Electra Glide T-Sport Sportster Street Bob Hauler
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Stage I About that time, an article appeared in one of the magazines extolling the virtues of the new Quicksilver II carburetors. The author, Donny Peterson of Heavy Duty Cycles in Toronto, couldn't say enough good things about the carb. He called it a carb for the future based on its ability to meet stringent EPA demands, and its effective simplicity. Since I like new things, I decided to try it out.
I also purchased a mild Crane cam, and a set of Taperlite pushrods. At this point I figured I had spent enough, and decided that I should first experience what these initial modifications had done for me. Since there was little left in my budget for a new exhaust system, I opted to hang on to the stock mufflers and had the baffles punched out instead. The following spring I picked up the bike and eagerly got into the break-in process without delay. As the miles went on, I had started to notice a strange rattling noise as the rpm's went up. I took it back to the shop and was informed that what I was hearing was called piston slap. Apparently the machinist that had bored the cylinders had made the hole just a wee bit too big. Too bad the mechanics did not check the clearances before putting things back together. So my bike ended up back in the shop with major engine pieces on the bench, and the cylinders were bored once more (as I was doing another break-in after I got it back). The bike had very noticeably wakened up after this initial round of performance enhancements, and I was very happy with the results. A couple of months later, I picked up a Sportster ignition module (as recommended by Joe Minton in a magazine article), and the following year I finally installed a performance exhaust in the form of SuperTrapp slip-on mufflers. Before that year was out, the added horsepower had started to create a problem with the clutch, and under hard acceleration it would slip momentarily before hooking up. Six new plates and a heavier spring later fixed that.
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