Hello everyone, I have a 73 Bultaco Alpina M 85 with a Amal carb. The bikes motor has been rebuilt & it has the original Amal carb on it which I have rebuilt with all new gaskets, float, & screens. My problem is the tickler will not tic over. I have talked to Hugh’s Bultaco here in the states & he said the new gaskets are thicker & that might be stopping the plunger from pushing on the float. I’m going to remove the cab & inspect the plunger to see if it comes apart. Has anyone ever had this issue before? Because without the bowl flooding over, these bikes are hard to start. 
Thanks, Colby

Lean the bike over on its left side until fuel flows out the tickler hole .  That will over flow the float bowl the same way the tickler would.  Try that and see what happens 

As well as the gasket thickness, the new float may be slightly different shaped, causing the tickler to miss it.

I had the same issue with the tickler not pushing the float down on the same carby. I didn't pursue a solution because I didn't like the carby anyway and fitted an OKO

Colby -

John Healy is a recognised authority in setting up and using Amal Carbs. Here's what he had to say to a user with the same problem as yours :-

"First you must establish that the float level is proper.
The tickler travel is determined by how far the roll pin is pressed into the button. The travel is adjustable. To increase the travel pull the pin out of the button a tad.
This is easily done with a diagonal cutting pliers (not electricians pliers!). Push the button to exend the pin out of the body as far as it will go. Grasp the pin firmly (it is hardened steel) at the point it is just exiting the body with the diagonal pliers and lever the pin out. Be careful that you don't mark the float bowl gasket face. You should be able to get another 1/8" or so of travel. This should solve your problem. "

(I'll add that I haven't actually tried it myself as none of my carbs have ever displayed the problem.)

HTH

 

 

Edited August 1, 20242 yr by lorenzo

Ok guys, got the tickle over problem fixed.  I don’t know if any of you are using these new brass needle valves with the rubber tips that come with the newer floats, but if you are, they are to heavy compared to the original all plastic needle valves & will not let the gas flow into the float bowl. Once I went back to the original it tickled over instantly. I thought that the new rebuild kit would be the sensible thing to to do, but once I figured out the gas wasn’t flowing into the float bowl, it had to be the heavier needle valve. Now on to the sputtering & hesitating on acceleration. Thanks for all the recommendations. I tried them all.