behyer

I've had a '78 348 for a couple of years now and no matter what I do, it's very hard to start when cold. And the colder the air temperature is, the more difficult it becomes, to the point that it just won't start at all when the air temperature is below 40F. When warm, it runs great, just super. I replaced the old Amal carb a year ago with an OKO from Mid-Atlantic, so it should be jetted properly. Power delivery from low RPMs on up is smooth. Once warm, it idles reliably, and re-starts are no problem. Generally, my starting procedure is this: Choke on, no throttle, kick it 3-5 times and it starts, but if I add any throttle, it dies. It dies on its own after 5-15 seconds. I repeat this process and each time it stays running a little longer. After about five times doing this, I can turn off the choke and add throttle and it won't die. Then I rev it for a couple of minutes until it's fully warmed up. Then it runs great. Why would it do this? Any ideas?

An update on my 348: - Replaced the Amal with an OKO (thanks, Mid-Atlantic Trials) and it runs way better. Good power delivery from idle to full throttle. Only weird thing is that the gas feed is opposite the petcock, so the line has to snake over the carb and getting to the choke is awkward. - New tires, as the old ones were dry-rotted. - Ended up ordering a bunch of stuff from InMotion in the UK, since I couldn't get NOS fork gaiters and a gasket set in the US. Good service from them and I got the stuff in 7 days (!) via Royal Mail and the USPS. - The bike runs well; next up is suspension and electrical. Special thanks to my mechanic, Ben Kelly of Max Dirt in Sugar Hill, Georgia. He has a Beta himself, and enjoys taking a break from the KTMs and Hondas, to work on a beautiful classic motorcycle. "This is gonna be fun" he said when I first showed him the bike. See a couple other shots at... http://behyer.tumblr.com/#

I just bought a 1978 Cota 348, with the intention of making it run reliably, possibly competing, but mostly riding it on a mountainside in West Virginia that I've recently come into. I always liked this bike; a friend owned one back when they were new and I've wanted one ever since. I didn't set out to buy one, but a good deal (I think) came my way and the bike is in great shape cosmetically and supposedly runs. Upon delivery, I gassed it up and got it to start after some struggling. That was a couple days ago. Today I can't get it to start at all. It's got a strong spark but seems to be getting flooded (maybe), but I just can't get it to catch. Doesn't even seem to try to start. When I pulled the plug, it was wet, so my guess is either a timing issue or the carb is not doing its job properly. It's an Amal, stock to the machine (as is everything else as far as I can tell). Any tips? Is there a trick to getting these things to start reliably? Does anyone care to hazard a guess as far as whether it's a carb issue or the timing? Anything in particular I need to know about rebuilding an Amal carb? I'd appreciate any advice at all.