I have a 1987 FLT that has been sitting for 16 year's. I rebuilt the stock carb, replacing all of the seals, o-rings ect.. It will run at a full choke at 2000 rpm. Onca I try to shut the choke down is starts to die out. I ordered a service manual today. Everything is stock, any help would be great.

 

If the bike has been sitting for 16 yrs. and the carb was not drained,the gas will gum up pretty bad.Sounds like there is no fuel going thru the idle circuit.
I would remove the carb and disasemble.Soak the carb/jets(no rubber parts)in a carb cleaner like Berrymans.
After soaking clean parts off with brake/parts cleaner blow off with compressed air.Make sure that all the holes in the carb and jets are clear.
If the float needle has a rubber/neoprene tip,I would replace with a new float needle/seat assy.Adjust float to factory spec and the idle mixture screw.
Another thing to do is remove the fuel petcock from the tank.Cean and inspect.Repace fuel line and filter.
Inspect all vacuum lines.
My 2 cents.

 

Have you checked your idle speed screw setting?

Also, double check for intake leaks. Use WD-40 with the red nozzle and spray it around the intake a carb seals. If the rpm changes, you have a leak. New seals don't guarantee a tight seal. The intake should be attached to the heads BEFORE mounting the carb, that way you can see inside the manifold to ensure everything is mated properly.

 

Thanks for the tips. I did remove all the old rubber parts and cleaned the carborator. I did not soak it in cleaner though. I will try this again. One more question on the rebuild kit and the connection to the intake manifold. There was a large spacer piece there where it bols on. The rebuild kit came with two gaskests, I was assuming that one went on each side of this spacer to remount the carburator on the intake to the cylinders. Before I pull the carb off I will try the WD-40 trick. Where can I get the idle mixture screw specs? how do you know where it is set? I guess I will check my manual when it arrives later this week.

Once again thank you for the help.

Joe.

 

There's no real "set" position for the idle screw. You should be able to see it pushing against the lever as you turn it clockwise. Just fiddle with it and see if it'll stay running. If it isn't changing speed, then the problem is elsewhere. Your idle speed, once everything is tuned, should be between 1000 and 1100. I'd advise against setting it below 1000. Even though the book usually says 900-1100, depending on the model, doing so can cause hesitation off idle and excessive wear on the bottom end parts over time. It's better to err on the high side.

 

Did you change the spark plugs?

 

Yep, I put in new plugs.