More Harley advice needed...

 Hello once again everyone! Grab a cold on on me and prepare to
enlighten me with your wisdom...

My newly acquired 03 Deuce has been modified by it's previous owner.
It has only 2100 miles on it (barely broken in). I'm told the carb(s?)
were "jetted". It has a hyper-charger air intake. It has MGS custom
pipes that appear to be nothing more than hollow bent tubing. It's
LOUD. It's VERY LOUD. Being a former Honda guy, this is going to take
some getting used to but I think I'll adjust. What I am curious about
is the "back-firing" when shifting, decelerating, or pretty much any
time the throttle is released and the RPM's are dropping off. One of
the buddies with a HD Heritage Classic thinks that "cool" and wishes
his bike with Screaming Eagle pipes made the same sounds.

So, my questions are these:

Is this a desirable sound or is this an indication of a problem such
as improperly adjusted carburation or timing?

Please set me straight.

Thanks, and try not to laugh at me too hard.

Caz

 
No doubt. Congrats.

<snip some here and there>


I wouldn't desire it myself. Could be an exhaust leak. Probably the
exhaust itself. I'm guessing there aren't any baffles? That probably
doesn't help. If it were me I'd ditch the "hollow bent tubing" and get
a good 2 into 1. YMMV.
--
John

 
Pictures of the bike can be seen at www.roycaswell.com/harley
The pipes are (I'm told) custom MGS pipes are are supposed to be
"really cool" and desirable. Is it possible to purchase a "jetted
carb." directly from the HD dealership and just bolt it on? The carb
has a HD logo stamped into the side of it, but, it does not have one
of those twisty idle adjustment thingies I see on so many carburated
Harleys, so I wonder if the whole carb was replaced.

Should I just take the bike to the HD dealership and have them check
the mixture on their computer?

Caz

 <snip everything>
Mr. Ross is correct, it's the pipes. No baffles = no back pressure =
backfires, most likely.  However "cool" those pipes might be, they're
about as bad as it gets, performance-wise.  Assuming there really
aren't any exhaust leaks, jet the carb a bit richer can reduce the
backfiring a bit.  But to be honest, I'd ditch the pipes and either
get a good set of stock head pipes with some kind of slip on pipes
(available in the loudness level of your choice) or a good 2-1
performance pipe (ditto).  Either one will be easier to tune, give you
better performance, and make you a lot less attractive to your local
law enforcement...

-Kuda

 
Only if making a lot of unnecessary noise is really cool (and desirable).



Yep. They should be right next to the pre-mapped fuel injection systems. <g>



With all of the aftermarket folks stamping H-D logos on their products, it's
hard to say. <g>

Seriously, it's an OEM carb and an after-market "really cool" air cleaner.
(They got the former owner coming and going.)



Now you're making sense.


--
Mike
BS#247