I've run a 36 on my '74 years ago, and when I got my MKIII it came with a 38. Neither was my choice, but they were both on the bikes when I got them. In my opinion, neither were as snappy as a well set-up 34 in the mid-range. I'm willing to trade off some of the top end charge to have the good points of the Mikuni. Obviously, this is a personal choice, and I'm not a concentric hater. Currently using a total of four of them (3 on Trident, 1 on Velo) on my other bikes. I've always liked the 34 Mikuni on the Commandos. I think, realistically, it matches my riding style, and what I want perfomance wise. It hardly makes them an old slug, as you already know. The only bad part about wanting to experiment with the bigger carbs, is that you need a new manifold and rubber mount to make the change. I would admit that I think the 36 had a pretty fair top end on my 74. I have no way of proving actual HP numbers, but it seemed a little better than a single 34. 38 didn't work well, so I found a home for it, and fitted a 34 on the MKIII, and it was much stronger in the mid-range. The only thing I've done differently than the Tech Digest settings was to raise the needle one notch - a five minute job! I think that was all it needed, and pulls really strong. Certainly not as strong as dual carbs in the upper RPM ranges, but I've got to be realistic, about the way I ride my Commandos. I'm not racing them, but I do like a fast blast running them up to 5-6k when the light turns green. Single 34 makes a pretty good accounting for itself in those conditions.
As my roomate proved in 1973 when he fitted a Dual Quad Offenhauser tunnel ram to his stock 383 Roadrunner, getting the right carb set up for your needs is important. Never could get that thing to run right, but it looked cool.
