47 chief

[mfcmfc12]

I just purchased a 47 chief (new to Indians) and the carb flooded and leaked as soon as petcock was turned on. Removed the bowl and adjusted the float to solve that problem and bike starts on first kick (after two kicks to prime with ignition off). Problem is the bike runs very rough - spark plugs look good, points and gap are OK and carb settings are adjusted as stated in several publications. When bike is running and warmed up it runs very rough and the throttle is not very responsive, could this be a result of poor ignition timing? If so can anyone tell me the proper procedure for timing? I have heard several diffeent things.

Thanks

[cheifrider]

just a thought here , but performing a leak test on your intake system will fix a lot of carburator related performance problems ,good luck!

[c.o.]

I'd tend to agree with cheifrider. It sounds like you could have an intake leak. There's plenty of info on figuring that out on the forum if you do a search. You might want to check your valve adjustment as well.... intake is .005 and exhaust is .008. Adjust each cylinder with it's piston at the top of the compression stroke. If you end up having trouble figuring it out just post your troubles and you'll get help

[mfcmfc12]

Thanks guys - I'll do some research and try the leak test to see what's what.
I will let you know how my progress goes.

Thanks again!

[Jack K]

Allowing as how the bike starts on the first kick, I doubt the problem is in the timing or valve adjustment although checking the timing and running the tappet adjustment is always a good thing. I too would suspect either an intake leak or the carburetor needs a thorough cleaning.

That said, there are any number of other possibilities. On a least two occassions I've found the answer to the symptoms you describe to be the insulator strip between the distributor points and the distributor body. The insulator was only just long enough to clear the points and after water from washing or condensation from rides too short to evaporate it, a fine film of rust dust had formed along the edge of the insulator and was conducting the spark all around the inside of the distributor body. The bikes would start easily but didn't want to accelerate and ran rough. I cut a new, longer insulator, cleaned the body with WD40 and all was good again.

Just something cheap and easy to look for.

[mfcmfc12]

thanks Jack - Carb is clean and I adjusted the float as well! I will take a look at that insulator also. Gonna check for intake leaks this weekend.

I appreciate the help! This is my first Indian and I want to make sure things are working well.

This forum has been very helpful!

Mike