1962 Superhawk Restoration: Here I go
I've done about 12,000 miles with mine, and no problems so far. The main issue with these carbs is that the slides wear, primarily due to the fact that the slides and the carb bodies are made of the same material. The resulting wear will cause an erratic idle, though the carb will function fine throughout the rest of its range. This can be solved by replacing the standard slides with chrome ones, but I understand that AMAL's chroming process can potentially make the slides brittle, and they can fracture (though I have chrome ones and haven't had this problem). One way to reduce the wear on the slides is to avoid 'snapping' the throttle -- these carbs seem to work better when you 'roll' the throttle, and the snapping causes the slides to slam into the bottom of the carb, and increase the amount of wear.
These are simple carbs to work on, but because of that relative simplicity you have less adjustments you can make (may or may not be a good thing). Plus, the design dates back to the 1960's, so they could be considered 'period correct' for our bikes (and they look good too!). My mechanic really chose them out of frustration with the Mikunis he was trying to get to work, but I think in the long rung they've turned out to be a good solution (at least for me, and seemingly for Scott).
Hi G-man,
Always buy led's from known manufacturers, like lumileds (philps), cree, etc (just don't buy Chinese led's yet. Download the specs, and read them carefully. A led is a current driven device, not a voltage driven device. Make sure that the max current (absolute maximum ratings) are not exceeded. Protect them with a resistor, always. If any body have any questions about led's, please feel free to ask me, I have experience with these little devices for 14 years (as a turn-key vision system engineer / designer) I design complete systems and using individual led's. Jensen assembly of Japanese motorcycles requires great peace of mind (Pirsig)
restorationI replaced all of my bulbs (except for the headlight) on my Goldwing with led's about 5 years
ago. I've had no problems with them.
A real pleasure to see pics of your ride and the only actual difference from my rides is the dates we rode them.
Thanks feller. ..........lm
Hello there feller.
Lori and I had a smooth away from responsibility 9 day vacation in an area of TEXAS with many different types of landscape and beautiful earth colors. No schedule for any time/place to go/be with a super couple we know from the car club. Now to get some engine rebuilds out of here. .............lm
Thanks Ed. Wouldn't have been possible without all your help and patience. Along with everyone on the forum. I've read through every post at least twice. Still learning.
Current restoration: 1962 CB77
http://www.flickr.com/photos/1962_cb77_restore/
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