Softail Carb Misbehaving: Help Needed

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Jun 17, 2013 | 10:13 AM

scooper321

Thread Starter

Road Warrior

Joined: May 2012

Posts: 1,385

Likes: 132

From: Baltimore, MD

Softail Carb Misbehaving: Help Needed

So I have a friend who has a problem. And yes, this really IS for a friend. I ride a RK. LOL

Anyway, the bike is a rebuild from a 1998 Heritage, now mostly a FatBoy. The issue is with the carb. Basically, it sputters bad for the first 30 minutes of riding, then if she eases off the throttle and back on... chugs. Down shifting, she's getting backfires. This just started happening out of the blue on Saturday.

Any thoughts? Is there enough info here to go on, to get possible suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

Jun 17, 2013 | 11:47 AM

o/d

Tourer

Joined: Aug 2007

Posts: 486

Likes: 41

From: north jersey

blocked pilot jet possibly. hard to tell over the internet, but that's were i'd look 1st.
the float bowl can be removed easily with carb on the bike fwiw.

or just pull the carb off the bike & go over it. perhaps the diaphram is damaged.

Jun 17, 2013 | 01:33 PM

Knucky

Road Captain

Joined: Sep 2012

Posts: 746

Likes: 5

From: Boston

Yeah if it idles rough it's probably a pilot jet issue but do all the easy troubleshooting first - make sure the tank, fuel filters and lines are clear, sparkplugs are fresh and firing, ignition coil is OK, plug wires are OK, there's no exhaust header leaks, air intake is clear, compression is good, no vacuum leaks, etc. If all that checks out, and things still aren't right, I would then typically pull the carb, clean it, and rebuild it with a kit like this one.

Last edited by Knucky; Jun 17, 2013 at 01:44 PM.