carby

gday to all ,new kid on the block here from the big island,for some reason i havent come across this forum before,anyway,i'm thinking about doing a carby conversion,what do you all reckon on single carbs?,is it a good idea,and what sort of carb is the go? catch ya's :wink:
eddie

Eddie

This discussion hasn't been covered in a while and like the points vs. electronic ignition subject has divergent points of view. Here's my take for what it's worth:

Original Amals; usually real bad shape by now on most bikes unless they've been re-sleeved. Figure at least $100 US per carb to set them right, which should give 20k mi or more service before needing any serious attention. Keeping them balanced is a little bit of a pain, but the plusses are; good top end power, look original, least trouble since nothing needs to be adapted like air cleaners or cables. Amal re-pops seem to be getting bad reviews for quality, concensus says stick with the originals if you can.

Single carb; Usually a kit, they cost about $250 US for a 32 mm Mikuni with everything you need to make the swap. I've seen other kits that use a single Amal or larger Mikunis, but the most popular seems to be the 32 mm set up. The blokes (can I use this not being from down under?) that have them seem to think they're the way to go but all admit to a drop off in top end power as a trade for the convenience of not having to fiddle with the balancing. I don't recall what the durability is vs the Amals, maybe some of the other members can advise on that. Generally once set up they tend to be trouble free.

Thats about it in a nutshell, hope it helps and welcome to the forum.

Scooter

Carby.

G'day cobber!
I run a 1974 850 with a single 32mm Amal, sleeved and chromed slide, the motor pulls strongly and plenty of top end. 31/2 slide, 260 main jet, 106 pilot, the needle is a special from Norvil I think, it is marked U1 above the rings, needle clip is in the bottom clip groove.N3 plugs. Good luck, welcome to the forum, ride safely. James.

eddie craft

Another "big southern Island'er" here ~ ceptin I live in the best part of all ~ LOL

I have stayed with the 932 Amals and have stainless sleeves etc.

I did endeavour to win a set of 32mm Delloroto's on Ebay , but missed out by $1.50 .. I am sure these too would have worked well !

But after a lot of foot work and discussion on line with bikers (MSN) locally and OS , including traders and general bikers overall ~ I believe the general concensus has been to stick with the Amals ..

They can be right cows, as I have found.. but they are simple and relatively easy to tune.. parts are cheap and easily acessible ~

My experience with Mikuni conversion apart from having fun with pilot jetting is that there is a small drop off in top end performance which I do not give a hoot about because I do not go around screaming the thing anyway, I have a modern Triumph for that! However, the Mikuni is far better engineered than an Amal & starts first kick & above all gives a reliable tickover & great fuel economy, so for practical everyday road use its well worth doing.

Consider an ex-HD Keihin CV with a MAP manifold and adaptor. The carb can be had cheap.....mine was free from a guy who had fitted a 450 dollar S&S conversion to his 883/1200 Sportster conversion. It has an accelerator pump and gives good mileage, and good performance, if you are willing to do the work. The vacuum port needs to be slightly enlarged, softer spring fitted, a few jet changes, and the bike needs a free flowing exhaust.