Amal carb.

ApriliaBill

Yeah...I'm old school.
Just picked up a 72 BSA Thunderbolt for cheap, I know that's relevant, but it's way cleaner than I expected for the $ I spent

Anyway after receiving it last night, couldn't get it started. It has E.I. so I was pretty sure that wasn't it. Moving to the carb. it was a little crusty. I've heard horror stories for years about Amal's (930) should I even try to work with this thing, or is there a plug and play carb. that's dependable?

This carb. will fire with a shot of carb. cleaner and I was able to ride the bike a bit. Right now, it won't idle & won't fire without a shot of carb. cleaner. I know these are fairly easy to clean and rebuild, but I'm worried about dependability being I'm usually 60 miles from the nearest town and there are zero British shops around.

The bike runs great with zero smoke and I haven't seen a drip of oil yet.

If I can get this carb. thing sorted, this will be the easiest winter project I've had in years. I don't know why, I've only owned this bike a few hours but I'm really attached to it and can't wait to get her right. Light, fairly quick, and just quirky as they get with the square tank and steel side covers. It's a crappy blue color, but the wife wants it candy red. And the best part, almost zero rust.
 
The Amal 930 is a great old carb and beautiful. You don't want anything else on your old Brit machine. On yours you need to really check all air gaps and manifold gaskets and connectors. Then pull the carb apart or at least pull out the adjustment screws and check o rings etc. also the slides wear out with age and should be replaced with titanium slides. Worst case you can get a new Amal premium 930 (with titanium slide) for around $190 from Raber's or British cycle supply. If the bike is that good it's worth it. If you don't tighten everything up it will just not idle right and be what it can be for you. If you fix this you will be very happy with a great bike.


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Biggest problem with the Amal concentrics is someone over tightening the mounting bolts and deforming the slide bore. They have a fairly light casting compared to their Japanese counterparts which make them a bit more fragile but also more attractive. If the bore is good I'd run it. I have 2 on my 1970 BSA lightning and once dialed in work well and stay in tune well.

Great tip from kookyca, the premiers are a quality product made to work with modern fuels.
 
Thanks guys, I boiled it out yesterday and the rebuild kit came today. Should have it running by the weekend...
 
Well..... I was able to get out to the garage today, after figuring out somebody forced some very small fuel lines on, replaced them, noticed most the gaskets and rubbers in the carb. were wrong, couple of crappy screws replaced and a nice new rebuild kit. Tickle the carb. run one threw to compression and kick....

FIRED first kick in 30 degree weather! Rode it around the neighborhood and am surprised how quick she is for 40+ years. Tomorrow she gets new mufflers with proper hardware (not held on by screws and many, many washers for spacers). Hopefully get new fork seals in this weekend. She doesn't seem to smoke, but does take a little to get her stopped... Like a little kid, I go out about every 30 minutes and kick her over. So far, first kick every time.

Wife decided it needs to be metallic candy red. And on a side note, I guess I'm losing it. I spent most the day moving this thing around to get some elbow room to work. After getting things running I catch a glimpse of something in the corner of the garage.... Oh yeah, I own a lift. FAAACK! How could you forget you own a lift???
 
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