SU Carburetor on Shovelhead Engine

[Dreher_Andreas]

I'm playing with the idea to put an SU Carburetor on my Shovelhead Engine.
Can anyone give me some advises or tell me about the experiences he made?
When i'm listening arround, it seems to me S&S is the most used carb. Why?
What are the differences between the most popular carb.-types?
Does anyone use a Qwick-Silver carb and how does it work?

I'd like to open a discussion about carbs. Thanks a lot for your comments
or suggestions.

Andi

dre...@mbox.migroszh.ch

[Bob Schleiger]

Dreher_Andreas (dre...@mbox.migroszh.ch) wrote:
: I'm playing with the idea to put an SU Carburetor on my Shovelhead Engine.

: Can anyone give me some advises or tell me about the experiences he made?
: When i'm listening arround, it seems to me S&S is the most used carb. Why?
: What are the differences between the most popular carb.-types?
: Does anyone use a Qwick-Silver carb and how does it work?

I saw a guy run a 90+ inch shovel with an SU carb on a dyno and he had
worse numbers than the stock 74 inchers. The dyno operator said the
carb was really good for a big motor, but the stock air cleaner that
comes with the SU was way to small and the motor just could not breath.
So, if you get one, you might look into fabricating a mount for a bigger
air cleaner. The SU is really overkill on a 74 inch motor. You might
look into the S&S. It is so damn simple, you can't hardly get it wrong.

Bob S. 76 FXE Riders For Justice
93 FXSTC

[Mark Kissel]

> I'm playing with the idea to put an SU Carburetor on my Shovelhead Engine.
> Can anyone give me some advises or tell me about the experiences he made?

I have a good friend that runs an SU on a Shovel. He likes it just fine....
Have another friend who runs one on a Pan....he's loyal to it, tho I think
it's the main culprit in his startability troubles (no accelerator pump).
They do require a bit of maintinence, you gotta keep the piston oiled.

> When i'm listening arround, it seems to me S&S is the most used carb. Why?
> What are the differences between the most popular carb.-types?

The Super E & G are good carbs (never been fond of the B's), and they have
a good name recognition/reputation.

Live Free, Ride Free....

======================================
Mark Kissel
Past > '69 XLCH, '75 FX/FL, '79 FLHP
Present > '38 EL
mki...@visuallink.com
======================================

[Christopher Tietema]

STRANGER wrote:

>
> Dreher_Andreas wrote:
> >
> > I'm playing with the idea to put an SU Carburetor on my Shovelhead Engine.
> > Can anyone give me some advises or tell me about the experiences he made?

> > When i'm listening arround, it seems to me S&S is the most used carb. Why?
> > What are the differences between the most popular carb.-types?

> > Does anyone use a Qwick-Silver carb and how does it work?
> >

> > I'd like to open a discussion about carbs. Thanks a lot for your comments
> > or suggestions.

> >I have a 1978 FXE, 74" with a SU carb on it. It is a bit of a pain, as far keeping it clean
goes, but it is so easy to take apart its not that bad. I don't have any problem starting
except when its real cold, like 40 degrees. Their is what they call a tickler for priming
the engine for starting, and it has a hand choke. If used right my bike starts right away.
I have had a bad expirience with the wrong cam that caused more starting problems than the
SU has. I am no expert but I do most of my own engine work, and I figure for the size of my
engine with mostly stock parts the SU performs just fine. If you get one get a couple of
sizes of metering rods for adjusting the mixture range for the altitude you ride in.

[J. Michael Carreiro]

>> I'm playing with the idea to put an SU Carburetor on my Shovelhead Engine.
>> Can anyone give me some advises or tell me about the experiences he made?

I've run one on my '79 FXEF since '82.
Runs fine, get's comments from old cage gearheads that recognize it,
needs a seasonal shot of Tri-Flow in the dash pot, and it looks good.

The only problem is a lazy tickler that I'll rebuild someday. It
makes the first start of the day a bit of a chore, but it's a one or
two kick, with no tickle, after that.

[J. Michael Carreiro]

Christopher Tietema <ctie...@rconnect.com> wrote:

>except when its real cold, like 40 degrees. Their is what they call a tickler for priming
>the engine for starting, and it has a hand choke. If used right my bike starts right away.

My SU and any I've seen on HDs have no choke, but use an enrichment
device that routes more fuel rather than restricting airflow with a
choke plate. It behaves more like a fast idle on my shovel and is
only necessary for a moment after a cold start. It will "kick out"
with any throttle advance. I guess an SU from an auto application
could come with a choke, though.

[J. Michael Carreiro]