Got a technical question:

Last weekend we were out riding in Germany.

The guys who rode behind me told me there was an excessive gas smell comming out of my exhaust pipes (SEII).

Could it be the carb is adjusted to rich?

How can I adjust it and check if it's OK?

This is the stage 1 A/C set-up on my 2003 FXD:




Pulled out the spark plugs. They look like this:








Please advise!

 

Those plugs look nice and golden brown to me, like a perfectly baked cookie. Did they mention blue or black smoke? Black is fuel, Blue is oil. My guess is the problem might only be at certain throttle positions. I don't have any experience with an HD carb, but assuming there are multiple jets, maybe your secondaries are too large?

 

They didn't mention anything on smoke, just the smell of fuel.

According to the parts catalog there are two jets in the carb: main (190) and pilot (45). I don't know what jet sizes are fitted right now....

 

The jets on my old 650 holley carb had the jet numbers stamped right in them, can you pull the jets and see if they are marked?

 

Have to check tomorrow. At this side of the pond its 9:50 and time for a

 

hey rene ...occasionally my wife complains of this........But it was chilli & beer........

 

Your plugs don't look bad, and if you're not having any problems I wouldn't worry much about it. I've ridden behind a few guys that smelled a little rich with great running machines. You're better a little too rich than lean.
As far as the carb goes, if you wanted to, I think there's an adjustment screw for minor changes, vice changing a jet position/size. Not sure, you'd have to check a manual.

 

Hi Randy,

I'd guess you occasionally mount a california evaporative emission kit to solve this problem.....

Bike runs great and past 4 years I've done 33.635 km (20.899 miles) and needed 1.713 ltr (452,53 gallon) of gas, which comes to an average of 46,1 mpg which isn't to bad I'd guess.

Checked the 2003 Dyna Models parts catalog and service manual for a fuel/air adjuster screw but couldn't find it.

 

The correct way to read plugs is by the base ring, arrowed here:




Not by looking at the electrode, not by looking at the insulator, not by checking chicken's entrails.

You are aiming for a LIGHT coating of soot around about 3/4 of the circumference. Your plugs are black and sooty for the whole of the ring. That says you are running too rich.

Before you do anything else you need to check the float and the float valve. This is the most common source of the smell of fuel. If the float isn't floating properly or the valve not shutting off properly then fuel will exit via the overflow pipe and/or the carb mouth. Give it all a good clean with carb cleaner and check the float height as per the manual.

If its not being caused by a fault and its been doing this since you had the bike then it could be a tuning issue. You need to check three things in the carb:

1. The pilot jet - should be a 45 for stage-1. Its stamped on it. Access is via dropping the floatbowl.
2. The main jet - around 180 but this won't make your plugs sooty because you rarely use it. Its stamped on it. Access is via dropping the floatbowl.
3. The needle and whether it has been shimmed. Access is via the carb top. Count the number (if any) of washers under the head.

Check those and post back.

 

Thanks for the info, Fox!

I'd guess that if the float and float valve aren't working properly there should be a gas smell as well when the bike is in the garage? Can't say there is right now...