Amal Premier carbs

Previously Chris Grimmett wrote:

I hope this dicsussion proves to be useful as the concept of the Premier carbs has been worrying me since they were introduced.

It all looks rather like the supermarkets with their Finest and Taste The Difference ranges. One might reasonably conclude that by marketing a premier range, a supplier is admitting the standard range is of poor quality.

I believe that the premier range are designed andfitted with ethanol 'proof' components. Like any older carb todays ethanol likes to disolve many of the internalbits you need. You can buy kits for older carbs that make them more durable. I put premiers on another British bike and sold my originals on flee bay, they sold for almost what i paid for the new premiers ??

Mark

Good thread Tim.

The Premier Mk1's also include the new hard wearing cutaway slide as well as the anti Ethanol stay up float etc. These are mods I have made to some pre premier Mk 1 Amal's. The stay up float is essential when using the single Mk 1 conversion.on the 850 Commando in my experience, to save running out of fuel when in traffic with low or no throttle. Not found a problem however on single carb 650.

Previously Chris Grimmett wrote:

It all looks rather like the supermarkets with their Finest and Taste The Difference ranges. One might reasonably conclude that by marketing a premier range, a supplier is admitting the standard range is of poor quality.

Prior to the Mk1 concentric, I understand Amal had a good reputation as a carb. manufacturer. Legend has it that the Mk1 was a result of the British bike industry requiring a carb built down to a price - which is what they/we got, a cheap carb. In comparison to the Premier it is poor quality.

I'm glad Amal have finally put things right, by all accounts.

Previously tim_gostling wrote:

On the back of a recent thread which ended up as a discussion about the merits or otherwise of various carb options for Commandoâs, I am interested to hear of peopleâs experiences with the relatively new Amal Premiere concentrics. Iâm looking for genuine first, or at least close second hand experiences & honest feedback: How many have tried them? Were they easy to fit & set up? What settings have you found best? Have you experienced any problems with them? What mileage have you done with them? Would you recommend them? Those sort of things, good or bad, & not necessarily just relating to their use on Commandoâs.

I donât want this to drift into another âwhich is the best carbâ discussion, so lets try & keep post directly relating to the Amal Premiere. I should point out that I am NOT in the market for a new carb, this is purely for interest/research purposes & as a source of reference for anyone looking to go this way in the future.

Regards, Tim

Here goes - last October bought a pair of new Premier Amal Mk 1 Concentrics to replace the original Concentrics on my '73 Mk 1A 850 (18,000 miles) after slow running became increasingly unreliable despite trying all possibleadjustment permutations, plusmore recently sticking slides at the high rpm end.

New Premiers were boughtset up as per Mk 1A Amal carb specs (which alsofollowed exactlymy old carbs' set up). Fitted them straight on without any problem at all. Set pilot air screws at one and a half turns out , petrol on , flood carbs , full choke ,one good swing andaway she went.Found I could open the choke much sooner than with the old carbs and she quickly settled into a steady 900 rpm tickover.Smooth pull away and accelerated cleanly right through the revband.

So far so good - only madeonesubsequent minor adjustment to throttle stops , otherwise have touchednothing afterinitial fitting. Transformed the bike and can atlast relax at the lights without fear of engine stalling.Only acouple of hundred miles to date so too early to review longer term performance , but certainly no problem at all setting up and fitting.

James, I hope Robert enjoys the same experience as you.

Simon, in a nutshell you are correct. Don't blame Amal, they gave the British bike industry what they wanted; a cheaper carb. And in the late sixties, we all know the reason why!

Previously tim_gostling wrote:

On the back of a recent thread which ended up as a discussion about the merits or otherwise of various carb options for Commandoâs, I am interested to hear of peopleâs experiences with the relatively new Amal Premiere concentrics. Iâm looking for genuine first, or at least close second hand experiences & honest feedback: How many have tried them? Were they easy to fit & set up? What settings have you found best? Have you experienced any problems with them? What mileage have you done with them? Would you recommend them? Those sort of things, good or bad, & not necessarily just relating to their use on Commandoâs.

I donât want this to drift into another âwhich is the best carbâ discussion, so lets try & keep post directly relating to the Amal Premiere. I should point out that I am NOT in the market for a new carb, this is purely for interest/research purposes & as a source of reference for anyone looking to go this way in the ffutures

i got two for my mk2a an had to file them as they where supplied as they where to Norton back in the day. If I had known a would have ordered the mk3 type that come with the flats already machined on and the later sectioned spray tubes.

i did have a problem however with the new style removable pilot air jet in the left hand side. I could not cure an air leak problem even though I had taken get care fitting the new carbs this included setting the float hight as from the factory they seem not to come ready set for the sloping fitment of a commando. The fault turned out to be the removable jet had been screwed in ti tightly an sheared in the body when made. This took some finding as I had not touched the jets thinking they would not need removing as they were new an so not blocked.

The carb was returned to RGM where I got it from an then to Amal how removed the jet an fitted a new one. I did not want to try removing it myself in case I damaged the body. Both RGM and Amal where most helpful an the fact I had filed the body was not a problem either I was told I could have ordered the later type but I simply order the type listed for my year thinking (silly me) they would fit.

after the jet was sorted they have been fine an much better than struggling with old carbs or fitting a single which by the time I had bought all the manifold an fitting etc would not really have been any cheaper than two new carbs.

i have heard many reports that with the carbs in good order fuel consumption is quite good an though I have not had much chance due to other problems I am sure it was well over 30mpg an more likely in the 40s so am happy with them an would recommend them an even the problem I had with them showed to me that there after sales was also good in the event of trouble

Yes Karl, one thing I will say for RGM is that if there are any issues they will sort it out to your satisfaction. Glad your bike is running well now.

One thing about the single carb I found was that I went from 45 mpg on worn Amal's to 68mpg.on the single. But once you have bought the conversion kit you will only have the one carb to look after. Add that to the savings on fuel.

Previously neil_wyatt wrote:

Yes Karl, one thing I will say for RGM is that if there are any issues they will sort it out to your satisfaction. Glad your bike is running well now.

One thing about the single carb I found was that I went from 45 mpg on worn Amal's to 68mpg.on the single. But once you have bought the conversion kit you will only have the one carb to look after. Add that to the savings on fuel.

The main reason for me changing is the removal, read easy clean, pilot jet!