1948 carb rebuild
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1948 carb rebuild
I have an original '48 FL, the previous owner (my father who bought it in '49) states that the carb has never been rebuilt. While in Sturgis last year I re-oiled the air cleaner element (due to the dust at the campground, and a sticking float) per the operators manual. Needless to say, the bike backfired the first time I turned it over and a FIRE occured :'(.... Luckily, a beer cooler was close by with plenty of water in it, a chemical extinguisher finished it off. A mechanic presented himself and without my knowledge "reset" the high and low idle settings, it hasn't run since. Needless to say, due to the fire, sticking float, and age, I have decided to rebuild the carb, and have no idea where the settings were before being "reset" by the "mechanic". How many turns should I bring them out as a good starting point? Where can I get a paper air filter to use with the original air cleaner? Only ones I can find replaces the housing, or is OEM.
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Re: 1948 carb rebuild
Hi, original filter was copper mesh (Vtwin should have that part, WWcycle have it if you live in europe), K&N make some fine replacement made wtih paper; about setting your Linkert (i suppose it's about), some members here know how to tune them; you could also check in the Palmer book or Clymer.
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Re: 1948 carb rebuild
M74B
I think a good starting point would be :
- low speed- 5 complete turns from bottom (slightly rich)
- high speed- 3/4 turn from bottom
conditions such as displacement, cam,air leaks and timing will make it necessary to make minor adjustments from here. I have three pages of detailed setup and tuning instructions, I can scan them and send to anyone interested?
Chew.
I think a good starting point would be :
- low speed- 5 complete turns from bottom (slightly rich)
- high speed- 3/4 turn from bottom
conditions such as displacement, cam,air leaks and timing will make it necessary to make minor adjustments from here. I have three pages of detailed setup and tuning instructions, I can scan them and send to anyone interested?
Chew.
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Re: 1948 carb rebuild
An original float in modern fuel would be a hassle in itself.
Needle settings are never constant from carb to carb, bike to bike. If they were,... they wouldn't need knobs!
Needle settings are never constant from carb to carb, bike to bike. If they were,... they wouldn't need knobs!
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Re: 1948 carb rebuild
I got a setting thing written down for the Linkert M74-B, that's contrary to the 59-69 factory manual. When the manual says "Turn both low and high-speed needles all the way in (C.W.). Back out the low-speed needle five turns. Back out the high-speed needle two turns"......I only turn the low-speed needle out two turns instead of five. With only two turns, when i attempt to turn the low-speed needle in, one notch at a time (with the motor running) in order to get the motor to lean-out so that the motor misses and acts starved, I get a reaction from the motor. If you turn the low-needle out five turns, you don't get the starved affect they want you to find. So, at two turns out, you get the motor running, then you turn the low-speed in till it starves, then turn the needle out till it hits regularly. They yak on about the low-speed needle, but other than turning the high-speed needle out the two turns, they pretty much leave the high-speed needle out of the picture, except for a passage about using the high-speed thing as a "trimmer valve" if you are being chased by police during a high speed pursuit, but give no indication as to which hand would be left open to hold a gun.