Well I´m not going to castrate my bike.....but it seems to me that if you don´t ride hard, but more cruise around at low to medium speed/revs the single carb does the job well enough.Why single carb? To me, putting a single carb on a Commando is like castrating a fine bull.
I´m just right down there....at sea level.the 34 mik does hava bit of a different sound at idle, but it runs just fine and the the right jetting is posted here.. just search them out what is your elevation above sea level?
Unfortunatly the bike didn´t have the original Amals when I bought it back after 30+ years, it was equipped with two Mikunis which are from a snowmobile engine I´ve been told. Probably made for 2-strokes. They probably work but I´m going for a single. Maybe I was unclear at the top, my question is if there´s a big difference between a single Mic and a single Mk II Amal.You can run either single or dual Mikunis with the air cleaner backplate still on so you don't have to move the ignition key. I tried both of these setups back in the late 70s but the stock twin Amals gave a better combination of power everywhere.
If you do convert and decide to use the cable kit for the choke, remember that the choke lever will operate backwards.
I'd put the money towards fixing up the existing Amals or getting the new Premiers.
Again I was probably unclear, I was wondering about any difference between a single Mic and a single Mk II Amal. You don´t hear or read much about the Mk II.right below my post is the March 16, 2018 thread on the single Mikuni V twin Amals actual real world Cycle World magazine road test. In short, the report says the single Mikuni idles like a rock and is stronger, the bike is faster, pulls away from a well sorted out twin Amal setup form 50-80 in top gear. It is only in the quarter mile that the twin Amal set up is 4 tenths of a second quicker. The Mikuni 34 has been fitted to Commando for over 40 years now and is very well known, comes correctly jetted from just about every vender, has an excellent choke for one kick starting, and is Cycle World's preferred choice.
Do you have a link to Ken Armani's recommendations?The single Mikuni is lower maintenance. Correct jetting May be an issue since the as supplied isn’t quite right. For reference Ken Armani in San Jose has the perfect jet set recommendation for both 750 and 850 Commandos.
Down side to single Mikuni is you cannot use the stock air cleaner and if your 850 is pre MkIII you will need to figure out where to put the ignition switch bracket. I tried a Mikuni on my ‘72 combat for a brief time then returned to the 932 Amals. It had a really strange idle lope that sounded like a Harley idle as well as the other issues above.
I'm not sure but I think part of the problem here is as you go bigger with a VM say from a 34 to a 36 or 38 the carb will be bigger/taller it forces the cable against the frame backbone and starts it snaggingJust to stray slightly around the topic , i have heard tell of a number of single carb setups which cause excitement on rainy days with the slide hanging up when rolling off the throttle - into corners for instance. Some have even resorted to using the kill switch to slow down for corners.
I have only ever run twin carbs so no direct experience. Perhaps they just don't like being upside down here downunder
No you weren't unclear it's just people misinterpreted your questionAgain I was probably unclear, I was wondering about any difference between a single Mic and a single Mk II Amal. You don´t hear or read much about the Mk II.