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User avatar
By windmill john
#84823
Hi All,

New here and got my 350 Bullet yesterday. 2006 model, but understand it is most likely 2004; kickstart 4 speed.

The previous owner has fitted an Amal Monobloc, please see here for pictures:

http://jalbum.net/a/1945137

Okay, I have no experience of Amal, sorry! but am offay with carbs generally. Had a number of Airheads, so intimate with Bings.

The choke is baffling me to say the least. The dealer who delivered it said leave the lever where is and just use tickler. As you can see from the picture, the position the lever looks, to me, like choke fully on, I.e. cable is fully pulled; unless I don’t understand Amals.

I can start the bike with the tickler. If I touch the lever it starts to bog. If I try the lever whilst riding, in other words engine warm, it starts to bog.

Now my understanding of normal carbs would be that this bike is running FAR too rich, hence why the choke is fully on.

Am I totally wrong?

Thanks for any help..

John
User avatar
By Wheaters
#84824
The choke is off with the cable pulled. Releasing the cable allows a "pusher" spring to push the choke flap into the Venturi, partly restricting it.
User avatar
By stinkwheel
#84825
The choke slide is a half-round section of alloy that drops down out of a recess in the bottom of the throttle slide to literally "choke" the air inlet. Effectively blocking the cutaway.

The cable pulls it up out of the way so yes, contrary to most choke mechanisms, you tension the cable to turn the choke off and loosen the cable to turn it on.

So in this picture, the choke lever is in the OFF position.
Image

I have found it to be entirely surplus to requirements on my 350 bullet, tickling the carb enrichens the mix enough to start the engine even in sub-zero conditions.
User avatar
By Adrian
#84826
The choke on an Amal is basically a lump of metal which restricts the airflow to richen the mixture, and is in the "on" position with the handlebar lever back against its stop. Once you have started the engine, the lever should be wound round fully to pull the choke up in the "off" position, i.e. pulled up into the top of the carb out of the airflow, which is how it appears to be in your second photo. Quite often people can remove the choke from an Amal altogether (remembering to seal off the cable hole) and rely in the tickler for starting.

Modern carbs use an enrichener for starting, this is an extra jet covered by a plunger. Lifting the plunger makes the carb deliver a richer mixture for starting, and then this plunger is closed to block off the extra jet when the bike is running. Converting these to cable operation is quite popular, though in this case the handlebar lever operates in the other direction compared to using an Amal.

A.
User avatar
By windmill john
#84840
Fantastic. Thank you to all for clarifying.

It does appear unusual to have the cable against spring tension for the majority of riding, a foible new to me.
As today was my first ride and I came to a stop after only 500 yards..... I needed to check.
Turns out my reserve position on the fuel tap doesn’t work, only the ‘on’ position , ie down, works.
Yes, tank is pretty full.
Still, I wanted to get a bike to fiddle with! That and my false neutrals :) we won’t talk about this on this thread, this is about the carb and I know going off on a tangent is not helpful in future searches.

Once again, thanks to all re the lever.


John
User avatar
By windmill john
#84841
Oh finally, does anyone know a link to or a good book to buy that will give me full info on the Amal monobloc I have.
I’d like to know how to set it up correctly.

Thanks.

John
User avatar
By windmill john
#84843
Hi,

Thanks for the link.

Bog.... I suppose the expression comes from something like a peat bog. If you walked through it, your feet get stuck. A bit like walking through thick mud. The going gets hard and hesitant. A bit like the feeling you get when running out of fuel, the bike starts to hesitate, lose power, gain a little, lose a little.

Re the carb gaskets, I haven’t had the chance to look yet, but from previous experience of others carbs, I am guessing the previous owner has fitted a thick block to reduce the chance of fuel evaporation by heat being transferred from the inlet manifold. He has then fitted a gasket each side to ensure a good seal.
User avatar
By Adrian
#84846
Looks like two spacers together with a gasket either side. You can get solid Tufnol spacers of varying thicknesses, which might be a better idea.

"Bog" in this context would probably be 8-stroking, papasmurf.

John, most Indian Bullets from the late 80s(?) until the EFI bikes were fitted with Mikarb VM24s (28s for the 500 Bullet), which are OK-ish Indian copies of the Mikuni VMs of the same size, and which can be persuaded to run reasonably well with a little attention to jetting. Many owners have fitted Amal Concentrics/Monoblocs either to re-anglicize the bikes a bit, or else it's what they were familiar with on their old BSAs, Triumphs, Nortons and even English-built Royal Enfields.

Some owners also fit genuine Mikunis or even Dell'Ortos.

A.

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