Single Mikuni or Amal Premiers??

B

Benrobson2999

Joined
Apr 25, 2014
Messages
13
Afternoon

No doubt this question has come up before. I have been trawling the interent recently and speaking to different people with vastly different opinions on this.

In a nut shell, my Amals are worn and the bike runs badly. I need to replace carbs. The question is, with a single VM34 Mikuni conversion kit for £248 from Motocarb or a pair of Amal Premiers from Amal or RGM for £260.

Part of me can't bring myself to stick a Jap carb on my british bike. I like the idea of keeping the old starting sequence of tickling the carbs etc as it is all part of the Norton experience. I like the look of the old air box.

However I have had loads of trouble with the old carbs recently and it is Summer now almost and I want a good reliable bike to ride. A mate swears by the Mikuni and says anyone who rides a Commando reguarly would do the conversion.

Reviews, opinions for and against most welcome!
Thanks Ben
 
This one should provide many hours of entertainment!

IMHO: Mikuni's are better carbs, nicer instruments. But the Amals do work really well on old Brit bikes. Perhaps Amal engineers back in the day actually knew what they were doing?!

General concensus is that the single Mik reduces the 'go' above 5000 or there abouts. I personally think this is more likely down the the manifold, and the tight turns the gas has to make.

I ran a single 36mm Mik and it ran fine, I now have a brace of 35mm FCRs but they're a different topic altogether.

A friend recently put a lot of effort into fitting a single MK2 Amal on his MK3 and got it running sweet. He then fitted a pair of very low mileage original MK1s and was quite surprised by the "very noticeable" increase in over all performance.

I've personally never tried the Premiers, but it seems that everyone who has, only speaks well of them.

In your shoes, I'd fit the Premiers.

I will be very surprised, if by the end of this thread, your mind is any clearer!!
 
I suspect very few people have real experience with both setups so all you will get is "I like my [whatever] setup".
So in that vein, I went from old Amals to PWK s to Premiers.
Bike and I are very happy with door number three.
 
What is YOUR skillset? Does the thought of synching two carbs/cables give you the vapours? Or just another day at the office? You tell us..... :mrgreen:
 
+1 for Amal Premiers. I ride regularly and the new carbs don't miss a beat and I didn't have to modify a thing like I would have had to with an alternative carburettor.
 
My 850 came with a single Mikuni and the bike's performance was mediocre ( I also thought it just looked wrong ) .
Yes, the jetting was correct for my bike acording to Sudco. I installed dual carbs (pwk's) and the performance increase was huge.
I wouldn't hesitate to buy a new set of Premiers. Commando's run best with dual carbs IMHO.
 
just to add to your dilemma How about the new Wassell Evolution carburettor ?

Anodised slides / removable pilot jet Premier look alike but only £170.00 per pair
 
I ran a Mikuni 34 on my 850 for 15 years and it was just fine, started and idled great, flowed enough air for a civilized experience

then two years ago I sold it and installed the new Amal Premiers, starts and idles a well as the Mikuni

but the big difference is when you crack the throttle open above around 4500rpm, the Premiers simply flow more air, thus stronger

Once installed they have required no additional synching or tampering with

the Mikuni is simple and sensible

the dual Premiers make the Commando sound and accelerate harder, for me that makes them preferable, and they are English!
 
You answered your own question. You don't like the thought of a Japanese carb on a Norton and you like the looks of the original airfilter and also the starting sequence. So, in the words of Meatloaf, "what's it gonna be boy?" Choices of the two are...

Worn out Amals or new Mikuni? - Go with Mikuni.
Worn out Amals or new Premier Amals - Go with Premiers.
New Mikuni or new Premier Amals - Go with Premier Amals.

Way back when, before this forum, hell, before the internet or even cell phones, I was chasing poor fueling issues on the very same bike I still have. Got convinced a single 34 mm Mikuni would be "the cats nuts", I still remember how castrated the bike felt with it installed.
 
Ben,
You sure are on the fence about this, the practical side vs the romantic.

I have had them all, old Amals, New old Amals, single MKII, 30mm, 32'smm, Premiers, VM36, TM34 and TM40.

If an 850, then look to the VM36 or the TM34 and you will not lose nearly as much up top.

However, to spit the emotional difference, the Premiers really deserve the chance to satisify. Yes, there maybe a little tweaking to be done at first, as with the Mikuni, but they should hold there setting much better than old stuff. If the Premiers do not work out, you should be able to offer them reasonably with little monitary loss.
 
i run my 750 with a tm40 i have had a pair of worn out 32mm mk1s brand new pair of 32mm mk1s a single 32mmCV mikuni a single 34mm VM mikuni a single 36mm VM mikuni by far the best has been the tm40 perfect tickover pulls into the red but you do need a 40mm inlet manifold ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,baz
 
Single Mikuni or Amal Premiers??
 
Roadrash said:
Single Mikuni or Amal Premiers??
Click to expand...
did you have to post that photo!! this is by far the best looking setup in my opinion makes me want to re fit my old amals again but i wont because i ride the bike too much i think that if i didnt commute on the bike i would get them off the shelf and polish them up and re fit them they really suit the bike ,,,,,,,,,,,,baz
 
In a 40 year relationship with my 1970 Commando (currently scattered all over the garage floor post big end seize) I have had 30mm amals, 32mm amals, single 32mm amal mk1, single 32mm amal mk2, SU, single VM 34 mikuni. twin PKM flat slides. The SU was good but difficult to start, Mikuni good but only just got to the ton, Amals (not premiers) poor pickup and slow running round town. Single Mk2 Amal with velocity stack, good but froze open, (interesting), JS flat slides best off the line by a royal mile but need bigger jets to those supplied to deliver top end. Can't comment on Premiers but the chrome plated brass slide of the Mik is a proper engineering job compared with anodised monkey metal shite that Amal produce. If you want to stick with Amals I would go down the bored out body and brass sleeve option but I haven't done it myself, yet. Twin Amals probably flow the most air but need some proper engineering to be taken seriously.
 
Man, I've noted that some of the last posters to this thread have a lot of experience with different brand and carb configuration. Five, six, separate set-ups in some cases. I have to wonder, were these all on the same machine? I would think they would have to be for an accurate comparison. But I can't comprehend the hundreds and hundreds if not thousands of $'s spent throwing carbs at a Norton looking for that elusive "Honda" tick-over along with arm wrenching performance.
 
Biscuit said:
Man, I've noted that some of the last posters to this thread have a lot of experience with different brand and carb configuration. Five, six, separate set-ups in some cases. I have to wonder, were these all on the same machine? I would think they would have to be for an accurate comparison. But I can't comprehend the hundreds and hundreds if not thousands of $'s spent throwing carbs at a Norton looking for that elusive "Honda" tick-over along with arm wrenching performance.
Click to expand...

Biscuit, In my case it is sort of relative. Earlier before the JS1, BSA lifters and Beehive setups, it was just a case of having fun with different setups to test and ride.

When transfering over to the new setup (JS stuff) I was currently using the PWK's from JS. At this point I had issue with cam timing and getting the carbs to make this cam come alive like i wanted it to. The PWK didn't do it, so I got the premiers. Although very good, I wasn't totally satisfied and need to experiment with the big hunch.
The big hunch was the TM/HS40 pumper setup that i currently run.

Basically, I have a hard time leaving well enough alone but having gone through what i have gone through and arriving to where my bike is now, I am at peace with my configuration. If feel strange, but OK.

FWIW, I would not recommend the 40mm pumper to a stock machine but for a "Hot Street" (stage 1) machine, it is my ticket.

As for Ben, I feel his conscience will guide him.
 

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