Looking for a more fuel efficient carburettor

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My 1973 FLH is running the original Bendix Carb and the fuel economy is not great (30ish mpg). The mix is too rich also, but seems to have no adjustment.

Should I look to put on a CV carb, or Super E?
Though I would prefer not to have to swap out the manifold as well.

cheers
 
Bendix are a good carb, but you might benefit from a rebuild kit for it if it's the original; like everything else carbs wear.

Personally I'd go for the CV if i was changing it, particularly if fuel economy is a priority. Super E works similar to a Bendix, and in my experience is very much "all or nothing".
 
I run a Bendix on my '72 FLH, great carb and very good on fuel - close to 60mpg on a run.

The other carbs will need a cable setup as i don't think it's easy to convert to '73 wire throttle.

My '77 FXS is very happy on a CV and it's a good carb for Shovel.

S&S is designed for the drag strip, and best left there IMHO,
 
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Have you checked the float level is correct. with the float bowl off invert the carb and the bottom surface of the float must be 3/16 in. from the carb gasket surface. The book says a 3/16in. drill may be used as a gauge. Adjustment may be done by bending the float tang with long nose pliers.

There is a low speed needle to adjust to make engine accelerate and run smoothly at idle.

Donny Petersen's second Shovel book shows 8 different main jet sizes from 0.90mm up to 1.25mm though it could be something of a mission to find any today.

Lots of folk like the CV carb and I'm happy with my S&S Super E. Both could ,as Boris says, could be hard to fit to a wire throttle if you still have one. I get around 50-55mpg from my S&S though the bike is over geared, 25 on the gearbox. At about just under 70mph it's doing about 2,700rpm.

According to my books both the Sportster and the Shovels used the Bendix 16P12, perhaps with different jets.

There has been info on here saying that mis assembly in the float area can cause flooding and a fire at start up but I can't remember the details. Could that be posted again or linked to, thanks.

If you need tech info let me know.
 
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CV easy to set up and economical tick over is like a clock ,,,
there is cheap copys out there nows ,,,some good reports ,,,
i did buy a repair kit for £10 and that seems good for a back up ,,,
 
i see they are advertised at £50. (40mm) not original but a copy
i would not be afraid to try one of them ,, good fend of mine has used a couple with no problems ,,(Adam Mc Cloud RIP )
but you change the needle to a N65C
i run a 50 pilot and 190 main jet,
this is on a 1340 1980 FLH ,
 
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on my Shovel ,I use a Mikuni HSR 42 with a Vulcan Works hi flo back to get rid of the compliance fitting, I get about 45 mpg and it works straight out of the box pretty good. The Chinks make copies of these too but I don't know how good they are. My mate Baz Reid has used a cv carb on his Genny Shovel and found that it would completely blow off from the compliance fitting from time to time so he has now gone back to a Super B.
 
Get the Bendix fettled, it's clearly worn/misadjusted, or if you must ditch the original part, get a proper H-D OEM CV at a swap meet.

Remember, H-D used the Bendix from 71-75, on more than 300,000 motorcycles. It's been proven to work good. But as Kev says, they wear.

Meanwhile, I've seen some TERRIBLE reports of those copy carbs from China.

Why anybody would even want to think about putting a piece of cheap shit like that on their Harley - a critical part, no less! - is beyond me.

In the car world, a couple of years ago a guy with 35+ yrs experience with V8 carbs bought a Chinese copy of a Rochester QuadraJet off eBay just for a laugh and put it on his late 1960s Buick muscle car, which came with a QJ from GM.

He had to drill, adjust, improvise and replace much of the inner and exterior workings of this cheap imitation and STILL could not get it to work even half as good as the tired original on his car, despite two days of effort and all his knowledge. In the end he threw it in the trash, but not before detailing his experience with pictures. It was sobering reading.
 
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As you say Kiwi the carbs from China might be crap but ,,,would love to hear from anyone that has tried them
Cv carbs were cheap but now not so ,,,
i did buy a cheap set of knock off CV carb pair for £10 mainly to see what quality they were
the rubber part i soaked in E10 for a week to see how they performed
they stood up to it ,,,so as a back up worth the £10
and for £50 many be a try if you were after a carb ,,,
 
Can't speak for the CV version but I have a Chinese made S&S Super E copy on my shovel and it works perfectly.
However like most things pot luck is a factor.
 
i might buy a CV copy you to see if its any good ,,,,if not at lease i can warn others off
if you want an original slide and rubber it will cost around the same price
as i saids i bought the repair kit ,float ,needle and jet diagram , etc as i wanted to know IF they were any good , all for a £10
talking to Adam Mcload R,I,P last year he worked on bikes for a living and had used a couple of the cheap carbs ,with no problems
you can pick up a copy of AMAL carbs i would put money on them being made in the far east ,,
 
The Chinese have really upped thier game quality wise.
I am a bit of a Guitar nut and have quite a few high end guitars.
I have also over the years bought a good few Chinese copies and the quality of them has improved massively.

Epiphone for instance which are made in China under the Gibson umbrella and brand name.
Epiphone make copies of most of the GIbson Guitars.
I currently have 2 of those (A Firebird 5 and ES-335) and also another different branded Chinese Les Paul Copy.
All of them cost under £600 as opposed to a great deal more for the Gibson counterparts.
True there is a difference but it is not in proportion to the difference in cost.
I have also in the past had Chinese made copies that were as good as or better than the real ones!
 
hagar said:
The Chinese have really upped thier game quality wise.
I am a bit of a Guitar nut and have quite a few high end guitars.
I have also over the years bought a good few Chinese copies and the quality of them has improved massively.

Epiphone for instance which are made in China under the Gibson umbrella and brand name.
Epiphone make copies of most of the GIbson Guitars.
I currently have 2 of those (A Firebird 5 and ES-335) and also another different branded Chinese Les Paul Copy.
All of them cost under £600 as opposed to a great deal more for the Gibson counterparts.
True there is a difference but it is not in proportion to the difference in cost.
I have also in the past had Chinese made copies that were as good as or better than the real ones!
Click to expand...
99% of all electronics are now made in China ,,,so is most things you buy has so components made there ,
its a fact of like we cant get away from ,,,,i can remember back in the day the saying Jap crap and now its a syne of quality
i think in the next few years theChina made bikes will be taking over ,,as now most big makers are getting bikes made over there ,,,
BMW ,KTM , and of course HARLEY ,,, we will have to except it ,, not by choice
 
Back on topic I quite fancy an Eliminator SU for my shovel, you can still get them but the price is ridiculous at well over £1000.
I had one fitted to an EVO many years ago but one thing I remember is that it was a PITA in very cold weather.
Of course the carb was originally designed to run under a nice warm bonnet not on the side of a bike with wind chill taking the temp down to sub zero. 🤣

W&W Cycles - Constant velocity carburetor »SU Eliminator II«

Constant velocity carburetor »SU Eliminator II«; fits Shovelhead 1966-1978; polished; gross weight: 2.88 kg
www.wwag.com www.wwag.com

I do ride the bike all year round so maybe best to stick with my knock off Super E.
 
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I fitted a Chinese Mikuni copy, supplied by the customer, to his 1994 EVO dyna last year.
Apart from replacing the tickover screw spring with a stronger one, everything works fine straight out the box.
It goes amazingly fast.
Wrecked his head bearings pulling wheelies............
If anyone's going to wreck an engine it's him 'cos he rides like a twat!
 
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