Carb?

[jdpan]

Any better carburetor for a stock pan motor that will give better gas milage? I know the S&S will probably be suggested, is it better than the stock Linkert?

[Bosheff]

An S.U. will git ya excellent fuel mileage if ya keep yer foot out of it....bosheff

[steinauge]

A 38mm round slide Mikuni will work very well indeed.It also hides nicely behind a stock looking air cleaner.Most any carb can be made to work well enough but if the only gripe you have with the Linkert is fuel mileage why not keep it and just fill up more often? IME Linkerts start well ,run well a nd give very little trouble.

[Cotten]

JDPan!

Do you believe Linkerts gave poor mileage when they were new?

If you are considering modernizing, why not come into the New Millenia with EFI?
Try http://www.omnitekcorp.com/efibike.htm
or better yet http://moto.zoic.org/efi/

Today, ALL carburetors are broken!

....Cotten

[JR JOHNSON]

hi, i'd put a bendex on in the 70s, gas milage didn't get any better,then my rocker started to hit my tins,pulled heads,had seats put in,big mistake,differant story,but gas millage was a hell of a lot better,the valves where so deep,it must mess with the flow,our something magic.ran that linkert untell the 90s,then the float monster started to eat my floats,swelling,sinking,tryed brass,i'd said screw it,put a s&s on her.my linkert was my best carb i had,except the float monster,made me park the carb on the shelf.just my opinion....with respect.....JR

[steinauge]

Cotten,I reckon you are joking? I deal with EFI on a daily basis, it "aint all beer and skittles". Given my druthers I will take a carburator any day.Easier to repair if needed and you dont need a diagnostic machine.Respectful,Kurt

[Cotten]

Steinauge!

I wish my first question was a joke, but Linkerts' modern reputation is a sad bad rap. How ironic that these machines were legendary in the day, but we are so quick to abandon a core element.

What I really meant was if something isn't right, it needs fixing.

On to the fuel injection, its just the next logical step. Now that Pans have electronic ignitions, alternators, WI-FI and whatever, why not EFI?
Its just another way to play with your toy.

And that's why tossing money and time at a modern carb is okay too.

....Cotten

[Dave_R]

I run a newer CV carb from a 2003 fatboy. I got it at a swap meet for $35 and it looked new.

I had to modify the cable bracket by cutting off the return cable mount, and "bending" what was left of the bracket "in" a little.
I made a bracket for the choke (enrichener) that mounts to the top cover.

It fits real well, runs extremely smooth, and I get around 60 MPG going 60+ MPH. Best mod I have done!

Also, parts are real easy to get since it is a modern carb.

-Dave

[Ohio-Rider]

I was using an S&S for seven years. This year I bolted up a Linkert to the panhead and I will never go back. I didn't have a single problem this year with hot starts like I had in the past. I am a convinced believer in the Linkerts now. I've never checked the mpg but I can go pretty far before I need more fuel.

[steinauge]

My only pan with a linkert(M-74B) gives an average around 35 MPG for whatever that may be worth.

[Cotten]

My only pan with a linkert(M-74B) gives an average around 35 MPG for whatever that may be worth. :)

Steinauge!

Thirty-five isn't bad with todays' gas, especially if you carry a lot of payload, but you might be able to do better.

What float are you running?

....Cotten

[Pomike]

The newer Kehin CV'a are great! Cheap, reliable, tunable, smooth running, and adaptable to almost any bike. Of course, I run a Linkert that Cotten rebuilt for me on my 65. It works fine. I know this is blasphemy, but I don't think much of the S&S shorty E. Oh, they always work, but at what level? If you just want to go fast, and nothing else is important, they are fine. But the gas mileage........ Uh, what gas mileage? And they aren't cheap! Please don't send me any poison emails!
Mike

[caschnd1]

I'm another user of the Keihin CV40 on a panhead. N86E needle, 50 slow jet, 185 main jet. I get mid 40's mpg running around town. >60mpg on the highway. I put this carb on my panhead 75K miles ago and I haven't touched it to make any kinds of adjustments. I made the same modification mentioned above to the linkage (cut off the return cable) so it wouldn't interfere with the head. I also took 1.75" out of the throat of my S&S intake to pull the carb in nice and tight against the motor.

-Craig

[Ripley/Fla]

Forget S&S if you want mileage. It is more for performance as it is much bigger than a Linkert and has the accelerator pump. IMO it woul be nice if they made one 1/4" smaller.

[jdpan]

Thanks for all the replies and info y'all... I've been considering a CV but havn't done much homework on it yet, I think I might even have a manifold laying around... No Bendix for me, ran one for a while and could never get it to smooth out, SU's are nice but the things are massive, ran one on my old '57 back in the 70's and it worked well as long as I kept my bell bottoms out of the velocity stack. lol.. If around 35mpg is pretty much the norm for a Linkert, thats about where I'm at but with 3.5 gallon tanks, thats not very far between fillups especially at 70-80 mph.. Probably won't be going the FI route anytime soon but its an interesting suggestion.