Hi,

I want to remove the Amal carb from my newly acquired Sherpa mod. 190 1977 250 for cleaning.

The throttle cable enters the top of the carb through a black knurled cap which looks like it should just screw off but its really tight.

Before I go and break something can someone tell me if this is the case and how to do it properly please??

Cheers

Yes, it unscrews. They can get tight so it's just a case or working it free. If you can't do it by hand use grips to get extra leverage but don't grip it too tight or it will crack

If it does break, new ones are available

yes i had the same problem once on a amal. and i did just has woody says above took me 2 seconds with a pair of ajusters.

Water pump plyers are better, less chance of damage.

Thanks for the replies. I'm about to cut my mechanical teeth on this old girl so this won't be the last time I need pointing in the right direction.

As a supplemental; I know they're worlds apart but I found a YouTube video of a guy sorting an Amal on an old Norton or Triumph; he had the slide up 1mm. When I look into mine it's up about 10mm from the bottom, is this normal on a Sherpa?

The rear of the slide has a D shaped cut out so even when the slide is fully closed, it may appear as though it is 'open'. It isn't as the front of the slide is flat at the bottom and when closed it sits flush with the bottom of the carb and stops airflow. There are slides with different size cut-outs to vary the airflow - are you sure it isn't this you are looking at?

If the slide is raised 10mm in the carb body and you can see underneath it through the carb, then either the throttle cable is incorrectly adjusted or too short, or, the slide is stuck open in the carb body.

Mmmmmm, somehow knew this wouldn't be straightforward! The photo is what I can see at the moment. Suppose the best thing is to dismantle and clean and see how things look then. The slide certainly moves free enough up and down when I twist the throttle but of course it could be failing to go fully down.

Turn it around and look through the front of the carb and see if the slide is shut.

Difficult to tell from the picture angle but it looks fine

thanks, will do. hopefully have it off in a day or two when i get a chance.

Cheers

Here's the view from the front, the slide is up a few mm but not as much as the rear. When I twist the throttle and let it down there's a definite noise as if its bottoming out rather than just sticking. So if it was set properly there would be no gap at all on this side with the throttle shut?

The clunk should be the bottom left side of the slide hitting the throttle slide height adjustment screw (throttle stop screw) This is the angled screw you can see on the left side of the carb next to the air screw which is horizontal. It's used to set the tickover by lifting the slide slightly and allowing air through the carb which draws fuel though the pilot jet.

The fact that the slide is hitting something when it returns suggests that the cable is the correct length as if it was too short there would be no noise when the slide returned. Whilst you have the carb off, unscrew the stop screw and you should see the slide eventually close to prove it has full adjustment. Count the number of turns you unscrew it, then you can put it back in the same position when you refit it to the bike.

If the engine races when you start it, just turn the screw out until you get the tickover speed you want

Understood, thanks very much for all the help. Next job to give the carb a thorough clean and take it from there.

Cheers

D