If they are just dark I'd turn back the fuel/air mixture screw just a little bit.

Do you have any idea the age of the carb???

S&S did some changes in '04 that drastically affected the jet sizes needed to run it.

Pre '04 idle was like a 26 and post '04 a 29.5 works best (at least it does in mine).

The obvious difference between the two is the breather jet.
In pre '04 it was just a hole in the body of the carb and post '04 it was a changeable main jet (40 thousandths).

They had another change in '12 but I'm not familiar with that one.

 

Definately not new but not real old either.

 

Gonna tell you this just once. whenever it comes to any modified motor you are not goin to get a standard for any type start being it cold or hot restart. once modified they have a mind of their own...

 

My old RK is 8.5:1 book says. 34k miles unknown history but was stock when i got it last fall. Testing compression cold as the book says, throttle open, compression was 135 front, 130 rear. Uses little to no oil and it don't smoke. Seems strong enough on the highway so I'm guessing the rings ain't too bad. Lol
Book says 90psi but I think that's the service limit (?)

As for cold starting I've found to give her 2 shots, pull the choke, then hold a little throttle. Warm starts are about instant doing nothing but just bump it.

 

When mine was new, stock compression (engine hot/throttle open) was 150 psi each cylinder. With 109,000 miles on the motor I'm still getting 145 each cylinder. Not too bad.


The 90 psi given in the service manual is probably a minimum that will allow the engine to start and run, but it wouldn't run well.

 

The dynatek ignition will help. Double check what your ignition timing is set at.

The low compression is puzzling with low miles on the rebuild. Have you done a leak down test?

Something else, which is probably unlikely, but double check that the cam is not off by one tooth. If it is, then the valves might not be closing soon enough. That could be where you are losing some compression.

Is there any indication that the head gaskets are leaking?

 

This is a reman motor from Harley, still has the rivets in the timing cover, no obvious head leaks . We will be putting my old ultima ignition and crane coil in it first chance we get.

 

I know but "If you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

That low compression bothers me and is not related to ignition. The leak down test is easy. Having a peak at the cam timing marks in relation to the crank is not difficult either. Alternatively, and not to be insulting, there could be something you are doing incorrectly with the compression test causing abnormally low readings. Are you sure when you twist the grip that the throttle cable is properly adjusted and is opening up all the way? Was the air cleaner off when you did the compression test?

 

I don't think I had the aircleaner off when I did the compression test but can't say for sure. As for
the throttle cable I know I had to adjust it , the butterfly was not opening all the way , but again I'm not sure when I did this in relation to doing compression test.

 

Traditionally, even stock compression was marginal and is one of the reasons why Evo's respond so well to compression increases. It is one of the reasons I had my heads killed during my refresh and mild build.

If in fact your compression is that low, that needs to be addressed. Even when I talk to guys with worn out engines, and they cite low compression as a reason for a rebuild, their numbers are still around 115 which is still too low.

I should probably check mine to see what I ended up with, now that it is broken in. I suspect it is kind of high, but not so much as to cause a problem.

Thanks for not taking offense to my questions.