Enricher Use Tip For Carbed Bikes

Resist Temptation, the Enricher is Evil

This is one of the most common problems that techs see, and it is a problem that can be entirely avoided if you take the time to pay attention to what you are doing.

We're all guilty of it. It's morning, you want to ride, so you hop on your motorcycle, pull out the choke (or the enricher, to those of you who are hip to Harley lingo), fire up the engine, and let the bike idle for a few minutes. Or maybe you don't have the time to wait, so once the motorcycle is running you throw it into gear and roar out of your driveway, figuring that the bike will warm up along the way. Not a big deal, right?

Wrong, dead wrong.

During cold start ups, the enricher pumps extra fuel to your engine, allowing for much easier starts. Once the engine is running, however, all the extra fuel that the enricher provides is just that, extra. Since your engine can't use all of the fuel that is being dumped into it, all of that excess is being dumped onto your spark plugs, causing your engine to hesitate, lose power, idle rough, and smoke.

Once the motorcycle is started you should push the enricher in as far as possible (while still leaving the motorcycle running) and from that point manually control the motorcycle's warm up with a fast idle. In warmer months, try not to use the enricher at all unless it is necessary.

 

Mr. Data i had wrote to you earlier about a prob with fouling plugs and said i had read this article previous to our discussion .(stupid is as stupid does) ha ha
i must have selective reading becasue i never really read the bottom where it states don't use it at all during summer/warmer months
might be the reasoning why i keep fouling plugs
thanks again for your help i honetly never really new that
always thought you were suposed to start the bike with it on till it warmed up
now i realize i probably dont have my curb idle speed set right and the bike is running to lean
damn! now my stupid butt will get back to work

 

Excuse my ignorance but when you say MANUALLY CONTROL WARMUP , does that mean using your hand on the throttle or something else.

Laughing out loud is not allowed on this board. :reyes:reyes:reyes

 

:lolrolling

Use a sock in the intake!

Actually adjust the enricher as needed to keep the engine running till warmed up, not pull it out and ride till black smoke puffs out the back like some do.

 

Funny moderator ha ha

 

Hi, I do not have the service manual yet, but does the Harley carburetor have an accelerator "pump" or does it rely totally on the position of the "enrichener" choke, and lower port in the throat of the carb. (God I though technical writers were instructed to limit words to 3 syllables or less...)) I don't feel bad, in a few years our kids won't even know what a choke is, much less a carburetor.

 

The older sportster carbs didn't have an accelerator pump in the carb but the later ones and the big twins did have them. That's why some use the sportster needle (27094-88) in the later carbs for more fuel delivery but at the cost of some MPG.

You can see the accelerator pump in the top of the second pic here with the 3 screws in the cover.

 

Thank you for the info, Mr. Data...I suspected it was so equipped, given the crisp throttle response was much better than what I am used to (even my ol' Universal Japanese Machine UJM 4-cylinder Kat did not have 'em). Again, nice to see good ol' fashion automotive design filtered down into the final carbureted versions of Harleys. :small3d006:

 

A lot depends on the jetting in the bike Joy. If properly jetted I would say when it's cold like below maybe 50 or so, it will start faster usually but when it gets down around 40 then it's a given to pull the enricher out.

It's kind of a trial and error thing with each bike. Sometimes just a twist of the throttle will suffice without the enricher but once started may take a bit of throttle to keep it running for a few seconds until it gets some heat in the engine.