Hi, I have a '88 FLHTP with stock motor and carb, has 47000 miles on it, compression test resulted factory specs. Was thinking about changing the carb to S&S super e vs. changing to cv carb vs. rebuilding the stock carb. The bike runs pretty good, but dosn't have the immediate pickup it once had and will "cough" once in a while. Anyone with any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading and have a great day.

 

Properly tuned the OEM CV carb is a good one.

 

I had the tuner kit put in my stock CV carb. Bike runs great.

 

Argeed.... you can spend more money if you'd like, but there is nothing wrong with a tweaked CV carb, up to about a 96" to 100" motor.
Any larger than that, it just can't move enough air.

 

Wally does a great job on CV carbs for a reasonable price:

http://www.harleydavcvcarbrebuild.com/

 

i have the super e i love it . you cant beat is but you will pay more for it but . you pay for what you get. if you want plenty of pick up go s&s. and the plus of paying that 450 is it can take any type of power you throw at it i love mine best money i spent

 

You probably have a compliance fitting leaking a bit. That will cause a cough and reduced pickup.

I went from that carb to a CV and ran it (carb) stock for about 30,000 miles. It increased my MPG by 10+ and have tweaked on it a bit, still get 43 - 52 mpg. Nothing wrong with an S&S but I've never run one. From what I see and hear, they have more tunable circuits and not the overlap of circuits designed into the CV.

But I vote for the CV

 

shenork, I agree with the above posters and suggest that with a stock motor, keep the CV. It's highly tuneable, cheap, and you can put the $$$ you would have spent on the S&S into something else.
Even if you bump the motor you can still run the CV as 93 FXR says.
I have run a S&S E on a worked over 80" motor for 7 years and like it, but a correctly set up CV would get the same job done on my build; in fact I've recently sourced a CV off Ebay to play around with.

Just my thoughts, if you really want a different carb the S&S will work but your paying for capabilities you won't use on your stocker.

regards,
V2Evo

 

Tweak the CV. Put that money into a new cam.

 

Changed my old stock carb to a CV and love it. Also went with a Big Sucker breather, Andrews EV-27 cam and new lifters. like riding a whole different bike! I am not getting that great of mileage though, consistant 38 mpg no matter what my riding style. but the extra power was so worth it.