LINKERT M74B ADJUSTMENT

[tattoo mark]

I AM FINDING MY 62 IS STARTING HARD WHEN COLD I KICK IT THRU 4 TIMES FULL CHOKE TWIST THROTTLE 4 TIMES TURN CHOKE OFF TURN IGNITION ON IT SPUTTERS THEN I HAVE TO KICK IT THRU 2 TIMES THROTTLE OPEN ACTS LIKE ITS FLOODED AND IT MIGHT START WHEN ITS WARM/HOT ITS EITHER GOING TO FIRE ON FIRST KICK OR AGAIN ROLL THROTTLE OPEN 2 TIMES MY PROBLEM IS IF I LEAN IT OUT ONE OR TWO CLICKS IT WANTS TO POP THRU CARB IF I LEAVE IT WHERE ITS AT ITS NOT BLOWING BLACK SMOKE BUT IT SMELLS RICH ANY CLUES? ALSO DO I HAVE TO READJUST THE HIGH SPEED NEEDLE AFTER SETTING THE LOW SPEED EVERYTIME? I HAVE CHECKED FOR AIR INTAKE LEAKS THERE IS NONE.

[awander]

Try:
-gas on
-retard ignition about halfway
-choke on full
-kick 3 times with throttle closed

Then:
-open the choke fully, close it one click
-open teh throttle fully
-kick it over

When it starts:
-close throttle
-open choike fully
-advance ignition fully


Works for me.

[Motorcyclemike]

Some Pans require 2 kicks cold full choke Switch Off....some require 3 kicks cold full choke Switch off To prime the engine Then go to one click or 2 clicks on the choke and switch on and retard spark half way , and catch it UP on compression and shove that kicker fully thru to start it Up...it kinda varies by the setting of the carb and hey sounds like you might have lots of scoot on the plugs with all the Poppin mis firing ect......check to see if plugs are fairly clean and set to .025 ....and are the points clean ?
You get that carb adjusted properly and fireing it UP will be much better.

Good Luck
MotorCycleMike*

[Schwee]

I preach this all the time and found it happen to me again recently.
Whenever my pan is being hard to start, it's usually not getting a great kick because the clutch is slipping.

The Harley manual even says that if the clutch is going to slip, it will slip during the kick.
Make sure that the clutch springs are set pretty tight and that there's NO pressure on the clutch arm.

[Bigincher]

Sounds like you're flooding it, Mark. My '59 with M74-B likes just 2 prime kicks with choke (key off) no throttle. Then choke all the way off, 1/4 throttle, key on, and kick it through. Nine out of ten times it will fire right up. I've also found the battery needs to be fully charged to provide a hot spark for starting; a weak tired old battery will give you a lot of aggravation when cold-starting. Probably doesn't need to be said that the motor should always be kept in a good state of tune; points, plugs, ignition timing, valves adjusted.
By the way, I always reccommend against using any choke at all with the ignition key ON. There's a reason a "backfire" is named that; a friend of mine's knucklehead burned to the ground because of that, and I nearly burned mine up the same way, years ago. Some things are learned the hard way and never forgotten.

[tattoo mark]

[quote="tattoo mark"]I AM FINDING MY 62 IS STARTING HARD WHEN COLD I KICK IT THRU 4 TIMES FULL CHOKE TWIST THROTTLE 4 TIMES TURN CHOKE OFF TURN IGNITION ON IT SPUTTERS THEN I HAVE TO KICK IT THRU 2 TIMES THROTTLE OPEN ACTS LIKE ITS FLOODED AND IT MIGHT START WHEN ITS WARM/HOT ITS EITHER GOING TO FIRE ON FIRST KICK OR AGAIN ROLL THROTTLE OPEN 2 TIMES MY PROBLEM IS IF I LEAN IT OUT ONE OR TWO CLICKS IT WANTS TO POP THRU CARB IF I LEAVE IT WHERE ITS AT ITS NOT BLOWING BLACK SMOKE BUT IT SMELLS RICH ANY CLUES? ALSO DO I HAVE TO READJUST THE HIGH SPEED NEEDLE AFTER SETTING THE LOW SPEED EVERYTIME? I HAVE CHECKED FOR AIR INTAKE LEAKS THERE IS NONE.[/quo
THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP!

[Cotten]

ALSO DO I HAVE TO READJUST THE HIGH SPEED NEEDLE AFTER SETTING THE LOW SPEED EVERYTIME?

I HAVE CHECKED FOR AIR INTAKE LEAKS THERE IS NONE.

Tattoo Mark!

The needles do overlap.
Changes in the lowspeed needle affect the highspeed much more than the other way around.
So once you get the lowspeed needle to where it idles the strongest, you can then trial the highspeed while you are going down the road.

I really got to ask, however:
HOW did you check for leaks?

....Cotten

[Bigincher]

I AM FINDING MY 62 IS STARTING HARD WHEN COLD I KICK IT THRU 4 TIMES FULL CHOKE TWIST THROTTLE 4 TIMES TURN CHOKE OFF TURN IGNITION ON IT SPUTTERS THEN I HAVE TO KICK IT THRU 2 TIMES THROTTLE OPEN ACTS LIKE ITS FLOODED AND IT MIGHT START WHEN ITS WARM/HOT ITS EITHER GOING TO FIRE ON FIRST KICK OR AGAIN ROLL THROTTLE OPEN 2 TIMES MY PROBLEM IS IF I LEAN IT OUT ONE OR TWO CLICKS IT WANTS TO POP THRU CARB IF I LEAVE IT WHERE ITS AT ITS NOT BLOWING BLACK SMOKE BUT IT SMELLS RICH ANY CLUES? ALSO DO I HAVE TO READJUST THE HIGH SPEED NEEDLE AFTER SETTING THE LOW SPEED EVERYTIME? I HAVE CHECKED FOR AIR INTAKE LEAKS THERE IS NONE.[/quo
THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP!

Sounds to me like the "twist throttle 4 times" is flooding the cylinders, then when you turn the key off and 'clear' them, that's where you're smelling the gas.
I am certainly not an expert on the Linkerts, but I do know that models of M74-B have a fixed non-adjustable main jet in the stem of the carb below the float level. The 'Power' needle valve really only serves as a 'trimmer', and can be turned all the way against it's seat in higher elevations or certain other atmospheric conditions. You shouldn't have to mess with it much at this point.

[RUBONE]

Twisting the throttle on a Linkert that is not running does absolutely nothing! There is no accelerator pump so there is no fuel put into the engine. The choke is what causes the enrichment of the mixture.
Robbie

[Bigincher]

Twisting the throttle on a Linkert that is not running does absolutely nothing! There is no accelerator pump so there is no fuel put into the engine. The choke is what causes the enrichment of the mixture.
Robbie

My mistake, Robbie. Of course you're right! (slaps forehead)