Forum

[Alan R]

----------Aha !!-- SNAP !!--- As young lads my neighbour and I recovered a 500cc Ariel Red Hunter that had been abandoned / stolen ?? in the local duck pond near where we went fishing. We recovered it to his back garden where, during the next 6 months or so it provided us with lots of "Hands-on" experience & in "real-time" of all sorts----------------- untill it back-fired abd set that big, cream saddle alight !! His Dad ordered it out and away it went to the local scrap man ---------AAArrrgghhhhhhhh !! Oh well. Lots of lessons learnt. Older ?? Alas, YES. WISER ??--- well, if we were we wouldn't be on this forum, eh ?? Might I ask in which country are you know ?? Perhaps we could save you some money and export our rain to you---just for fun you understand ...LoL.

[CaliforniaModelG]

Alan R, I am in California just north of San Francisco. Thanks for the offer of rain but I will pass on that one. And yes, we are clearly no wiser if we are still fiddling with and riding these old bombs!

Any idea where would be the best place to list my bronze Amal 276 for sale? Presumably somewhere antique motorcycle collectors are looking....and I wonder what it is worth? Alternatively I could start by replacing the entire float bowl and works and see if that solves the leaks and keep this apparently rare carb even though it is not strictly correct for the bike.

[Alan R]

Ah well---in this case then it really is THE California, as in the good old you ess of A then ?? Lucky you indeed.Joyce & I are saving up to do the "Route 66" experience whilst I can still throw my leg over !!!( a saddle, that is). Over here THE OLD BIKE MART is a popular, newspaper-format that appeals mainly to the Vintage and Classic era. types----THE MOTORCYCLE,....CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE MAGAZINE,....REAL CLASSIC are more the glossy mag. types. Isn't there a water conservation programme going on in your area at the moment ?? Must be all those aw-ran-gez growing there LoL !! here's an idea }--- Buy a brand new 276 from Burslem. Have the Bronze one professionally polished, burnished and mounted on a varnished, dark oak plinth ?? A really nice talking point in your lounge ?? Best regards----------

[CaliforniaModelG]

Alan,
Very far north of orange groves here in San Francisco. We have roughly the same climate as Porto, Portugal.
If you really want a challenge look up the Cannonball Run for pre 1930s bikes. They finished their run here just last week. True adventure!
http://www.antiquemotorcycle.org/index. ... eturnid=97

[simon]

I always think its a shame to replace original bits like bronze carbs on old machines. Two reasons spring immediately to mind. Firstly these old bikes are pretty much historical pieces and their value is directly linked to their originality. Of course if the bronze carb isn't the original then this isn't such an issue but my second point is what's the point in collecting and repairing old machines if you are simply going to replace all the old bits with new? I can understand the desire to have the machine working and safe but at least the old original bits should be kept as provenance. A third point (do I hear a groan?) is that as a mechanical object a carb is reparable. My friend with the pre war Panther has a totally renovated a bronze 29 Amal that now works perfectly but it didn't start out that way. The good thing is that these carbs come completely to pieces and can be fettled, sleeved and restored like any other bit of a bike. For me this is a considerable part of the pleasure of the whole pursuit. Like all these things there is madness at either extreme but I thought I'd throw in my bit on the repair rather than the replace side.

[Old Enfield]

Your original carb should be a ally/mazak or whatever the metal is 276BL/1A long neck. If its a bronze carb its probably all wrong, are the internals at the correct spec? Is the float ball a Zero Degree bowl?