Should Amal slides be out of round?

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Having problems with my Amals idling so at the advice of a pretty good Brit bike mechanic, I was dismantling my carbs to send in for a resleeve. According to the PO the carbs were pretty much "new" when I got the bike and I have put very few miles on it. The bore on the Amals look pretty good but the slides have wear marks. I measured the slides for out of roundness and both slides measure .004 difference with measurements 90 degrees from each other. One slide is 1.366 - 1.370 and the other is 1.369 - 1.373. Both slides slide easily in their respective carbs and there doesn't seem to be a lot of slop when slide in the idle area. Just don't want to do a sleeve job around bad slides or maybe a sleeve job is not my answer. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
 
You could try the anodized slides, that's what I'm going to try first. If you get them re-sleeved, you loose your air control, may not be an issue.

Dave
69S
 
Hey yellow-cad,
When mine were done (sleeved), the bore was machined slightly as well.
If it's not, then you would be left with a marked, worn born.
AC.
 
DogT said:
You could try the anodized slides, that's what I'm going to try first. If you get them re-sleeved, you loose your air control, may not be an issue.

Dave
69S

No you don't lose the air control (choke). The sleeve is around the outside of the slide and does not interfere with the choke provisions.
 
batrider said:
No you don't lose the air control (choke). The sleeve is around the outside of the slide and does not interfere with the choke provisions.
Well that's good to know, I was told the obverse.

Dave
 
Unless you are more interested in original looks than how well your bike performs, why not simply consign the Amals to the bin and fit JS flatslides or Mikunis, both of which are appreciably better than your OE parts?
 
I can't complain about any of my Commando's performance fitted with simple AMAL Mk1 concentrics, and that includes the race bike with considerable surplus in performance over a very wide power band.
Comparing worn-out Amals with new wondercarbs will always have a predictable result. Let's wait till those wondercarbs are 30-40 years old and recompare!
I do run (on the race bike) chromium plated slides (no longer available), on my road bikes the anodized ones, though. Highly recommended.
Joe S.
 
Carbonfibre said:
Unless you are more interested in original looks than how well your bike performs, why not simply consign the Amals to the bin and fit JS flatslides or Mikunis, both of which are appreciably better than your OE parts?

It seems that the record is stuck in the groove again.

Based on extensive forum surveillance, I've begun to compose a list of things that 'CF' actively dislikes :-

(In no particular order)

1) Nortons

2) Motorcycles made in England

3) Featherbed Frames

4) Isolastic Frames

5) Amal Carbs

6) The owners / riders / enthusiasts for any of the above.

All of which rather raises the question...Why the f*ck does he spend so much time on this forum ?
 
Thankyou 79x100, I found Carbonfibre's reply irritating.
I have found the slides to be out of round as well. Weird.
I am contemplating Anodised slides. I wonder, would these be a better fit.
 
DogT said:
batrider said:
No you don't lose the air control (choke). The sleeve is around the outside of the slide and does not interfere with the choke provisions.
Well that's good to know, I was told the obverse.

Dave

AMR still offers a "rebore" service, and their process destroys the ability to use the choke slide.

http://amr-of-tucson.com/concen~1.htm

Others offer different services that do not interfer with the ability to use the choke slide. Lund Machining for one, and one of our members , bchessel was doing this upon request. If you are not familiar with the vendor you choose I would ask to make sure.

http://www.amalsleeve.com/
 
Carbonfibre said:
Unless you are more interested in original looks than how well your bike performs, why not simply consign the Amals to the bin and fit JS flatslides or Mikunis, both of which are appreciably better than your OE parts?

Why bother to have sex? The process is sloppy and not very efficient when compared to modern assisted reproductive techniques.
 
Thanks Rich, well that clears it up. I haven't decided my direction on the carbs yet.

I always thought that with sex, the position is awkward, the pleasure fleeting and the results disastrous.

Dave
69S
 
After some "thin wire "fiddeling in an attempt to check the pilot bush's [.016] hole is not crusted up, I have not come up with a device to clear the two vertical holes . I refere to the one's that exit into the inlet tract, from the mixing chamber, one each side of the slide edge...How do i ensure they are clear :?: Reason i ask is the bike as a poor tick over.
 
john robert bould said:
I have not come up with a device to clear the two vertical holes . I refere to the one's that exit into the inlet tract, from the mixing chamber, one each side of the slide edge...How do i ensure they are clear

http://www.roadtankerspares.com/worksho ... eaners.php

I'm sure a person such as yourself has a set of welding tip cleaners lying around somewhere?

No.1 can also be used to clear the pilot jet.
 
Lab, would that require removing the carbs , and slides,then extending the nozzle cleaner to get in them from the carb top :?: The two holes are originaly drilled from beneath and then a silly cap is pressed in,and then a ring punch makes it impossible to remove ..well not impossible..but renders the carb tricky to repair. Simply twriggling a .016 wire into the bush, does not mean the fuel /air can exit via the two holes :?:
 
john robert bould said:
would that require removing the carbs , and slides,then extending the nozzle cleaner to get in them from the carb top

Yes. If the tip cleaner set is narrow enough, then it will easily fit into the slide bore.


john robert bould said:
The two holes are originaly drilled from beneath and then a silly cap is pressed in,and then a ring punch makes it impossible to remove ..well not impossible..but renders the carb tricky to repair. Simply twriggling a .016 wire into the bush, does not mean the fuel /air can exit via the two holes

Exactly, so compressed air and/or carb cleaner may also be necessary?
If the pilot fuel and air gallery inlet holes are covered and then carb cleaner (or WD40) is squirted into the open pilot air screw hole it should jet up out of both pilot holes if they are clear. You can swap around and squirt the carb cleaner in through each hole (fuel-air-pilot screw) in turn and even use the long tube of the spray can to blow directly into the pilot holes.
http://www.amalcarb.co.uk/TechnicalDetail.aspx?id=11
Should Amal slides be out of round?

http://www.jba.bc.ca/Bushmans%20Carb%20Tuning.html
Should Amal slides be out of round?
 
And make sure there are no air leaks at the float bowl joints. If air is drawn in it can mess up the idle.

Should Amal slides be out of round?
 
79x100 said:
Carbonfibre said:
Unless you are more interested in original looks than how well your bike performs, why not simply consign the Amals to the bin and fit JS flatslides or Mikunis, both of which are appreciably better than your OE parts?

It seems that the record is stuck in the groove again.

Based on extensive forum surveillance, I've begun to compose a list of things that 'CF' actively dislikes :-

(In no particular order)

1) Nortons

2) Motorcycles made in England

3) Featherbed Frames

4) Isolastic Frames

5) Amal Carbs

6) The owners / riders / enthusiasts for any of the above.

All of which rather raises the question...Why the f*ck does he spend so much time on this forum ?


I quite like most old bikes, but cant honestly see that bullshit which isnt really very accurate posted on the net related to them, is likely to help anyone much? In the case of Amal carbs have a look through the thousands of posts all around the net concerning these carbs, and take in all the weird and wonderful remedies suggested by people trying to get them to work reasonably well.
 
L.A.B. said:
Exactly, so compressed air and/or carb cleaner may also be necessary?
If the pilot fuel and air gallery inlet holes are covered and then carb cleaner (or WD40) is squirted into the open pilot air screw hole it should jet up out of both pilot holes if they are clear. You can swap around and squirt the carb cleaner in through each hole (fuel-air-pilot screw) in turn and even use the long tube of the spray can to blow directly into the pilot holes.
http://www.amalcarb.co.uk/TechnicalDetail.aspx?id=11
Should Amal slides be out of round?

http://www.jba.bc.ca/Bushmans%20Carb%20Tuning.html
Should Amal slides be out of round?

I was spraying carb cleaner into the pilot air screw hole as described above and discovered quite by surprise that the plug (marked "gas side is plugged") in the drawing was leaking. I put a smear of goo on it to seal it and it improved idling considerably.

Russ
 
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