Bike will not idle with out enricher pulled out

The diaphragm petcock operates by vacuum.
Sometimes, the vacuum line comes unhooked, cracked or broken.

Check the vacuum line.

Also, the diaphragm petcock sometimes dies, and needs replacing.

The reserve DOESN'T operate by vacuum.

I think sent your moto to a service provider ! that can help you don't perform repair yourself you may damage some parts in it .

If your bike will fire with carb spray, you need a lot more than a simple adjustment. I suspect that you are not getting fuel to the carb. While you have the air filter off, look just inside the mouth of the carb and you'll see a small brass nozzle sticking up. With the engine OFF, twist the throttle grip to wide open throttle position. You should see a stream of fuel squirt into the carb. If not, you don't have any fuel in the carb or the diaphragm in the accelerator pump is bad. Next, pull the fuel line off the carb or the fuel petcock. Crank the engine over and watch the fuel flow from the fuel hose. If it's weak or none, your petcock is bad. In 1996, Harley went to a vacuum operated petcock and they give problems. The diaphragm in the fuel petcock will go bad and you'll have a full tank of fuel but none gets to the carb.

Good luck
Steve

To remove a carburetor, first turn the fuel petcock off if it has an "off" positon. Then take the air cleaner cover, air filter, and air cleaner backing plate off. Loosen the adjustment on the throttle and idle cables (the two cables). Loosen the nut on the enricher cable and allow it to come out of it's bracket. Disconnect the fuel line and the vacuum line for the VOES and the petcock. Now, rock the carb side to side and pull it out of the carburetor intake seal and guide the enricher cable out. When you replace the carb, always use a new carburetor intake seal to prevent vacuum leaks.

Good Luck
Steve

If you have gasoline in the oil tank after sitting for two weeks, you probably have a bad petcock. In 1996, Harley went to a vacuum operated petcock. They are notorious for leaking fuel. Additionally, you have a problem in your carb. Either the needle and seat are not sealing and leaking fuel into the carb or the accelerator pump diaphragm is bad causing the fuel to seep into the engine.

Once the fuel seeps from the carb into the engine, it will get past the valves, and the rings on the piston and into the crankcase. It will sit there until the engine turns over. At that time, the oil scavenger pump will pump it into the tank.

I suggest you replace your petcock with a high quality manually operated petcock such as a Pingle, have your carb gone through by a competant mechanic, and change your engine and primary lubricants.

Good Luck
Steve

Ok, first off, this ain't no Yamaha you're messing with. It's a completely different motorcycle in most every way. Not saying it's better or worse than the *** bike but it's different.

It has two cables, this is correct, but only one carb. One cable is the throttle cable and the other is the idle cable. The idle cable pulls the carb shut in the event the throttle plate spring breaks on the carb. It's a safety thing and it was the same way on your Yamaha.

Now, if the front cylinder is not running at idle, I would suspect a vacuum leak somewhere. There are several places where you could have a vacuum leak. Of course, the intake manifold seals could be leaking, the intake carburetor seal could be leaking, or the VOES/ petcock line could be causing a problem. Unless you have taken your air cleaner off for some reason, I'm going to assume that the problem is in the petcock.

Your bike has one of the vacuum operated petcocks in the tank unless it's been changed already. Vacuum from the engine opens the petcock allowing fuel to the carb when the engine is running but when the engine stops, the vacuum disappears and the petcock closes. Supposedly. This is the worst piece of junk Harley ever put on their motorcycles. They do two things, they quit working and won't let fuel into the tank or they cause a small vacuum leak that will cause the bike not to idle properly. I suspect you have the latter case.

Drain your fuel tank by loosening the petcock and allowing the gas to run out around it. Catch the fuel with a large funnel and an empty fuel can large enough to hold the fuel in your tank. Once empty, disconnect the two hoses and remove the petcock. On the backside of the petcock, there is a square plate. Remvove the four small screws and take the plate off. There will be a diaphragm, a spring, and needle under the plate. Remove the plate carefully so you can see how it goes back together. Hold the diphragm up to the light and gently stretch it while looking for holes. If you find a hole, you'll have to either buy a new diaphragm and repair your petcock or , better yet, replace the entire petcock with a manually operated one. A Pingle petcock is a very high quality valve and you'll like it but it is pricey. If you buy an OEM petcock, get one for a 1995 or earlier bike. You will no longer need the vacuum line and you can plug it with a small bolt or something to stop the vacuum leak.

This vacuum line comes off a nipple at the backside of the carb and it feeds vacuum to two things. It's a 3/16" hose that goes up to the VOES switch mounted on the frame under the tank. From there it "Y's" off to the smaller hose that goes to the backside of your petcock. Take your fuel tank off and inspect this hose. Look for cracks. If you go with the manual petcock, eliminate the small portion of the hose by replacing the hose that runs to the VOES with the single hose instead of the "Y'd" hose.

As for the idle speed of you engine, it should be set at about a thousand RPM. Look at the top of the carb. There is a screw near the top on the right side of the carb. That is the throttle stop screw. It controls the idle speed of the engine. Turn the screw clockwise to increase the idle speed.

Ok, try what I've written here. If it doesn't work, get back with me.

Good Luck.
Steve

There is a strainer on the petcock inside the tank. It's more like screen and only keeps trash the size of boulders out of the carb, anything smaller passes right through.

With your bike being an '01 model, I would suspect the accelerator pump diaphragm. Over the years, the rubber coating comes off and the accelerator pump doesn't work quite as good as it used to. On the left side of the carb, there is a rod that moves down everytime you twist the throttle grip. If there is gasoline or the tell tale signs of fuel leakage around the hole that this rod goes into, this indicates a leaking diaphragm. To see this, you must remove the air cleaner cover, the filter element, and the backing plate for the air cleaner. Turn off the fuel at the petcock.

To change the diaphragm, I would suggest removing the entire float bowl. Remove the four screws that holds it on, lower it, take it off the bike. Empty the bowl and turn it upside down. There will be two screws left in the bottom of the bowl. These hold the accelerator pump cover on. Remove the screws and there will be a spring and a diaphragm beneath the cover. The diaphragm has a ridge around the outer edge. This ridge goes into a groove in the float bowl. Put the new diaphragm in position, put the sping on top of it and reinstall the cover. Turn the bowl over and make sure there is no trash in the bowl and reinstall it on the carb making sure you get the accelerator pump push rod back into the hole it goes into.

There is one other thing that may be giving you a problem. On your bike, I think it came from the factory with a vacuum operated petcock. These are notorious for giving problems. The diaphragms in them develop leaks and don't open the fuel petcock as they should. I think you can buy a replacement diaphragm for it as well from the Harley dealer. Remove the petcock from the tank, make sure you drain the tank first. Clean the screen I told you about and on the backside of the petcock, there are four screws. Remove the screws, the cover comes off and under it is a diaphragm and a spring. Replace the diaphragm, the spring and the screws. Reinstall the petcock.

I hope this helps, Good Luck.

I am assuming that the engine has reached sufficient temperature to idle. A cold engine is not going to idle with the lean jetting they come from the factory with. If the engine will not idle after it warms up, you may have a problem with the slow speed jet being clogged up or a vacuum leak somewhere.

If the bike has been sitting for a long while, the carb is probably in need of cleaning. However, there may be trash in the carb as well that has stopped up the slow speed jet. The carburetor will have to be disassembled and cleaned to fix this problem. If you disassemble the carb, check to see what size the slow jet is. It should be a #45 on your bike. If so, try either a #48 or a #50 for better performance. You can also take the needle out of the slide and put a 0.020 inch (0.5mm) shim under the stop on top of the needle. This will RAISE the needle slightly making the midrange mixture just a little bit richer. A 3mm flat washer is just about right to do this with. Use only one. I think you'll be very pleased with the results. Also, drill and remove the anti-tamper plug that is over the idle mixture adjustment screw. This way you can adjust the idle mixture and get a smoother idle. Just be careful when you drill the plug and don't go too deep and damage the screw. Drill a small hole in the plug, turn a sheet metal screw into the hole, and pull the plug out.

There may also be a vacuum leak. There is a vacuum hose connected to the rear of the carb that supplies vacuum to the VOES switch and the fuel petcock. Check this hose for leaks or to see if it has come loose. I have also seen the vacuum operated petcock give a problem like this as well. Disconnect the vacuum hose from the back of the petcock, plug it with something, and start the bike. It won't run long because the carb will not get any fuel from the tank but it will run long enough for you to tell if this is the problem. If so, I'd recommend replacement of the petcock with an aftermarket manually operated version. Pingle makes a good fuel petcock. It could also be the intake manifold gaskets but this is rare in my experience. Good luck!!

Sounds like you've got a vacuum leak somewhere. Either your intake seals or the carb seal is leaking air. Have you replaced the air filter housing? On the Evolution and later engines, the carb is designed as a "spigot seal" type carb. In other words, it just pushes into a seal instead of bolting on like the older carbs did. This means that the carb has to be aligned correctly or an air leak can occur around the seal. The air filter assembly is what holds the carb. into the seal and aligns the carb.

If you haven't messed with the air filter assembly there is one other thing that I've seen cause this problem. Your bike has two vacuum operated devices on it. One is the VOES switch and the other is the fuel petcock. The VOES switch is part of th igniton system and the petcock is the fuel valve on the fuel tank. The vacuum comes from either the carb or the intake manifold and is routed to the devices by a vacuum hose. Make sure this hose in connected to all three locations and has no holes in it. The vacuum hose to the petcock is on the backside of the petcock and the VOES is located on the bottom of the frame top tube under the fuel tank near the carb.

I have seen the vacuum operated petcock cause a vacuum leak in at least one occasion. Normally, when they go bad they just shut the fuel off to the carb and the engine won't run. But, I did have one that caused a severe vacuum leak and the bike acted exactly like you're describing. I took the petcock out of the tank. Drain the fuel first, not easy to do with the petcock being vacuum operated. I got a large funnel and held it under the petcock while I slowly unscrewed it. Once you have the petcock out, you'll see four small screws on the back side of it where the vacuum hose connects. Remove the screws and check the diagraphm behind the plate. Be careful, there is a small spring behind the plate. Take the petcock apart carefully so you can remember how to properly reassemble it.

Personally, I would eliminate the vacuum operated petcock and replace it with a high quality manual operated petcock. Like I said earlier, if they malfunction they usually shut the fuel off to the engine. There you are, a full tank of fuel but none to the engine. I'd replace it with an original Harley unit for a 1995 or earlier bike or a high quality aftermarket unit like a Pingle.

You need to find this problem before you ride the bike too much. The lean mixture resulting from a vacuum leak will cause the engine to run very hot.

Well there only one way the fuel can get into the crankcase and that's from the fuel tank. The petcock must be draining and the float needles are not stopping the fuel flow. Do you have a prime position on the petcock? If so do not run the bike in the position. Try topping the tank off with gas and letting it sit for a while and see is the gas has gone down and then check the crankcase and see if there's fuel in it again. i still say its got to be your petcock.