Needs some Carb help for a 76 XLH.

[Peacekeeper45]

 Sorry for being long winded before we start but I will give some short history first. I found "Lucy" the name of my wife's recently acquired XLH on EBay and it was the Harley that she wanted. I will post pics later. It was suppose to have a recently rebuilt motor and was really all decked out and ready to show.
So we get it home and while sitting in the driveway I notice that the carb overflow is dripping gas. It is a little hard starting to boot and the plugs are heavily carboned so I pick up a carb kit for it and start what I think will be a simple job. Instead I have had this carb off so much that a Nascar pit crew would be proud to have my time now. Once inside I find that the rubber plug for the slow jet is missing along with a couple of o-rings. I replace everything and put it back on and this bike will hardly start and only stay running if I keep pumping the the throttle. Back off I look and find that the main jet is a 140 and the manual doesn't even list one this low. Back to the indy counter to get an assortment of jets. I put the 165 in which is what the factory starts them at. Now the carb is litterally spewing gas and flooding the bike. So I put the 140 in and leave the plug in but the bike is obviously starving for gas so off with the bowl and I take the plug off, put the bowl on and at least it will start and run but the low speed mixture screw doesn't seem to have any affect while I am adjusting. I am now ready to start from scratch and order all new slow jets, low speed screw and anything else that is not in a normal carb kit. What slow jet should I start with and any other suggestions would be appreciated. I letting my wife ride it but we aren't getting far from the house as I don't trust it yet. The only thing that has gone right so far is that I did get the float set and the new needle has stopped the leak from the overflow tube.

[olpigiron]

You Might Have A Vacuum leak Between The Carb. And Engine.!!!!

Cheers!!!!
OPI

[Peacekeeper45]

I have already checked that by spraying some water at the joints while its running and this doesn't seem to affect it. I thinking that new jets all the way around and new screw will fix it but have yet to find the size of slow jet I need as I don't want to make the 70 mile drive to the indy just for the jets. I'll order them off the web.

[eglideic]

 What brand of carb is that?
A Kehin?
That bike should have a Bendix on it.
Well, if it's a Kehin, my book says .65 for the low speed and 1.65 for the main.
If it was me, I'd put a Bendix back on it with an adjustable main.

[saltcaveminer]

i would suggest you check for a clogged passageway if the screw is turned completely in and out with no change.Salty

[Dresser]

 Eglide is right that's a Bendix scoot. In my opinion if it's got a Keihin on it your best move would be to put a Bendix back on it.

[Peacekeeper45]

No its a Keihin and according to my book its the correct one. The Moco changed in mid year from the Bendix to the Keihin. Thanks for the info on the slow jet size. That info is not in my factory manual and now I will go ahead and order a variety of jets since the addition of the pipes I figure that I will need a size or two larger. I haven't ran it much since I finally got the needle to seat the the overflow problem taken care of but I imagine that it wil be lean now.

[CrazyRay]

Ok that's a different carb than my '76. Mine has the Bendix. So since it's not the same you can take this for what it's worth. I would say re-check the float. I thought mine was set right a couple of times. Still had problems similar to yours.

How are you making sure the float is right after you adjust it? If you have not filled the float bowl, shut off the petcock, then drain the bowl and measure how much gas came out you can't be absolutely sure the level is right. Another way is to hold the bowl on tight with your hand, fill it with the petcock then lower it and make sure the gas level is high enough without over flowing. I just could never do it that way without spilling it.

What I did while I had the float bowl off was pour gas in until the level got high enough then poured it into a measuring cup so I could work with that amount. I have worked on carbs plenty in the past but really had a more difficult time getting the float set right on this bike than I expected. Just because it stops overflowing does not mean the level is set right.

Hope this helps or you get it worked out whatever it is.

[chopper]

My 75 had a Bendix.  The 76 had a Keihin.  I believe they changed over mid 76 production year.

I loved the Bendix.  Easy to tune, and dependable as sunrise.  The Keihin?  I rebuilt once...  rebuilt twice, then gave it away. 
It started fine, and went down the road ok.  But once or twice a day, at idle, it'd fart and quit..

[deepfried]

My '76 XL came with a Keihin(original bike that I bought from the original owner in '81 and I had it for 10 years). The 8 years that I ran that carb(I installed an S&S after headwork and cams the last two years), it always ran great.

[bigpete1]

the early kehin carbs did not use that plug in low speed jet ,i think 76or 77 i had one of those year carbs on a sporty ,it does not have the bleed hole over it main jet area ,what kind of pipes are you running ?if drags put 80 low speed and 165 main it should be close ,thanks pete

[Peacekeeper45]

Thanks, Pete
Haven't checked this post in a while or worked on he bike. Been to busy with some pre-spring work around the house along with some family emergencies. My factory manual shows the plug sooo.. ? When I get back into it I am going to replace both jets and try a new low speed screw with all the wearable parts replaced I hope to get a good baseline and go from there. And yes it does have drag pipes. She loves the sound of these!