The HSR42 kit came complete with manifold, carb, air cleaner, breathers, and hardware. It's just the way it is with machines-after a certain amount of time certain parts give up the ghost and have to be replaced. It could have been due to abuse, wear, or burning bad fuel, but after our old buddy Rob's '96 Road King was sputtering and not giving consistent power, we knew he had to replace his old carburetor with something new. We know that the Keihin CV carb that came on the bike is dependable due to the fact that there are millions of H-Ds running around with them, but we like the Mikuni carbs due to their ease of tuning and method of operation. (1.)We started by loosening the throttle cables and checking them for wear. After calling Mikuni and telling them what we were dealing with, they instructed us to use a Mikuni HSR42 carb. This was due to the fact that Rob's bike has what Mikuni calls a "modified stock" designation where an engine has stock cylinder heads, a high flow air cleaner, and high flow mufflers. They also suggested that with how old the bike was that there was a good chance the manifold seals were shot and we should go with Mikuni's Total Kit. This kit Includes a carburetor, manifold with all new seals, K&N filter assembly, chrome air cleaner cover, and all needed hardware. The HSR42 will breath a little better due to its 213 cfm compared to the Stock CV Carb's 185 cfm. This should translate into a snappier throttle and up to 10 percent more power while running through the gears. With help from the staff of Freedom Cycles, the installation was a snap and the carb only needed minor tweaking once it was installed. If you have a pre-2006 bike with a carburetor and want a bit more power and throttle response, give Mikuni a call and get some! (2.)Freedom Cycles' technician Kazoo then pulled off the stock CV carburetor. (3.)Side by side you can see the vast difference in the design of these two carbs. The Mikuni on the left uses a slide type mechanism and the CV on the right uses both a butterfly and a slide(3.)Side by side you can see the vast difference in the design of these two carbs. The Mik (4.)We removed the stock manifold and found the seals to be quite deteriorated. (5.)A side by side comparison show that the Mikuni manifold on the right is made specifically for the HSR42 Carb.(5.)A side by side comparison show that the Mikuni manifold on the right is made specifica (6.)Kazoo installed the new seals onto the manifold and inserted it between the cylinders. (7.)The HSR42 Carb was checked for fit and clearance with the cylinder fins. (8.)After the stock cables checked out okay for wear, we thoroughly lubed them. (9.)The cables were then installed onto the new carburetor. (10.)The carb was bolted to the new manifold and torqued down to factory specification as per Mikuni's service manual.(10.)The carb was bolted to the new manifold and torqued down to factory specification as (11.)The K&N air filter was bolted into place. (12.)The breather bolts were installed and tightened down. (13.)The breather tubes were affixed to the cylinder heads and the back of the air filter. (14.)We lubed the top of the throttle cables as well and checked for smooth operation. (15.)The final tightening of the breather bolts brought a close to our installation. (16.)At a glace, it doesn't look like we did much to improve the bike, but under that chrome air cleaner cover lurks one smooth operator.(16.)At a glace, it doesn't look like we did much to improve the bike, but under that chro Parts HSR42 Smoothbore Total Carb Kit PN 4219 $649 SOURCES Mikuni 8910 Mikuni Avenue Northridge CA 91324 818-885-1242 www.mikuni.com Freedom Cycles 1520 W. Katella Ave. Orange CA 714-628-0049 www.freedomcyclesoc.com By Jeff G. Holt Enjoyed this Post? Subscribe to our RSS Feed, or use your favorite social media to recommend us to friends and colleagues!
