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[Wheaters]

Good thought, but the carb on the 350 sits outboard of two plastic heat insulators and thankfully doesn't get anywhere near hot enough to boil fuel in the float chamber.

[Wheaters]

Just spent two glorious hours out on the 350 - it was such a nice evening; too hot earlier for my liking!

The Wassell /Amal concentric has totally transformed the way this bike runs!

It now feels like it has a bigger engine than before. It will still plod when necessary on the back roads but it has now found noticeably more horses at the top end. On the way from Beeley Moor to Chesterfield I followed a more modern bike, probably a six hundred, which was two up. Admittedly, he wasn't trying hard but I had no difficulty keeping up with him. As we entered Chesterfield and stopped at traffic lights he actually waved me past - I think he was probably intrigued what sort of bike was tailing him and popping and banging on the over-run downhill. I fitted a reverse cone megaphone a few days ago so it does tend to "make its presence heard" - I also noticed the occasional flame from the exhaust on the over-run - I think explained by a slight gas leak from the down pipe, at the joint at the cylinder head and because it's an "Electra" this bike has "wasted spark" ignition.

I rode home via the M1 northbound from J29A to J30, seeing that traffic had thinned out. With the previous Mikcarb fitted I could just about keep up with the HGVs, now I can easily overtake them.

Today I ordered a "Woodsman" exhaust from Mr. H so the megaphone silencer will go back on the shelf and hopefully the bike will sound a bit more civilised from now on.

[Slappy]

Hi Wheaters glad the bike is going well, what jets are you running on the 350
I will be purchasing the Amal 930 kit soon for my 500 Bullet it will be running a bellmouth and the universal tailpipe
http://accessories.hitchcocksmotorcycle ... er?&model=

of course that will be next year as I haven't had time to finish getting it ready for the road yet
Thanks Slappy

[Adrian]

Wheaters,

perhaps if there's enough demand for the Wassell clones of the Mk1 our hosts might stock them, there will always be customers after a budget option. It sounds like your pilot jet just might have been a little small for the exhaust you have had on there, though unless your carb is a clone of the Amal Premier (Wassell supply those too, now) there's no way of changing it.

The baffle-fitted Woodsman silencer might help with the popping and banging, as will sealing any exhaust leaks. If you haven't already used it, ordinary bathroom silicone RTV works fine, even on the head to pipe joint unless the hole is very worn. I have tried exhaust putty, it just dries out and cracks.

A.

[Wheaters]

The Woodsman exhaust arrived today (along with some new fork gaiters, an air lever and a choke cable, a very rapid delivery service, as is the norm for Mr. H). It was a "used" special offer and had been fitted to a bike before but there was little sign of it actually being on an engine that had been running. In effect it looks brand new.

It still needed a little fettling; inside the inlet end of the pipe, which by design has an external sleeve welded on at a slight angle, there was a pronounced lip against the flow, where the upper end of the main pipe projects into the sleeve. I used a pair of Molegrips to gradually expand the pipe outwards to reduce this step and then fitted the system using exhaust paste into the exhaust port and at the joint between pipe and silencer.

Having warmed the engine up at idle to cure the joint I reset the idle mixture then went out for a short run (which, because I was enjoying myself so much, turned into an 80 mile ride including a fuel stop, a couple of refreshment stops and a ride around the Ladybower dams)...

I'm glad to report that there is now no popping and banging. The exhaust note is a little quieter than before (although it has a straight through silencer with no baffle).

Success!

[Wheaters]

Slappy,

No doubt your bike will need something completely different to mine but the jets are the ones the carb came fitted with; i.e. with a 160 main jet. The pilot jet isn't replaceable - it's a pressed in metal bush on this type of carb.

[Adrian]

The original Woodsman pipes were a lot neater where the sharp curved section fitted on the short insert into the head, it wasn't welded on an angle but in line with the centre line of the pipe at that point. I think this is something which the current maker of Mr. H's pipes hasn't got right, and it looks a bit of a botch, to be honest. I will try and get a picture posted of a proper one I bought from our hosts some years ago.

Glad the bike is running well, but I'll be interested to hear how well the exhaust paste holds up, given my earlier experience with it.

A.

[Wheaters]

I think all that's needed is for the top of the main pipe to be cut off at an angle instead of at 90 degrees. before being welded into the sleeve.

I have previously used silicone sealant myself but not had too much success with it, tbh.

I also had a stainless exhaust made for my supercharged trials car, by a specialist fabricator pal of mine. He used silicone but it only lasted a few days before blowing out.

The Woodsman exhaust fits very firmly on its brackets so there's absolutely no movement at the joints. I'm quite hopeful that the jointing paste I used will hold up; I've found it's OK as long as there is no movement.