Harley Carb and Exhaust Removal

We are still working in the early, disassembly stages of our Sportster Harley Cafe Racer project. Next in line, Tommy removes the Screamin’ Eagle air cleaner assembly and the stock Harley carb or CV carburetor in anticipation of a new S&S carburetor assembly. The stock intake manifold will also be removed.

Harley carb removal is very straightforward.

The air cleaner cover and air cleaner element are removed first. Next in line is the air cleaner backing plate. The backing plate on this XL looks different from a stock, plastic, molded backing plate because the air cleaner assembly on this Sportster had been upgraded to a Harley Davidson Screamin” Eagle assembly. While a Screamin’ Eagle, high flow air cleaner assembly and up-jetting (larger carburetor jets) of the stock Harley carb had helped with this XL’s horsepower and overall performance, an upgrade to the S&S carburetor will take the performance to the next level.

Like the air cleaner, the exhaust system of this Sportster was also previously upgraded from the stock assembly to an aftermarket exhaust system. In anticipation of a new Bassani two into one exhaust system, Tommy removes the current pipes and sets them aside.

The Bassani two into one exhaust system was chosen because it fits well with the Harley Cafe Racer design and in most cases, a two into one exhaust system works out better than two into two assemblies when it comes to tuning and chasing horsepower.

Dive deep into Exhaust, Air Intake, Harley Carbs and EFI Mapping with these related videos:

• Overview of Harley Performance Upgrades
• Harley Carb Rebuild

And then browse the rest of this series:
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