Carbs

As mentioned in the last post, I've got the bed extension for the mini-lathe all buttoned up. I've got the rack for the cutting tools, the sharpening set-up is done - nothing holding me back from turning out some turnings except time and talent.

Went out into the shop before I went to the gym and drug all of the carbs out of the box so I can start figuring out what I'm going to do to get gas and air into the engine in a controlled fashion. The bike had the S&S on it when the previous owner got it. The one on the left is the factory, the one to the right of the S&S is one the previous owner was planning on running, the one on the far right is a junk version of the same thing. 

The S&S appears to be a "Super B" which is listed as an 1-7/8" bore. The stock is an 1- 21/32 (42.5mm) which is about .201" smaller than the S&S but the S&S has a tapered reducer on the mouth of the carb that makes it smaller than the stock one. It actually tapers in to reduce the bore diameter and then tapers back out to make a smooth transition to the 1-7/8" diameter before the butterfly. 

So I've got several choices here. I can run the stock carb and the oval air cleaner. I can run the other factory carb with the stock air cleaner, I can run the S&S with the teardrop air cleaner, or I could run one of the factory carbs with an air cleaner of my own manufacture. The S&S filter is pictured on the left above. It's a K&N which would make it readily available. The one on the right has a John Deere part number but it's for a Kohler engine. The diameter is comparable with the K&N but is about a 1/2" narrower. Depending on what I choose for a carb, I could make a cute little aluminum air cleaner using either of the two filter elements. Now that the wood lathe is running, I could even make a form and try my hand at spinning something. I'll be thinking about carbs and air cleaners until I'm actually ready to bolt one on and then it'll probably be the S&S anyway. Easy enough to change if I don't like it. I would like to try spinning something, however.

I finished painting the south side of the house yesterday, at least the ground floor. The weather was cool and mostly cloudy, so a good time to paint the southern exposure. Might do a little more painting today, might not - want to get something more done on the bike but the cool temps are a reminder that winter is on the way. Practically speaking, painting the house should be higher up on the list of priorities than finishing the bike but being practical has never been a failing of mine.