S&S B carb on shovelhead

[dommi7]

Hi,
(I know its just plain wrong), but my shovel ('69) has an S&S super B carb. It seems the jetting is a little off - it is sluggish at low rpms, and doesn't accelerate well until near the top of the rev. range. My first guess is that my jets are too big. As far as I know, the motors a stock 74ci. Does anyone know jet sizes that will work?
Now, before you all jump on and tell me to get an E model carb with accelerator pump - I've ridden knuckle and pan motors with linkerts, and I think this B isn't much more than a 'modern' linkert, so I think I should get at least the same performance as the old linkert carbs. But right now, it isn't that good.
Thanks for any help,
Ralph

[Kojack]

If you dissect a Linkert and a Super B you'll see that the Linkert is more sophisticated. The B was never intended to be a great street carb, it was meant to be a simple, easily tuned racing carb. Kind of like sticking a big Holley on your street car, it looks cool but probably isn't the best way to go. Guys who used to swear by them have now moved on to better carbs. I had a conversation with Ron Trock a while back and he now prefers the new Harley CV carb, referring to the Super B as a "toilet" that just dumps gas into the engine. I have a B on one of my Sportsters but the truth is that on the stock engine it runs no better than the original carb. Does look good though. I don't really miss the accelerator pump but I found that the idle mixture screw adjustment was very sensitive and made a REAL big difference in off idle into mid range response, especially after I put the mufflers back on. Call S&S and let them know your exhaust and cam specs and they'll give you a baseline for the jets.

[dommi7]

Thanks Kojack - I suppose I should have just called S&S to begin with.