Need a Harley Mechanic

[SEBASTIANW137]

Anyone know of a good mechanic that is near Canoga Park, Ca. or Woodland Hills?

My bike was sitting for about a year and it would not start..I took it to a place in Canoga Park last week and they got it running, after a new battery, petcock, and carb rebuild....Now the bike runs like(EDIT) . It idles fine but when I ride it starves for gas, so much so that it is dangerous to ride. The custom bike shop mechanic gives me the run around and I would like to find someone that will be honest with me.

Thanks
-Vo

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[Hoople]

I can't recommend a mechanic but I can tell you from experience leaving fuel sit for a year can sometimes make a real mess to clean up. I had a carburetor Yammy let sit for almost a year that did not have any Sta-bil or Seaform in the tank. I am not joking. It too me weeks to clean out the varnish in the fuel pump, tank and carb. Jets were clogged, and there was varnish from this E10 fuel that took a wire brush to remove.

The bike actually needed no parts replaced. Just a struggle to get everything clean. If you had Sta-Bil in the tank, it should not be a big deal. I learned a lesson from that go-around.

Good luck with your repair.

 

[Jack Klarich]

Try flushing the tank and add some sea foam first

 

[R. Lewis]

..I took it to a place in Canoga Park last week and they got it running, after a new battery, petcock, and carb rebuild....Now the bike runs like(EDIT) . It idles fine but when I ride it starves for gas, so much so that it is dangerous to ride.
Thanks
-Vo

Please read this...

A Friendly Reminder - Harley Davidson Community

I take it your speaking of the 95 883 sporty thats in your avatar area ---- What carb do you have and what kind of rebuild did your shop do? Why did they replace the petcock,did they flush out the tank? Just asking but after setting a year - have you checked your plugs/wires , make sure nothing has plugged up your exhaust.

 

[SEBASTIANW137]

The mechanic said the petcock needed to be replaced; no they did not flush the gas tank, said the gas inside was good...was not too happy with that answer,,, they said the VOES switch was bad and they replaced the petcock with a higher flow one so that a new VOES switch was not needed. It makes in run "bad"....idles great but I wonder if that VOES switch was an important piece....they keep telling me that I just need a new carb,,,,a S&S Super E....which should take care of the problem....except the only problem is, I don't have $500 to drop on a new carb.....otherwise it would be done. Plus, I already spent a little over $300....$92/hr labor....ouch......which would have been ok if the bike ran smoothly....even though I only authorized 1 hour of work....somehow an additional 2 hours of work was done without my knowledge or approval..Not very happy about that. These guys used to be great, had my bike there 2 years ago for major service and they kept me informed all the way. Now a new mechanic, calls me to authorize 1 hour of labor,,,,which I o.k.'d....then does 2 more hours and stuff that I was not told of. Total (EDIT)

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[Hoople]

but I wonder if that VOES switch was an important piece....

Yes it is important. Without it, 1 of 3 things will happen depending how the switch was made in-operative. 1) Either the bike will run great at idle and you will hear detonation under heavy engine load,, 2) the engine will never detonate (knock) and the idle will be poor,, or 3) the idle will be great and the engine will never detonate but you will have no power over 2500 RPM. Take your pick but you have to pick one.

Without the switch, you need some other way to control your spark advance.
Maybe they already have you covered with some other way. Ask them how your spark control is now achieved without the switch. If they say "you don't really need any spark control",, it is time to find another mechanic.

Maybe it's me but I don't like the sound of this place.

 

[Bbgun74]

well dont sound like carb/ sounds like an adjustment if its stock thats simple i would enrich /then adjust accerator / but i got 1974 elec glide with s@s/so if its stock it should be easy fix
e

 

[Jammr]

Wow, that didn't take long. Anyway, sounds like this dude is more interested in selling you an S&S and ripping you for labor, than actually fixing the problem. Time for a new mechanic.

 

[trd865]

My 2003 sat for 6 years, but after draining the tank,fresh gas, a good carb cleaning and new jets it ran fine. It too would idle fine, but once I changed the jets it ran fine, they must have been slightly clogged.