Keeping The Juices Flowing

I know that I'm probably going to hear about this from somebody.  Everybody has their opinion, and this is just mine.  That doesn't mean I am anymore right than any other yahoo out there who has one, I'm just saying what I think...and maybe why.  What the Hell am I talking about, you ask?  Well carburetors of course.

Like I said, everyone has their own favorite carb, and when it comes to carbs on a Harley, folks can get downright fanatical.  A whole bunch of people swear by S&S, Ultima, Weber, and so on.  Me, well I like the stock (yes, I did say that nasty word) CV carbs on Harleys over the past couple of decades.  There are a few reasons I like the CVs over most of the other carbs I have had experiences with.  Mainly though, it boils down to just a few very important ones.

First off, they are readily available, and finding one at a decent price isn't a big concern.  Also, they are pretty simple and easy to repair along side the road if need be.  As with the carbs themselves, parts are easy to find.  But I think the biggest reason I have for liking the CV so much, is probably the fact that here in Washington state, I can ride literally from sea level to over 5,400 feet in about 90 minutes without even trying.  The old CV on Gypsy takes the change of altitude without a hiccup.  I have had friends riding with me that have had Super B & Super E carbs, and have had "issues" with the change.  Sure, a fuel injected bike won't have issues either, but I'm not talking FI here, and I hopefully won't have a bike with FI.  I like to tinker with shit, and thats hard to do when you're relying on electronics to control everything.  So many additional components that could cause a problem on their own.  No thanks, I stay with a simple carb that I can probably work on alongside the road and get to run good enough to limp home.

The older carbs; Linkerts, Bendix, and others, I don't think could handle the change as easily as the CV does.  Hell, it doesn't even seem to notice it.  When I ride from the warm moist sea level air over the Cascade Mountains into the hot, dry air of eastern Washington, Gypsy just keeps right on chugging along. 

So, I'll stay with me CV.  Like I said, I'm sure I'm going to get shit for it.  But hey, you got to admit, they are a dependable carb.  If they weren't dependable Harley wouldn't have stuck with them on Big Twins and Sporty's for so long.  What, nearly twenty years using the same carb?  To me that is not only dependability, it also means parts are going to be easy to get for  quite a while.  Other carbs may be better, but I am a cheap bastard, and I'll stay with what works and doesn't cost me an arm and a leg to buy or keep working.

For the foreseeable future at any rate, I'll be sticking with a CV on my Harleys.  Hmmm, I wonder how my Ironhead project would work with a CV.  Who knows, it might reinforce my opinion of them...or blow it out o the water...we'll have to wait and see.

Catch you on the road sometime...