Hitchcocks Forum

I have a 1999 500 Bullet and a kind friend has just given me a 30mm Amal Concentric Mk 2. I phoned Hitchcocks to ask about appropriate jetting and the helpful person told me that Mk 2s are very difficult to work with kickstart Bullets, although they are fine with EFI and electric start models. Any thoughts or suggestions? Should I just stay with the Mikcarb that's on the bike at the moment? Thanks for any ideas. Mark.

Well, you are going to (probably) get people saying that Amals of all flavours make Bullets go faster and quicker but in my experience there's nowt wrong with the Micarb and you could spend a lot of time getting it to run right with the Amal.
I suspect most people swap for aesthetic reasons then have to convince themselves it's money well spent.
The fact that Mr H says it's not a good idea speaks volumes as he sells the things!

Hi Mark,
The MK II Amal is as good as you can get for the Bullets and lots of other machines. I have fitted them, usually in larger sizes than 30mm to numerous Bullets and they have all been excellent. With a 30mm on a 500, I would be looking at a 106 needle jet, 25 pilot jet, 220 - 230 main jet and 35 or 40 starting jet [choke]. Regards, Paul.

I'd keep the Mikarb & put the Amal on fleabay.

The Mk11 is a far superior carb to the Mk 1. Much easy to tune and work with. Typically runs the same jets as the Mk1.


They dont wear out like the Mk1, far superior idle and choke circuits, and with provision of adjustable High-Speed air bleed for superior acceleration and mid range performance. I run Mk11s on three of my Enfields: Singles and twins.

Hmm, an interesting variety of responses, thanks all! I'm going to have to do a bit of experimenting and keep an open mind. The Amal came off a Velocette Venom and currently has a 280 main, 106 needle and 35 pilot, with a No.3 slide. I wonder if it's significant that it was taken off the Velo and replaced with a Mikuni, making the bike a first kick starter?...

Hi Mark. The Mk2 Amal is a great carb I have fitted them to Gold Stars which I have restored and they transform the bike from a pig to start with no tickover to a well behaved bike with no noticeable loss in power.

The question you need to ask yourself is, is there anything wrong with the bike as it is?, if not why go to the trouble of buying the different jets you need along with different cable/s for very little if any gain. as said by others "nowt wrong with the Mikarb".

The Amal came off a Velocette Venom and currently has a 280 main, 106 needle and 35 pilot, with a No.3 slide.





That is a rather rich setting even for a Venom...


And way too rich for a Std Bullet.

We are not going to mend something that is not broke are we?

It's the only way to go - think how much less there'd be to read on this board if we didn't!



A.