
thanks and talk to yall soon

 

i put cycle shacks on my bike and ran them about a week until stage 1. i pulled my plugs before the muffler change, and they were lean stock. i watched them at about every 100 miles and the bike just went more lean. even if i didn't do the a/c, i would still re-jet. i went to a 46 and was a little lean. settled in on a 47 jet at about 2 1/4 turns out on the mixture, idle speed about 900 rpm. runs great. front tire likes to come up and the rear tire breaks loose pretty easy too. lotsa fun for an old man.

 

awesome to hear from all of you. heres my progress. just getting ready to get into the float bowl. got the plug drilled and pulled out.
After putting only the slip-ons though, bike has been running rich, black plugs, carbon buildup in the pipes. I am going to rejet, leaving the 180 and go with a 45 slow (as soon as I can get it, harley shop didnt have any in stock) and install the arlen ness big sucker, run and check the plugs first. I saw someone on here was running good with the 180, and a 45 with the same setup as mine.

could the rich running be a symptom of something else though that I should look into beforehand , idle adjustment?
thanks again!

 

the cycle shacks did not cause a lean condition . they are more open and free flowing than the factory pipes . if anything they would lean the bike out. there is a right way and wrong way to check your plugs . riding down the road and coming home to pull them out is not going to showyou the true condition. you need to change the plugs and ride the bike wide open then shut it down and pull the plugs right there on the spot. I would suspect the choke is what is causing the black exhaust and soot on your plugs.
depending where you live and the altitude I would suggest you try a 48 slow jet and a .030 shim under your needle and leave the main alone. try adujusting your idle mixture screw to somewhere between 2 -23/4 turns out. and your idle to around 900 rpms , no lower. its no big deal getting into the top end just pay attention to what your doing and I would suggest you buy some replacement screws since the stock ones are junk.

 

ok, thanks jwb excellent info. Feels ok then to go ahead into the top of that carb if i need to. This kit is a kurakyn brand, for drilling the slide, adding the spring, etc. The only jets it came with were 160 and 170, 175's. No slow jets, ugh. Waiting on those to arrive from j p cycle, the local harley shop didnt have them in stock (wierd). Im going torun on my stock 180 and test out with 46or 48 slows, check plugs, etc.

For now, I just tuned the bike, carb is back in, yep, only black smoke now is during choking. And adjusted the air/mix with a new ez just screw, just under 3 turns out, and adjusted the idle speed. Responds good, and as soon as those slow jets get in, then Ill put on the Ness air cleaner and do it all again.

thanks much always love the info and help
naz

 

It may or may not be contributing to your tuning issues but something else to look at is the plugs. You've got 10K miles, that enough for the plugs to have eroded out of spec. I recently hit 10K myself with a similar setup of jet kit, CS turnouts, and SE AC. I didn't replace the plugs, I just regapped them. They were just beyond the max setting. It's subtle but the gap expanding over time on your plugs will either directly effect ridability, or it will amplify some other issue.

I got my slow jet from a local indy dealer. It might have run me $4. I started with stock 42, went to a 47 but found that was too much so ended up with a 45. Three turns seems to be the sweet spot but only a Dyno knows for sure. But I'm saving that for later, after cams, headwork, or some other significant performance mod.

 

"the cycle shacks did not cause a lean condition . they are more open and free flowing than the factory pipes . if anything they would lean the bike out."


Someone looks tired! LOL!