I finally managed to get a mikuni hsr42 and installed it yesterday. Long story short, dont order anything from pdiracing, they just flat out dont ship orders... Anyway, this carb is excellent. I will agree, if you just putt around on your harley its a flat out waste of money. But in my case, i beat my bike like a redheaded step child and expect it to run and respond perfectly, making this carb almost a must have. It took a little bit of setup before installation, big things being adjusting throttle stop, adjusting the accelerator pump, and relocating the VOES for clearance. In my case that meant bending the mounting tab til it would clear the vacuum line on the carb. Tuning was extremely simple, once together it took all of an hour to get it 95% perfect, and 10x better than the CV after lots of tinkering. Throttle response isnt even comparable to the CV. Twist your wrist and she lights up immediately. The air screw, idle screw, and main jet are all extremely easy to access.
I did experience what Dolt warned about the "slide rattle" however, its not actually slide rattle. The slide is tight and functions perfectly. Its actually intake noise caused by turbulence from the cutouts for the slide in the body of the carb. It makes the intake chirp right around 2000-3500 rpm when you roll on it hard. Personally, I dont mind it and its i very small price to pay. Everything on a sporty makes noise, so why shouldnt the carb as well?
Short version:
For abusive riders its a must have. Tuneability, performance, and responsiveness are worth the money alone even if it doesnt gain any peak power. For any future harleys I own, the mikuni will be factored into cost of the bike on purchase, its that good.
For a mild mannered rider, the hassle of setup and carb chirping will be a big turn off. Performance in low speed, easy roll on conditions is not significantly improved over the stock CV. Probably not worthwhile when money could be spent on gas and tires instead.
Ill report back once i learn how mileage has been affected
