Varous Carbs - Mikuni, Woods, CV, Dakota Kid

Mike,

I took to heart the advice on the 113" build, and I'm down to one final component ... the carb. (I had the 103"-113" Build thread in General Questions a few weeks ago)

I have the SE CNC HTCC Heads and I'm gonna stick with the 260 cams I already have for now, since I get a 1 year warrantee with the motor if I use them. I may go to the TMan 650 gear drive set later, depending on how satisfied I am.

My Carb selection WAS narrowed down to the following

Mikuni 45 MM
Mikuni 48 MM
CV-51

I recently, have also been considering some of the Woods offerings, 45 MM, 50.5MM, etc ... and read some good things about reworked carbs from Dakota Kid.

Of the "Out of the box" carbs, My gut tells me the Mikuni 48MM would be the best offering. The dealer is giving me some resistance ... reluctant to go with the Mikuni 48 MM because they are telling me it won't fit ... so I told them about trimming the fins, Zippers kit, etc ... and the service manager sort of rolled his eyes. I get the feeling they want to sell me the 51MM CV.

FYI - The dealer I am working with is obviously not a real performance shop. They bolt together the parts out of the catalog and send you down the road to a tuner with a dyno. Sadly ... I am convinced that I now know more about matching components, cams, exhaust, etc than they do ... at least "Non Harley" components.

Anyhow, I have spoken to Woods about their carbs and got the "Sales Pitch" (A good one though) and was also gonna call Dakota Kid, but figured that maybe you had some experience with some of these other carbs.

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance
Ken
2003 FXWDG

PS ... have also pretty much decided on the "Gear Down Kit" and 6 speed gearset. This scoot should be pretty quick when I'm done. I wish you guy's weren't 3,021.65 miles away.

[Mike]

The 51 cv is the most user friendly and easiest to install. We've not seen great results reworking this carb (both the Wood Auto or Dakota Kid reworked 40cv's are really good and worth doing). For the most hp, the 48 mikuni will give you that. But is also the most difficult (and expensive, though a reworked 51 will be even higher when including the initial carb purchase) to install. The new kits from Zippers and Rivera make it much easier and of all the carbs, it is the easiest to tune for those who understand them (gives very good feedback response to tuning changes). Typically, even though smaller, a 48 Mikuni will outflow a 51 cv due to the smoother bore and air flow (a.k.a., the Mikuni effect).
It's that last .65 miles, right!
Thanks and good luck with your build, Mike

OK ... Thanks ... Pretty much what I thought. I sort of balked at a $1200+ re-worked CV (50.5) anyhow. I'll take a look at Rivera ... then Zippers again, and see which kit for the 48MM one I like. Then I'll tell the dealer to "Suck it up" and install the thing.

Yea ... that last 21.65 miles was just too much ALTHOUGH ... I'm open to suggestions for tuners/performance shops in CT Or MA.

THX