Mikuni Carbs

[Vince Lupo]

Thanks very much -- I haven't even seen it yet, so I don't know what they ended up doing! I was actually half expecting a 'thanks but no thanks' because of it being a 'Special', but maybe they just took pity on this poor soul and said, 'All right, enough whining already - we give in!'.

[Vince Lupo]

Ah well -- guess I'm the fool you hear about who is soon parted from his money. At least they're brand new!

[Vince Lupo]

Just a correction for Michael Stoic's question about the 'clamps' on the hose from the petcock to the carb: It's simply safety wire (not 'speed wire' as stated earlier) that is traditionally used for the purpose I had described. Sorry for using the wrong term.

[piecutter]

Yeah, speed wire's the stuff you put on to make the electrons go faster!

[Vince Lupo]

Should I use the speed wire if I decide to replace the powerband????

[Michael Stoic]

Vince,

I am really curious about the performance characteristics with your new carb setup. I know you have other engine mods, but still... Something along the lines of: with OE carbs it would be [like this], but with Amals, it is now [like that].

.. MS

[Vince Lupo]

In terms of riding, I've only done the one 150 mile ride with the new carbs. But, in comparison to the particular pair of Keihins that I had, the Amals enable the bike to cold start better in the morning and hold its idle quicker, and the midrange seems stronger (they are 26mm as well, so I wasn't really expecting this massive power increase with the new carbs). The problem with the Keihins was that they were worn, particularly the right side carb. The air screw had to be almost closed on the right one to get it to run anywhere near the left one -- we couldn't figure out where it was getting its air from! If you backed the air screw out, the right exhaust ran cool compared to the left one and it started pipping and popping. As well, when you were riding and you came to a stop, you invariably had to work the throttle to keep it from stalling (the bike has a new mechanical advance, BTW). With these new Amals it doesn't do any of that. I suppose if I could've found an NOS pair of Keihins, that would've been great, but they probably would've cost as much as the Amals. At least now they're brand new, parts are readily available, and they suit the intentions I have with the bike. I still do have those VM26 Mikunis with all the custom mounts if anyone needs a set for racing applications!