SoCal, welcome to the world of Real Motorcycles. You don't mention in your post if you have ever owned an English motorcycle. I will assume you're new to this whole brit bike thing,so I gotta say, don't let anybody freak you out with horror stories about AMAL carbs, or Joseph Lucas,"The Prince of Darkness" or kickstarters breaking your leg with kickbacks, or any of that rot! I have been riding English bikes for over 30 years, I own 2 Commandos, 3 Triumphs, and 2 BSAs, and I have found Lucas components to be quite reliable. Electric problems are almost invariably wiring faults,especially those little flat spade connectors, called Lucars. The female part has a tendency to lose spring tension over time, and vibrate loose. Cut one off your bike, and take it down to the auto parts store, and match it up. Belden, and Standard Ignition make good replacement Lucars. Replace all the female ones on your bike. You will remember me later,on a dark stretch of highway, if you don't.
AMAL carbs work fine when new, but wear out relatively quickly. They can be resleeved,and the needles, and jets etc. replaced to bring them back up to snuff, or new replacements are quite affordable. The single Mikuni set up, by Sudco, and others, offers a nice, loping 600 rpm idle, smooth around town, low and midrange, performance, and simplified tuning. You won't get the throttle response, or top end "run out " with the single carb, that you will get with the dual AMALS. I have also found the AMAL set up to be a much easier cold starter than the Mikuni. My '71 750 Roadster is set up with the single Mikuni. My '73 850 Interstate has the stock AMALs. Both bikes have the stock, points ignition.
As far as starting your Norton goes, I can't comment on the switch position, because, unfortunatly, neither of mine have had the stock switchgear since before I owned them. So, once you have figured out where your switches need to be, with the gas taps(both) turned on, bike on centrestand, trans must be in neutral. Pull in clutch, and cycle kickstart a couple of times, just to free up the clutch plates. If you have AMALs, dispense with the choke altogether, just tickle both carbs. This means push down on those little buttons on the carbs, till gas flows out all over your finger, and dribbles down all over your nice clean cases. ( NO Smoking!)
If its a Mikuni, just push the lever all the way down. It is not really a "choke" but actually opens a separate circuit in the carb, and will not work unless fully depressed.
With the clutch let out, and the bike on the centrestand, push the kickstarter down till you feel compression. Leave the throttle closed, and kick through hard, and fast, with all your weight, and follow through. Don't worry, it won't kick back unless your timing is off. It will probably start on the first kick. Mine always do.
PS: If your bike for some reason doesn't have a centrestand, get one.
Never sit on your Commando on the sidestand, or you will break the little pivot tab right off the frame, and possibly leave a big hole in your frame.
I learned this the hard way! :cry:
