QuestionQUESTION: 1996 FLSTN Softail is the bike. 1350 EVO 80 inch.
At around 43,000 miles no has 51,500. I decided to do some motor work to add a bit of horse power.
Like yourself I had the work done by a local repair shop of the highest standards and repputation. So no question of his work and knowledge of HD's.
In fact for this very problem I am about to tell you of was attempted to be repaired by Local HD dealership. They also sent me home stumped.
Work done. Crane Cam equiv to a Andrews 32 from what I recall. Time savers and lifters and rings. Heads shaved (how much unsure) Rich Product Thunder Header. S&S superE Screaming Eagle Coil and module.
This work was done 4 yrs ago and ran excellent but now when the motor is under load, pulling a long hill for example will require down shifting and loss of power. Like a very strong head wind,
At 75 mph in 5th gear is a struggle it wants more RPM's. 84 is what it seems to like before a favorable shift to 5th.
I have re-jeted the card by my mechanic and still the same problem. A bit of carb adjusting and octane booster seems to help alot runs much smoother and has solved much of the problem. But if I run 91 Octane only the problem is back in a big way.
Though it runs smooth with octane boost I now seem to have lost some of it's HP but now I can cruise at normal speeds in 5th gear now even at 65 mph.
It still pops off and boggs under load at times but just not all the time.
It stumps all in the know localy seeking your help
Thak You
ANSWER: Do a compression test and let me know what you get. Also, pull the plugs and let me know what color they are.
Mike
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Hi Mike,
Took it to another mechanic yesterday and after giving the story to him. We decided the compression was fine.
We found the Jets to be waaay large for a 100c.u. and my timing was advanced 14 degrees. Plugs read fine light brown.
I took it out for a quick test drive B4 shop closed that day
the low end seemed near perfect. It has now a hesitation in the mid range and does fine at quick high speeds w/exception of that new dead area. I assume with a bit more tweaking of the jets/carb this should be smoothed out.
However this did not solve the load on the motor issue. 65-70 mph up a grade just runs out of throttle and looses speed spits and chokes.
The mystery continues...
Thank you.
AnswerThe bogging soounds like the bike is being fuel starved. Check your petcock to make sure you have a good flow and not plugged. If thats ok, check the VOES to make sure its working if you have one. If that is ok, try going one jet smaller on the main jet
Good luck and happy riding
Mike
