What are Amal Monobloc carbs like?

[lingeringstin...]

Specifically the 375 range.

I've been curious about this design for a long time but never had one. Had plenty of experience with the Amal Concentrics, and basically didn't like them much, and more than too much faffing about with SU carbs which are good carbs but in my experience they wear out quickly and need constant costly rebuilding.

[Easy-X]

What is the magic around Amals?! I've... "experienced" the concentrics and Mk2s and they just seem to do what normal carbs do but badly.

Keihin or Mikuni or go home.
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Royal Enfield Continental GT 535, Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[WD Forte]

Amal have been around for years but AFAIK still basically slide carbs
Monoblock or Concentric.
Keihins are mostly CV carbs Mikuni are sometimes ( often?) slide carbs
which can be useful for moar powah in that they can just pour in more fuel on demand with a 'fuck the mpg' attitude.
CV type carbs are more complex and can, when setup right, be more fuel efficient as the diaphragms respond to intake differential pressure
where the depression in the manifold compared to ambient air pressure lifts the piston and opens the jet.

Any carb will be cheap and simple compared with EFI and less efficient too
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bikers smell of wee

[stinkwheel]

I'm currently using a Siviet era K36 carburettor on my Minsk 125. It's very similar to a monoblock but has a flat slide made of folded brass. It's ultra simple and I can't fault it.

I agree, the Amal concentrics are garbage.I took the one off my 612 bullet and replaced it with a mikuni TM32 and I took the one off my 350 bullet and replaced it with the indian mikcarb.

That might be a good one for you though, a lot of people "upgrade" their Indian bullets to Amals and sell the mikcarb on ebay. They are a licenced copy of the VM series mikunis and will take all the mikuni brass. You can pick them up cheap.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[lingeringstin...]

[quote="stinkwheel"]I'm currently using a Siviet era K36 carburettor on my Minsk 125. It's very similar to a monoblock but has a flat slide made of folded brass. It's ultra simple and I can't fault it.
[/quote]

Aha! The plot thickens. I remember those carbs used to be on those 650/750 Dnepr and Urinal bikes that were around for not a lot of money in the 1990's. I always wanted one as a courier bike. I remember thinking those carbs actually looked pretty good in an industrial, sensible kind of way but the general opinion at the time was they weren't that great. I've never had my hands on one in real life so I have no idea. I notice the 26mm ones are available all over the place for not much money so that might be just the thing I'm after.

And yes my experiences with Concentrics was pretty awful.

[stinkwheel]

[lingeringstin...]

I've not got a high performance engine (nor the brakes or suspension for it) so simple is good.

I'm using a slightly modified modern Chinky PZ27 at the moment but these carbs are not great quality and it does seem like I have to take it apart too often to clean it out. Too many complicated wee drillings that get clogged and it hates wet weather. I do get a hundred miles a gallon out of it but I'd gladly sacrifice a few MPG for reliability. I was struggling to get to the last rally I went to because the idle jet in my PZ was clogging up AGAIN. Easy to remedy at the rally but a PITA to have to do it so often.

Looks like I can get a whole K65T for the price of an SU jet tube and needle (which I seemed to have to replace about every year) so that's probably the way to go. The ones I'm looking at have the fuel bowl underneath but basically they look like your photos on the inside. Few spares to carry "just in case" and probably much easier to deal with at the roadside than a posh Japanese carb when you're a hundred miles away from anywhere.

[stinkwheel]

The enfield bullet guys speak highly of dellorto VHB carbs too as being very adaptable for many situations. Never used one myself and they aren't cheap.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.