Hitchcocks Forum

Does anybody know:- Is the new Wassell carburettor an Amal knock-off, manufactured in the far east, or made by Burlen Fuels and marketed as a cheaper product? Bit like supermarket cornflakes. Made by K----s but with own branding.

Chinese I believe

Thanks Norm As an aside: many years ago, I visited a Hot Metal Die casting company. Their core business was the manufacture of DG window furniture, handles, hinges etc, using the cheapest Zink based crap available. Whilst I was there, I was shown the Dies to produce Concentric bodies for Amal. At the time I wondered, would it cost that much more for LM25 and anodising

There was a debate on this, on other forums.
The belief is that Burlen have alot of their parts manufactured abroad anyway. So you are not buying a "Made in England" product. "Assembled in England"; maybe ..

I think the confusion is over how Wassell have managed to make essentially the same product within infringing copyright (if, of course, it's still applicable) and whether the parts actually come from the same manufacturing operation that Burlen use ?

Exactly Madoc Is this a marketing ploy of Burlen? It would be interesting to know who makes what for whome

The Wassell carburetter is nothing to do with Burlen Fuel Systems. When Wassells claim it is licensed they mean they sent an Amal carburetter to a pit bike carburetter manufacturer in China and asked them to copy it. The carburetters are then shipped to Wassells who simply move them on to their customers. However, in an attempt to justify this they are very keen to persuade everybody that Amal also have their carburetters made in China.

There is a thread here: http://www.accessnorton.com/wassell-ama ... %20wassell where the MD of Amal has replied to this. You'll notice Amal are quite happy to show customers around their factory.

Back in the 70s (and through to the 80s if I recall,) you could buy cheap Amal carbs made by a subsidiary in Spain. They had a reputation for not being very good, but that's not the point. I wonder if the Wassell ones have come through this route? Not necessarily made in Spain but maybe "rights" passed on? It is not very well known that the Amal "Concentric" design was based on the Villiers carbs made by them and fitted to many of their engines as standard. I know several people who much prefer them for use on Trials bikes as they work better at small throttle openings and are generally better made, the Amal version having been made (at least partly,) to a requirement by the British Industry for a cheaper carb than the Monobloc. Drawback with the Villiers being it's only available in small sizes.
REgards, Mark

Hi Guys------ call me thick if you like ("You're thick"!!)---thank-you, but where on that link is the MD of Amal replying ??.... By chance I was in Kidderminster Motorcycles recently where there is a Wassell "Amal" (?) on display. Alas--didn't have time to chat about it. Must call in again to find out more.

Its the Last post on Page Three and another on page four

---------Ahhhhhhhhhhh !!! guess who missed the "pages" button at the bottom ?? VERY interesting reading indeed. As in anything else in life though---it all comes down to 2 words IE }------- Buyer Beware !!