I was thumbing through Ebay and Sports Linkup on my ever-present search for parts, and the dearth of 305 carburetors got me wondering: does anybody here have an aftermarket/modern carb or petcock set-up they use on their 305's?
If so, where did you get it, and for how much? I'm not planning on showing my bikes, I just want to ride them, and I figure these cold winter months will give me a chance to do some digging around for a suitable substitute...
John
Newer Carb?
Hi Vince;
Just off the cuff (I haven't done a search yet), where can you get them, how much are they and do you have a step-by-step of the mod (or does it need one)? The carb itself looks very similar to the original 305; a little 'skinnier', maybe, but yes, I can see how it would be do-able... I think the OEM carb is, like, 23mm(the throat); is that correct? Are the Amals the same? And any input on other-than-original petcocks?
I'm pretty sure that any place that deals in British bike stuff should have them (like British Cycle Supply or Burton's Bike Bits), or you could likely buy from Amal directly. The ones that I specifically have are 26mm carbs (I think they also come in 22mm and 24mm), but they are basically the same dimensions as the Keihins that were on my SuperHawk. I don't recall what I paid, but I just checked the Amal website, and they're somewhere in the $170 range. When you're looking, search out 'Amal Mk 1 Concentrics, 600 Series'. The design has been around since 1967, so at least you'd have a new 'period' carb.
As far as a 'step by step' goes, I think Spargett has more of that than I do -- I'm no mechanic, so I had my mechanic do the work a few years ago. Here again, I do have some photos of the carbs in my 'Japan Meets Britain' thread, and if you look under the 'Carburation' section of the Forum, there is a thread in there somewhere about the Amals. From what I recall, they are pretty well bolt-on replacements, and the jetting out of the box is pretty close (this was for a SuperHawk, don't forget, so a Dream might be different). And our use of them came along quite by accident -- my mechanic was working at a place that mainly dealt in British bikes, and he'd been fighting with these Mikuni carbs that I bought for my bike. They weren't working out the way we'd hoped, and he had these brand new Amal 626's sitting around. He noticed that the mount was just about a perfect match to the Keihins, they were the same 26mm size, and everything else lined up more or less the same. Bolted them on, started the bike, and they worked almost perfectly out of the box. We've tweaked them a bunch over the years (due to the big-bore kit and other mods), but overall I've been pretty happy with them. Of course, I do get quizzical looks from vintage Jap bike enthusiasts at bike shows -- Amal carbs, hmmm! I'm sure they'll get over it...... A couple of things that I do know about these carbs is that a) they are simple to work on; b) due to their simplicity, there are limited adjustments; c) the slides are made of the same material as the carb body, so they are prone to wear after about 8,000 miles (but can be replaced with chrome slides, which helps). You'll know you have slide wear when you develop an erratic idle; d) these carbs do not like to be 'snapped' (as in, snapping the throttle), as that will contribute to the slide wear; e) You don't need a choke -- mine do not have one, and the plunger/primer on the side of each carb (the 'tickler') more or less takes care of that for you. My carbs have about 17,000 miles on them, and they work great, and idle fine, so that 8,000 mile claim might be overblown (I do have the chrome slides, though). As well, I know of guys who have '70s Triumphs with their original 626's, and they also work fine. Don't know anything about petcocks, as I still have the original one on my bike. Hope this info helps.....
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