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General Topics/Tech TipsDiscussion on break in periods, rider comfort, seats and pad suggestions. Tech tips as they become available will be posted here.
Hello fellow HDForum dwellers, used to be a metric bike guy BUT!! I recently bought my first Harley a retired 95 Electra glide police cruiser. Everything was going fantastic close to 300miles on my new purchase. Then I started it up leaving a friends house and it died shortly after startup. Trailered it back home sprayed some ether in the air cleaner and it fired up so lo and behold its fuel delivery issue. I found a dirty pitcock. So then I cleaned the carburetor, replaced fuel lines, drained tank and flushed it out the best I could. Once all was reassembled after filling the float bowl it idled fine. But at the slightest amount of throttle its sputters. Trying to narrow it down should I assume the pitcock diaphragm is not opening on vacuum while running or should I look elsewhere!? If I slow roll the throttle it will even out and RPMs will rise without hiccup.
If the diaphram on the petcock won't allow the fuel to flow, you can cap that vacuum line at the carb and install a $20 aftermarket petcock and be done with it.
(Because the aftermarket petcock won't have an auto shut off like the OEM, you have to remember to shut it off when parked.)
Congratulations on your first post to HDF,
to the Forum.
You probably need to revisit your carburetor, and make sure everything is clean and your float is adjusted correctly.
1. Do you have a factory service manual for your bike?
2. Did you buy a quality rebuild kit for the carburetor?
3. How deep did you go with the rebuild?
4. Need to make sure your jet needle, needle jet, needle jet holder and main jet are all very clean and all the orifices are clean.
5. If that all was accomplished, the most likely place is the accelerator pump area not together correctly or some blockage.
Welcome from Spartan Country, Michigan! I tell a lot of new comers to the forum to get: Factory Service manual and the Parts manual. Take to an office supply store and have them put a spiral binder in place of the glued binder. That will let the manuals lay flat on your bench. Get a three ring binder and record all your maintenance, repairs, accessories, etc. This will be a great reminder of what was done when. And great material to pass along to the new owner should you sell and upgrade. Also know how large your fuel tank is, a rough idea of your range per tank, and record your fuel usage. I have an app called Simply Auto that I record all my fuel used. I use the odometer and use the fuel gage as reference only. I reset the odometer to zero on fill ups, and I know I can safely get 200 miles on a tank on around town riding, and upwards of 230+ on trips.
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Pitcock issue
