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From: Virginia dead center between DC and Richmond
Linkert or Mikuni
I know this has been covered before but I am really on the fence about spending hard earned money on a carb conversion I may not be happy with. The patient is a 1969 HD Flathead Servi Car that I purchased recently. The bike came with a Mikuni VM34 mounted with a kit I would imagine came from 45 Restoration since it is complete with the manifold and all of the mounting goodies to include mounting bands, not OEM nuts. I have been playing with the jetting to reduce a really fat condition when it first arrived. With some jet changes and needle clip changes, the Old Girl is running fairly decent now and the plugs are running much cleaner, it is not perfect, but I am still tinkering. The problem is the sale of the bike included a perfectly restored M88 Linkert carb that looks like it has never been mounted. I know this is not the correct carb for a 1969 Service Car but it is vintage and has long history of flathead service. To switch over and test the set up it would involve purchase of a new manifold at pretty good chunk of change to see how the bike would perform. My old time mechanic buddy in North Carolina swears I would be more satisfied with the M88 over the Mikuni because of performance and adjustment capabilities the the fly. My response is if that is true, why are so many Flattie owners running the more modern Mikuni to include the vendor I would buying the M88 manifold from, he runs a Mikuni on his 73 Servi. For those of you who have been there and done that and possess more knowledge in vintage carburation than I could ever research, I welcome any input or comments.
Last edited by Britman45; Nov 14, 2025 at 11:13 AM.
Unless you`re having your bike judged, I`d leave it alone
Remember, your bike has already been converted to external throttle cable
Stock internal PUSHES the wire to run the linkert
Yours PULLS to operate Mikuni
JMO
Last edited by eighteight; Nov 14, 2025 at 09:53 AM.
Linkert is better for cool factor and set up properly runs perfectly. But you have a hill to climb to get all the components and then she needs to be installed, checked for air leaks and tuned.
I never rode a 45 with Mikuni but I would assume it rides better and less fussy.
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Linkert or Mikuni
