I've been off my feet for a few months due to surgery and was unable to go out and start my bike up the whole time. i went out last week to start it and it started right up, but a few seconds of running i started getting a good amount of fuel coming from what looks like a breather tube coming out of the top of the carb and out of the exhaust as well. what should i do?

If you change the exhaust pipes, you have to sync the carbs (if you cant sync them, you have to change the carb jets), usually it is backfiring because the carbs are not in balance.

Charge it, or hook up jumper cables, wait a few minutes before you actually try to start it. Make the ground to the running engine the last connection you make.

It sounds like your bike is running too lean, which is to say that it's not drawing enough gasoline through the carbs to match the air that's coming in through the air intake. Pulling out the choke reduces the amount of air coming in, creating a richer air/fuel mixture.

The most common cause for this problem is that one or more jets have gummed up slightly and so aren't able to pull through the right amount of gasoline. This happens a lot with modern gasoline if the bike has been permitted to sit for a while without being run (I've heard it can happen in only a few weeks; I've experienced it if I let my bike set 2-3 months). The idle jets that use use when you first start the bike or when the bike is just, well, idling, have the smallest diameters and are most prone to clogging.

The comprehensive solution to this problem would be to pull the carbs and completely clean them out. The whole bike will run better after you do that. The faster solution would be to clean only the idle jets, which occasionally can be removed from a carburetor while it's still in place on the bike. You might be able to do that for the two outer carbs on your bike, but I question whether you'd be able to do that with the inner 2 carbs.

Cleaning the jets themselves is the easiest part of the process--getting to them is the problem. The jets are made of soft brass, so you can use a a toothpick and/or a piece of very thin copper wire (it's softer than brass) to clear the jets. Simply using compressed air and/or carb cleaner is unlikely to get the crud out, though you can use all of these things together to get the job done. I sometimes soak the jet with cleaner, then poke it clear, then blow some air through it to get out any residual particles.

Pulling and reinstalling the carbs may require them to be re-synchronized. This, too, would make your bike idle and run better. However, if all you've done is remove, clear, and reinstall the idle jets, you may not have to synchronize the carbs, as you've done nothing to change their present settings.

Good luck!

Before I started "opening it up", I'd try to determine why the front cylinder is not running. You gave me absolutely nothing to work with here other than it has been sitting for a "few weeks". Specifically how long is a "few weeks". Even though the gasoline we buy these days is pretty poor quality, it will still last more than a few weeks unless that few weeks is more like a few months. Usually an engine does not break when it's not running but there are a few things that can go wrong. A tappet could collapse and then stick causing a loud noise but even with a collapsed tappet, I've seen them run. You could have a spark plug fouled and not firing. Since Harley uses a dual fire type ignition where both plugs fire every time the pistons come to top dead center, if one plug fires, then the other should be firing. That covers the ignition and compression, leaving only fuel. You failed to say if the engine was equipped with a carburetor or fuel injected. Since it's missing only on one cylinder I have the tendency to think that it may be fuel injected. If so, that's where I'd look to begin with. If it's a carbureted engine, look for a vacuum leak somewhere feeding the missing cylinder.

Good Luck
steve

Blue smoke is usually a cracked piston ring or worn out oil ring.
The only time the valves should be suspect is if the valves were recently lapped or replaced.
It's possible in those cases that the valve seals might leak oil into the cylinder.
Most often though, you will be looking at the piston rings, and the cylinder itself might need to be honed or bored.
If the cylinders need to be bored because of gouging due to scraping of the cracked or shattered rings, then you will need an oversize piston and rings to fit the new bore.

Sounds like you have a problem with one of your sensors

There could be any number of reasons for the problem that you described. Your spark plugs could be fouled. Sportsters are very sensitive to this and they are notorious for not want to "clear themselves up" like Big Twins will do. Check your plugs to see if they're fouled.
Next, how long has the bike been sitting? If it has sat up for over three or four months, the carburetor is probably gummed up on the inside due the fuel in the float bowl evaporating and leaving the "varnish" behind to plug up the jets in the carb. You need to take the carb off and thoroughly clean it inside. Then, what type of carb do you have on the bike? You say you adjusted the carb but what did you adjust. If you have the stock carb, gently bottom the idle mixture screw then come back out about 1 1/2 turns. If it's an S&S carb, gently bottom the mixture screw and come back out about 3/4 turns. This is a good starting point for the adjustment on either carb. Make sure you've got fresh fuel in the tank as well. Old fuel just won't run right and todays fuel doesn't last but about 6-9 months before it's flat. Be careful about running the engine for times over 15 minutes from a cold start without a fan or something blowing on it. Sitting still and running for extended periods of time can overheat the top end.

Good Luck
Steve

I think I would change the petrol in the tank as it may have become a bit stale. Also I would replace the battery.Make certain the replacement battery in fully charged before you try again.

Had the same problem. I had to remove battery, take apart the battery terminals, sand them a little, then put it all back together. Make sure the screw on the front of the terminal holding the inner bar in place if very tight. Have had no problem ever sense. Good luck.