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Royal Enfield Motorcycles => Bullet Iron Barrel => Topic started by: guss,guss on December 08, 2013, 04:27:41 am

Title: AMAL MK1 CONVERTION FOR ME ?
Post by: guss,guss on December 08, 2013, 04:27:41 am
hello gear heads.
 my 99 has the stock mik carb. i have been doing some jetting and tinkering with it now the enrichment lever system is giving me trouble. i see some people say they are troublesome after awhile and ditch them for genuine mikuni or amal. there is a kit for amal mk1 with all the fixings including choke setup and filter for allot less than the mikuni. any thoughts or comments from the peanut gallery would be welcome. 
Title: Re: AMAL MK1 CONVERTION FOR ME ?
Post by: ace.cafe on December 08, 2013, 01:00:26 pm
The peanut gallery says buy a Mikuni.

Title: Re: AMAL MK1 CONVERTION FOR ME ?
Post by: High On Octane on December 08, 2013, 02:38:23 pm
I have a brand spanking new Amal Concentric 930 and I'm not at all impressed with it.  They get the job done but you'll be so much better off with a Mikuni.  My Amal will be getting replaced before next riding season.

Scottie
Title: Re: AMAL MK1 CONVERTION FOR ME ?
Post by: guss,guss on December 09, 2013, 10:12:30 pm
thanks guys.
 now. I'm not trying to build a race bike and don't want to do allot of mods so i think i will go with the 30mm. or i should ask how big can i get away with and not cause the need for more mods?
Title: Re: AMAL MK1 CONVERTION FOR ME ?
Post by: ace.cafe on December 09, 2013, 10:16:37 pm
thanks guys.
 now. I'm not trying to build a race bike and don't want to do allot of mods so i think i will go with the 30mm. or i should ask how big can i get away with and not cause the need for more mods?

32mm.
Preferably Mikuni TM32 flat slide.
Any larger sacrifices low rpm torque,  and any smaller restricts higher rpm flow unnecessarily.
Title: Re: AMAL MK1 CONVERTION FOR ME ?
Post by: Chuck D on December 09, 2013, 10:26:46 pm
Mikuni TM-32
"Ace" air canister.
Free flowing exhaust.
Check back here for jet advice.
Title: Re: AMAL MK1 CONVERTION FOR ME ?
Post by: guss,guss on December 09, 2013, 10:33:57 pm
thanks again ace.
 32mm it is.  i don't know what exact model # it is but i think i will go with the mikuni deal nfield gear has w/air filter, cable and intake.
Title: Re: AMAL MK1 CONVERTION FOR ME ?
Post by: Merrill on December 09, 2013, 11:25:52 pm
google the two carbs,  give some thought to what you want from your enfield.  I use mine for thumping around town,  with the occasional hour ride for breakfast,  The mikuni is a better carb  than the amal.  However I prefer the amal on my enfield.  It works fine on an old time thumper.  the mikuni will give more precise metering, and takes more tuning to sort out,  the amal is forgiving ( will run in a wide range) and works fine on a tractor motor like the enfield.  That is the flip side.
Title: Re: AMAL MK1 CONVERTION FOR ME ?
Post by: cyrusb on December 10, 2013, 01:56:37 am
+1 on that Merrill. If you are going to keep the stock "Oil Lamp" power level (as I have) the Amal is adequate and period correct. Plus, you get the obligatory gas on your index finger. I'm swapping out my 30 flat for one .
Title: Re: AMAL MK1 CONVERTION FOR ME ?
Post by: D the D on December 10, 2013, 05:52:22 am
Mikuni doesn't make a 30mm flatslide.  Those are Taiwan or Mainland China Keihin "D" slide clones.  You'll be happier with the genuine Mikuni when you need floats or gaskets.
Title: Re: AMAL MK1 CONVERTION FOR ME ?
Post by: cyrusb on December 10, 2013, 11:15:37 am
Mikuni doesn't make a 30mm flatslide.  Those are Taiwan or Mainland China Keihin "D" slide clones.  You'll be happier with the genuine Mikuni when you need floats or gaskets.
I didn't say it was a Mikuni, just a clone, and parts are available on the net. 
Title: Re: AMAL MK1 CONVERTION FOR ME ?
Post by: D the D on December 10, 2013, 08:04:23 pm
I didn't say it was a Mikuni, just a clone, and parts are available on the net.
Not trying to correct you at all!  :)
I was replying to Guss Guss stating he'd "get a 30mm" so that he'd know a 30 won't be a real Mikuni Flatside.  Not that there is anything wrong with a decent 30mm clone either.
Title: Re: AMAL MK1 CONVERTION FOR ME ?
Post by: ace.cafe on December 10, 2013, 09:04:30 pm
A 30mm carb would work for a stock bike just fine.
But it won't be any better than a 32 in any respect, and the 32 will do better in the upper rpms, and will take you into good power modification territory without needing to buy another carb.

So, if you only want to buy one carb and be done, get the TM32 and the appropriate manifold and jets.
Title: Re: AMAL MK1 CONVERTION FOR ME ?
Post by: flyboy on December 11, 2013, 12:28:46 am
I "had" a stock '99. Per Ace's advice, went with the Mikuni 32mm flat slide. At the same time I fitted an old shorty unrestricted exhaust. Too loud so I put one of those bolt-in silencers on. Absolutely perfect now. It's hard to describe the the difference in performance...it's that noticably improved. For the little money invested, you won't be dissapointed. AND I'm not a roadracer, mostly back roads in the country, but do certainly appreciate the increased HP, top end and responsiveness.
Oh, and when you take off that POS stock silencer, you'll see how heavy it is and can only imagine how restrictive it was...it's killing the bike!
Title: Re: AMAL MK1 CONVERTION FOR ME ?
Post by: guss,guss on December 11, 2013, 01:26:08 am
OK, glad i asked.    i did google the amal and decided it has allot more adjusting than i want right now. besides, i have a nice assortment of jets, and a slide for the mik carb. i think i read they were interchangeable with mikuni. and i have been doing all this reading up on the mikuni/mikcarb.
 now i am still a newbie and have to admit i don't know exactly what a flat side is. the only one i see on nfield gear that says flat side is that no name Taiwanese,"kehin type". they say is good, and i don't doubt that is is but i want the mikuni. the kit i see just says "mikuni carb kit" comes in 30,32,34mm any one for $285. so what is the difference in a flat side and these?
 thanks for all the help.
Title: Re: AMAL MK1 CONVERTION FOR ME ?
Post by: ace.cafe on December 11, 2013, 06:59:08 am
They are round slides.
Nothing wrong with round slides,  except that they are not as advanced design as flat slides. So for performance,  the flat slide is better, but a little more expensive. Not really a huge difference, but the flat slides are a bit better for torque and throttle response.
Try ebay search for Mikuni TM32.

But if you're just looking for an easy kit that's all in one box,  then the NFIELD Gear carb kit is a handy "one - stop shop" way to get a round slide kit.
Title: Re: AMAL MK1 CONVERTION FOR ME ?
Post by: D the D on December 13, 2013, 04:53:58 pm
OK, glad i asked.    i did google the amal and decided it has allot more adjusting than i want right now. besides, i have a nice assortment of jets, and a slide for the mik carb. i think i read they were interchangeable with mikuni. and i have been doing all this reading up on the mikuni/mikcarb.
 now i am still a newbie and have to admit i don't know exactly what a flat side is. the only one i see on nfield gear that says flat side is that no name Taiwanese,"kehin type". they say is good, and i don't doubt that is is but i want the mikuni. the kit i see just says "mikuni carb kit" comes in 30,32,34mm any one for $285. so what is the difference in a flat side and these?
 thanks for all the help.

A Flatslide will have "TM" in the name, like "TM-32".  A Roundslide will be a "VM" like a "VM-30".
Title: Re: AMAL MK1 CONVERTION FOR ME ?
Post by: SirStanley on December 13, 2013, 06:51:04 pm
I recently swapped a perfectly tuned mikuni vm30 for an amal 930 -  for no other reason than it seems more “correct” to me.
Had I never experienced how well the bike can run (thanks to the mikuni), I’d be even more shocked by the improvement of these new variations of the old MKI over their vintage "original" siblings. Sadly, they still seem to be made of melted down paperclips... so, so soft.

After a bit of tinkering, the bike starts easily, idles reasonably well and rolls through the throttle range without issues. But it does none of these things as well as it did with the mikuni. Still, I plan on keeping the Amal. It’s just looks right, and to me, my enfield is a toy, not a serious or relied upon mode of transport. And its surely never called upon to anything other than putt about on back roads.

Like everything else in life, contentment it’s a matter of what you’re looking to achieve.
Title: Re: AMAL MK1 CONVERTION FOR ME ?
Post by: guss,guss on December 14, 2013, 07:09:11 pm
as long as I'm getting all this help can anyone tell me will the jets i bought for the stock mikcarb fit any mikuni? or at least the vm32.  like i said before i read somewhere they were interchangeable. i also have a new slide for the stock one, I'm guessing that would only fit a vm28.
Title: Re: AMAL MK1 CONVERTION FOR ME ?
Post by: ace.cafe on December 14, 2013, 09:58:40 pm
as long as I'm getting all this help can anyone tell me will the jets i bought for the stock mikcarb fit any mikuni? or at least the vm32.  like i said before i read somewhere they were interchangeable. i also have a new slide for the stock one, I'm guessing that would only fit a vm28.

Yes the Mikarb main and pilot jets will fit certain other Mikuni carbs. The pilot jet will definitely fit a VM32, but I'm not sure about the main jet fitting the VM32. It will fit some other Mikuni carbs, though. The slide will fit the Mikuni 28mm round slide carb.
The Mikarb needle jet will never fit any other carburetor of any other make or model, and is only compatible with the Mikarb and no other carburetor.