how should i check for leaks

Use starting fluid on a cold motor. Use the straw so you can aim it in there. Start it up and give little squirts at the manifold to motor and mani to carb. Be sure and keep it away from the carb mouth or you will get a false reading. For exhaust use incense, a cigarette or smoke gun. Start it up and see the the smoke gets blown around where ever it might be leaking.

Since no one has asked this question. Do you have baffles?? Open pipes will cause this problem also. When I had my samson big guns I ran them for a time without baffles and had this same problem, I got tired of hearing it so I put the baffles back in and problem solved. Just a thought.

Mine has shot flames out before. Only when it wasn't warmed up good. The night I took the AIS off I couldn't wait until the next day and went for a ride that night. It was shooting flames out with each backfire until it warmed up. Never noticed it again.

have baffles in...it is pretty much just backfiring but its flaming while backfiring...is it possible that it is because my pipes are so short? does anyone with short shots or stubbies have a problem with backfiring a flame...i should be specific, the backfiring sounds like someone is firing a gun it is pretty damn loud... i havent gotten a chance to pull the plugs or check for leaks today i am hoping tomorrow i will have more time...wouldnt putting on my stubbies after having stock pipes on the bike open it up more and actually lean it out a bit? if thats the case why do i have too much fuel going in that it is unburnt? The shop i brought it to for my recall also cleaned my carb so i guess i need to open it up to see what they did as far as retuning it

I have the Short Shots and I do backfire a little on decel coming of high RPM...but not like a gun going off and pretty sure there's no flames...but honestly I haven't noticed. I do run baffles.

In high school my friend had a Datsun 210 with boom tube exhaust...on decel he would turn off the ignition, the boom tubes would fill with unburnt gas fumes and he've turn the ignition back on and KABOOOOOM!!! The boom tubes were 4" diameter and they were the full length of the door sill between the wheels and they filled with gas...when it went of it sounded like bomb and flame would shoot 4-5 feet out the side of the car. That was a heck of a lot of fun especially in front of school with a few hundred kids.

Are you getting bad mileage now...since the carb was cleaned out at the dealer? Maybe your plugs will tell you?

Besides starting fluid, I've heard that WD-40 works good on the rubber manifold to check for leaks. Just use the the little straw to spray it on the manifold with the engine running and listen for a distinct change in rpm's.

Tom...you reminded me of how we would get some of the exhaust off our cars in school, when we were ready to change it. Speed way up, let off the gas, engine off, pump the 4 bbl. like crazy, and fire it back up. muffler pieces flyin' every which way.

Blackroadie Tom...you reminded me of how we would get some of the exhaust off our cars in school, when we were ready to change it. Speed way up, let off the gas, engine off, pump the 4 bbl. like crazy, and fire it back up. muffler pieces flyin' every which way. .

and they said all of the redneks were in the south, we did it too

im gettin about 43 or so mpg never less than 40 even wtih my gf on the bike for a full tank so i dont think im very rich, if i back out the pms wont that richen my mixture a little? and then gimme more unburnt fuel to burn up