Yes, I love Mel Brooks and his movies. The man is a comic genius, but alas the time of his genre of movies has ended.
Why did I use this scene and phrase for this post is easy. I got the bike running and what a mess that was. I came home from work and immediately pulled it out side before I opened the petcock to allow fuel into the fuel bowl. I am glad I did that the fuel float got stuck, again. This is the reason I had it outside before I started the bike. The last time I did this the float was stuck and again it was outdoors. I dislike the smell of spilled gas.
I had to remove the fuel bowl out of my carb (I do not like the factory HD carb) and when I looked at the float needle it had a tiny piece of brass from when I had to remove the original fuel inlet elbow that had cracked. I had to drill out the center of it to be able to pull it out.
I put everything back together and fired it up. I had to readjust the idle and choke again. The bike ran much better, but was not smooth. I decided to ride it to an event at my work that evening. Below is a picture of it at work, yes it made it.
The bike smoked like a fiend when I would stop at the light near my house. I am thinking old oil and dirt that had accumulated on the bike. I had washed and scrubbed some areas so I am sure it had to burn off. The bike did make it to work and it was pretty smooth. I did notice a few running issues with it, for example, it has a random miss which I think is being caused by the dual fire coil set up. I may eventually invest in a single fire system for it. The brakes are mushy, thinking the fluid is bad and needs replacing, which is a smart idea considering the bike is 36 years old and who knows when the last change happened. Glad I do not have Harley Anti-Lock system.
Overall impressions of the bike:
The bike is a blast to ride and runs like you would not believe. I was amazed at how fast I could get to speed and with only four gears. I think it is funny that the speedo has a different font for 55 mph, a left over of the 1980s belief of 55 saves gas.
Boy am I glad that went away.
I want to add a short video of the idle of my bike once I got it running and before I rode it.
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