Carb Dilema

[holmanrd]

Hello Folks, long time lurker first time poster.

Started an 84 Softail build and the S&S Super E on it has a jacked up housing. Every option I am finding is putting me in the $250-$500 range for a carb.

I would love to spring for a new carb but I have a bet with the boss lady that I would have it rebuilt and going for less than a grand. And that will cut into my powder coat and paint $$ (Sucking her in so I can sneak my next project bike past her)

I have every one of my "bike" friends out looking for a housing but coming up dry.

Options, $250 just for a housing, $300-$500 for another Super E, Cut bait and grab a CV and housing for ? $200 ?

Any other options?

[armand]

“Started an 84 Softail build and the S&S Super E on it has a jacked up housing”

Somebody please help this 64 year old (me) understand what a jacked up housing is.

[holmanrd]

armand, sorry about that.

Carb Body. Not the bowl, not the intake just has a non-usable body.

[markwade74]

Quit worrying about paint and powder and buy a carb.

You wanna look pretty or run?

Not trying to be a dick, it's just who I am

[holmanrd]

markwade74, I hear ya. I speak the same language.

Just a lot of rust and neglect. Most of the bike is sound just a whole bunch of cosmetic.

[Tattooo]

markwade74, I hear ya. I speak the same language.

Well good for you both................

[Sky]

California prices must be outrageous
250 for a carb "housing"?!
Only way I know of to buy a carb body is used.
Go to a swap, buy a used CV. Don't pay more than $100

Pro tip:bring a couple of screwdrivers so you can inspect the inside of the carb.
And don't show up in expensive clothes or in a fancy car.
I know I raise the prices when I see a hipster dripping in the latest chopular fashion. And I feel no shame in taking an extra bill out of their hand-tooled leather wallets.

[holmanrd]

250 is the S&S and any other web site price.

I already have folks looking but finding just a body or a box of parts ain't turning up anything.

Swap meets have been dry for parts as well.

Looks like I will be going the CV route. There are a few classifieds around with decent prices.

[farmall]

California prices must be outrageous
250 for a carb "housing"?!
Only way I know of to buy a carb body is used.
Go to a swap, buy a used CV. Don't pay more than $100

Pro tip:bring a couple of screwdrivers so you can inspect the inside of the carb.
And don't show up in expensive clothes or in a fancy car.
I know I raise the prices when I see a hipster dripping in the latest chopular fashion. And I feel no shame in taking an extra bill out of their hand-tooled leather wallets.

Quoted for truth!

Buy a Vessel JIS screwdriver. The screws on CVs aren't Phillips. I have a couple of these and give them out as Christmas gifts to my mechanic bros.

https://www.amazon.com/Bessel-Vessel...=fsclp_pl_dp_5

CVs are great carbs. Study the market (Ebay, Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace) and learn how to score deals. If you get a CV you'll need the complete intake manifold or a flange adapter to use the S&S intake.

Example exploded parts breakdown:

http://partsfinder.onlinemicrofiche....TOR%20ASSEMBLY

[Sugarcubes]

i bought a brand new replica CV on ebay for 50 delivered. It was very well built, clean as a whistle inside and came with an assortment of jets and a fuel filter. The bike runs better with it than the old Harley CV carb that was on it before

[IowaChop]

i bought a brand new replica CV on ebay for 50 delivered. It was very well built, clean as a whistle inside and came with an assortment of jets and a fuel filter. The bike runs better with it than the old Harley CV carb that was on it before

I have always wondered about those carbs...

[holmanrd]

i bought a brand new replica CV on ebay for 50 delivered. It was very well built, clean as a whistle inside and came with an assortment of jets and a fuel filter. The bike runs better with it than the old Harley CV carb that was on it before

I keep seeing those CV's and Super E's on ebay but I have heard some horror stories with them. Haven't had the stones to try one. Glad you got a good one.

If the swap meets and parts bins don't turn anything up I may grab one. Might just be a good donor body for the rest of my parts.

[farmall]

If you buy one it's easy to disassemble and inspect it, then assemble and leak check it off the bike. Carbs should actually be as cheap as they sell for on Ebay because it doesn't cost more to machine them properly. Bike shit gets a much higher markup than car shit.

[montuckymatt]

I I second the cv.

[nuklhd]

Yep, go with a used cv.

[Dougtheinternetannoyance123]

Ive got both CV and S&S Super/Short Es and like them both. **IF you go CV, go to this site and follow their instructions and buy their kits. Well worth it.
See: https://cv-performance.com/
Fair disclosure, I HATE CV carbs on everything I have ran across, especially Asian 4 carb racks of them on 4cyls,, never can get them to run consistent across all 4. So when I ran into them on some Sportsters and a buell I was prepared to hate them as well.
I had a few people tell me how good they can be if dialed in. I learned that I was wrong to hate ALL CVs,, I still do on other bikes but the HD CV (Keihen or whoever makes them) is a damn good carb.

The CV Performance site is a treasure trove, see the tech posts, But I can say the guy who runs it treated me real well and is really good at standing behind his parts as well as customer service & Tech support. I was impressed.

However there IS tons of used S&S carbies out there,, I like them as well,, not as sophisticated but well made and easy to run. There was one in the classifieds a few days ago, cheap! $$$ I think $125?? (Maybe I was hallucinating?) I picked up another on ebay last year. It also went cheap, was almost brand new. Probably less than an hours run time. No one else bid and I got it super good deal, but the Douche Nozzle seller jacked me around on the shipping,, It finally got resolved ( I think he had sellers remorse or was bummed it didnt get more bids)

I see people sell bodies and other parts off them too. About the only thing that goes wrong with them, except idiots who damage them is the throttle shafts get loose but thats repairable (Sleeve/bushing)

Used CV take offs come up a lot as well. Not hard to find.

[Sugarcubes]

Yeah i was a bit sceptical at first as I had also seen a couple of old posts about dodgy knock offs with really out-of-whack measurements etc but some of these are really well done and you can get a bargain. There were some good looking Mikuni HSR42 and Super E replicas but as I know my way around a CV and had a few spare jets / needles already, I decided to go that route. Slung a 46 low jet, 190 high and a CV performance needle in it and it runs perfect. Its worth checking them out.

This is the shop I got mine from

https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/jiehsshop...?_sacat=180028

Also, its amazing the difference using the stock keihin jets and a CV needle rather than the Dynojet kit. The performance delivery is much better, spread across the rev band and no longer do I get puffs of black smoke from the pipes when I crack the throttle at idle. No amount of tuning of the idle mixture would prevent that with the Dynojet kit i had previously!

[JBinNC]

I will second your observation about using Keihin jet kits rather than the Dynojet kits. The Dynojet stuff gets removed whenever I find it, in favor of Keihin parts. Performance ALWAYS improves.

Jim

[seaking]

I have a Super E body I'll dig out during lunch here.

[farmall]

About the only thing that goes wrong with them, except idiots who damage them is the throttle shafts get loose but thats repairable (Sleeve/bushing)

Those should be repaired according to S&S instructions for best bushing/shaft alignment. The "extreme wear" instructions are the most precise and what I would use for any rebush, but even at high mileage I've not managed to wear out any bushings.

https://www.sscycle.com/docs/default...4.pdf?sfvrsn=4