Hey everyone, I inherited my Dad's 1975 350 Alpina, and just got it back from the local bike shop.  They looked it over, cleaned the carb, replaced damaged fuel lines etc. and it ran great when the mechanic kicked it over.

 

I got it home, and for the life of me can't get the danged thing to start...  First question, is the choke on in the up or down position (I have the Amal carb with a choke and no tickler)?  

 

Second question - Any tricks to getting this thing cold-started?  I know it runs well, but it has to start to run :-)

 

Thanks!

Should be down. Did you turn on the petcock? Did you turn the petcock off when you transported?

Ok, so the choke is on when down - thanks!  Petcock - I'm not sure about what position it was in when I pulled it off the trailer, but it was on when I was kicking it over.  

 

Thanks again

Now that I know which way the choke lever goes, I got her to start up a couple of times, but both times the choke lever popped up and the bike bogged and died.  Of course I didn't notice the choke lever popped up until after it died.  Is that by design, or is my choke lever funky?

Without digging my bike out, I would say it`s a little loose (worn). Just hold it after it starts.

I have had experience of this. This will be caused by wear, nothing automatic. I used to be quite good at kicking the bike over, one hand on the throttle and the other on the choke.

 

Stuart