a question of carbs

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EnglishRich

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hi

I'm a new one to the norton experience and am debating on the carbs to run..amals or mikunis
Any comparisons with performance and staying dialed in?

Thanks,

EnglishRich
 
There are one or two adherants of either there , also a broad outlook illustrates their position in the grand scheme of things.
After all , the world is flat . :lol:
 
The problem is in actually getting an answer to your question because there are very many happy Commando owners who run a single Mkuni, but seemingly very few who run a single Amal.

So that comparison that you are looking for may be difficult to find.

In addition, while there are many people happily running twin Amals, there are very few running twin Mikunis.

Personally, I have tried to adapt a twin Mikuni set up on my 850, but without success as i had difficulty fiddling with them all the time. One of the problems is that the carb bodies are wider than Amals and also I think taller so just
physically getting them to fit was a problem with my brief experiment.

But your question is clear, you are interested in direct Mikuni to Amal comparison reviews, and it must be limited to twin versus twin and single versus single, apparently.
 
Two Amals are twice as easy to tune as 2 Mikunis.
One Mikuni is thrice as easy to tune as 2 Amals.
One Amal is to weak to mention.
If you are new to Nortons and British motorcycle tuning then you have two viable options.
1. Amals have improved and if you want to experience the reality of a Norton, you should commit to mastering the Amals.
2. A single Mikuni is a piece of cake to tune and no sync-ing. Smooth easy running with solid idle, fair acceleration, may be weak on the top end.
 
Hi Rick, welcome to the assylum. Firstly you don't mention where you are? Are you wide open roads, very little traffic, temperate climate. And secondly what you want from your steed. Grin splitting smile on your face or being able to pull up at a set of lights and not worry about stalling. If you post these answers I'll throw in my twopennth FWIW.
 
Don't forget about JS motorsports flat slide dual set up option. Very reasonably priced, ( I think ),with many reports of really good performance and even better customer service. check it out on their web site. Cj
 
pvisseriii said:
2. A single Mikuni is a piece of cake to tune and no sync-ing. Smooth easy running with solid idle, fair acceleration, may be weak on the top end.
Click to expand...

I agree with most of your comments, however:

Fair acceleration???...unless you're prepping & planning for the Daytona Vintage races, a TM34 Mikuni smooth-bore will perform just as well as your fellow Nortoneer riding beside you w/ his dual Amals. Seriously, vitually no difference....it really boils down to has the bigger balls.

Weak on the Top End???? Again, if you're not trying to out-gun Windy or Hobot, top end for 99.9% of the members on this site means nothing....I mean, who here really ever approaches "top end"? My TM34 propels me to 90+ without even pushing it....sheesh...I have no interest in going any faster....there really shouldn't be a debate about this. Unless you're OCD about "original" equipment, buy a TM34...dial it in...set & forget...ride your Norton...instead of tinkering with it.
 
cmessenk said:
pvisseriii said:
2. A single Mikuni is a piece of cake to tune and no sync-ing. Smooth easy running with solid idle, fair acceleration, may be weak on the top end.
Click to expand...

I agree with most of your comments, however:

Fair acceleration???...unless you're prepping & planning for the Daytona Vintage races, a TM34 Mikuni smooth-bore will perform just as well as your fellow Nortoneer riding beside you w/ his dual Amals. Seriously, vitually no difference....it really boils down to has the bigger balls.

Weak on the Top End???? Again, if you're not trying to out-gun Windy or Hobot, top end for 99.9% of the members on this site means nothing....I mean, who here really ever approaches "top end"? My TM34 propels me to 90+ without even pushing it....sheesh...I have no interest in going any faster....there really shouldn't be a debate about this. Unless you're OCD about "original" equipment, buy a TM34...dial it in...set & forget...ride your Norton...instead of tinkering with it.
Click to expand...

And I agree with you. Been there done that with the TM and the VM. TM is truly a great performer, just not as easy to get right. Now that I run the twin flatside from JS, anything else compared is just "seems" fair I guess. I guess I'm spoiled now.
 
Cant remember ever haveing to touch the Mk IIs , apart from Jet ' experimentation ' , and the 14 in manifolds tried at one stage wernt entirely a success .Were supposed to be equal of any on introduction .
Even if they did have plastic top covers .Actually , without the two cables in the top there they had less to go wrong , and intro'd the funny hollow acceleration nrichment jet .

Common whinge in the day was the old Mk 1 concentrics were loose and irregular by 5.000 miles .WEAR being the main complaint . :?:

The priority would be to have ' As New ' carbs on a fresh engine , with parameters for jetting pre established , no matter what the brand .
 
thanks for all the replies

I'm an Englishman in Northern Wi. Up by the Apostle islands....( don't ask)....not much traffic, wide open roads but awful blacktop and deer to dodge
Very new to Nortons though my twin brother back home renovated one a while back.
So I'm thinking a single mikuni 34 will do what I want it to do....
thanks again

I'm off home for a few weeks so will post some pics of the old girl when I get back
She's going to need some serious attention...
 
EnglishRich said:
hi

I'm a new one to the norton experience and am debating on the carbs to run..amals or mikunis
Any comparisons with performance and staying dialed in?

Thanks,

EnglishRich
Click to expand...


It's about expectation as the others have said. I'm one of the love my sleeved Amal 932 crowd. They work quite well and everthing such as the air filter and ignition switch fit since it's all stock. I have a single Mikuni VM34 set up and have used it. Idle can be set lower than the Amals, but the idle with one carb makes my engine sound like an idling Sportster....don't like that. If you want to change from the original Amals...the twin flat slides sound like the way to go.
 
If it is cold and wet you may experience carb sticking problems with a single mikuni, but it is fix able
 
Wow, how nice to have a thread on Amal/Mikuni carbs and having sensible reasoned and balanced replys with no ranting, raving and child like hysterics. Can't comment on the Mikuni as I have never tried one, put a single Amal on my 750 for a day and it just didn't feel right and it felt like I was trying to fix something that wasn't broken and went back to the twin Amals. If you like the look of the ham can airbox then it really has to be one ore two Amals although I think someone has succesfully slimed one down and fitted a different element to work with a Mikuni otherwise its pancake filters.
 
I recently replaced my sleeved original Amal 32s with a pair of new Premiers. Unfortunately, I ordered 30s, but decided to use them anyway. I have to say I am very pleased with how the bike runs and its response to tuning changes. The Premiers seem to behave a lot more like "instruments" as compared to the originals. Of course, the old ones had about 13,000 miles of use and had warped and been machined/sleeved. But I was never happy with the post-sleeve clearance.

Still thinking about trying those JS flat-slides at some point.
Mark
 
If you just want simplicity than a single VM 34 Mic kit is hard to beat, bolt it on and forget it. you will have great mid range and bottom end with a slight loss in top end but most of your riding it NOT top end anyway. if you want originality than a new set of the premier amals would be the way to go with the improved parts.
 
I still have the MK I Amals that are nearing their useful life. I like the idea of simplicity, but somehow a single carb just doesn't appeal to me. It's more a machismo thing with me. Two carbs___Arh!, Arh! ( Tim Taylor, Home Improvement)
 
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