1951 Model 18 carb

I have been playing with a recently aquired 1936 500 Rudge and its been a steep learning curve. Starting needs a tickled (till it floods) carb,nearly full retarded ignition ,full choke, ease over past compression then a fully commited kick ,catch it on the throttle ,immediately lift the choke slide a little, add a bit more advance. Warm up a bit, off the choke, add the rest of advance once on the move.If your timing or luck is out it will either kick you like a mule or need half advance to fire at all. See if you can go to a hospital with Wi fiy !, and I will send you settings for the 276 as I have the Amal book. PS, keep a fire extinguisher near.

When it comes to starting our bikes, I asked a local guru and received this enlightening answer:"they are all different". This is the procedure for my ES2. If she hasn't been started that day, hold down the tickler until you hear the sucking noise, then release immediately. Retard the ignition to 3/4 of its travel. Find compression on the kickstart and ease it just past with the decompressor. Release the kickstart and with just a touch of throttle, give it a full kick for the whole of its travel. That will usually start the engine. Then move the advance/retard lever to fully advanced or nearly and you're ready to rock & roll.

Another bike..another way. On my 16H I just flood it with tickler and then open throttle and also decompress. Retard ignitionto about 1/3 advance. Close air slide. Put a couple of fingers lightly partly blocking inlet. Then kick over a couple of times to suck fuel all the way into the engine. Then remove fingers and do as Chris says.Usual advice is to use small throttle to start. But if that doesn't do the trick, experiment with a lot more and you might have more joy.It sounds a lot when it's all written out! Remember do NOT 'blip' the throttle. There is no accelerator pump in an Amal so open the throttle smoothly or it will go too lean and die. And don't use too much advance when kicking or you could damage yourself...

Hi Colin

Your 276 carb should be:

1 1/16th bore

No.3 needle position

106 Needle Jet

No.4 slide

160 main jet

If your carb has a worn slide then forget it, you'll never get a worn carb to run properly so either give it to someone like Martin Bratby to overhaul or buy a new one (if you can).

My 1951 ES2 (same engine) had the exact same carb and it also had an easy starter arrangement on the tick over control, it's like a T-bar that allows you to wind up the tick over by half a turn and then start without touching the throttle... I have found with both my Inter and ES2 that if you give it too much throttle it will never start, take the slack out the cable and not a lot more.I donât tickle either of my Nortons to start them, just use the choke when itâs cold, pull the advance and retard lever back a bit (trial and error, if you find a position it works well at you could mark it with a felt tip pen until you are used to it), use the valve lifter to get the engine just over TDC and kick itâ? Donât be afraid of it, if you are youâre more likely to give it a half-hearted kick and thatâs when they come back and bite you!

Practice makes perfect, once people have got the hang of it the Norton singles are normally very easy to start, and great fun to ride.

Good luck!

Andy

Hitchcocks do a new 276 but it is flange mounted and £300. I fitted a Mikcarb from an Indian Royal Enfield. £15 brand new off Ebay. It makes for a snappy throttle response. John

Have a word with Martin Bratby. He has overhauled carbs for all my bikes and they are brilliant, he has also supplied a reconditioned carb for my ES2 for about £180, considerably less than a brand new one but just as good as in my opinion.