Amal 276 or 289`s on higher compressed Rapide B?

Sloper

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As the original Amal 276 Carbs on my Rapide B are approaching the end of their life (worn out, already reworked and now partially cracked) I am looking for new ones...; As this one has the higher compressed BS pistons, I wonder if I should go for the new reproduction 276`s or spent a little more for the 289`s....; just curious, if somebody has experience in this matter (means experienced a slight power gain, smoother acceleration, or fewer MPG, etc...) please let me know, what you think about this....

Thanks,


Sloper
 

Bazlerker

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Stick with the 276's...You'll only get value out of a pair of 289's if your cams and brakes and shocks have been upgraded too!
 

Albervin

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Bob is right on the money. Bigger carbs will give you virtually no increase in useable power unless you tidy up your ports, fit a Mk2 cam & use high octane fuel. Standard Rapide carbs will still give you good performance on 7.3:1 or even 8:1 with good petrol AND you will still get good fuel economy.
 

Tom Gaynor

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And if you DO tidy up the ports, etc, etc, then you'll need more revs to capitalise on the bigger carbs, and may well lose flexibility.

Kevin Traill, of Alverstoke Restorations, will rebore / resleeve a 276 / 289 carb body / slide for about £70. Memory says. He bores the body, fits a sleeve over your slide, turns it to fit. Effectively your carbs are good as new. I had my 289's done, I got them back within a week. OK, Scotland is closer to England than Austria, but I reckon only by two or three days. And £70 is considerably less than the price of a pair of new 289's.
Kevin Traill, +44 2392 580 708, after 1630 UK time.
 
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Bazlerker

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I had my 276 carbs sleeved about 25 years ago...steel sleeves on the slides have a lower coefficent of drag against the lead zinc alloy of the body - that and air filters will remove the "grinding paste" that passes for air...and will result in great carbs for many years...
 

A_HRD

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I had my 276 Rap carbs bored and sleeved about twenty-odd years ago when Martyn Bratby first started doing them in the UK. It was the single most amazing transformation to the sweet-running and easy-starting of my Rapide I had ever experienced. Now they are getting slack and need doing again. Fitting a 'Price Productions' new ATD came a close second in more recent years.

As for going to 289s, I don't know. I do know that I've been intending to do this for the last 10 years, perhaps I'll get to it this winter while the Rapide is in for some much-deserved maintenance(?). In which case, I'll let you know my findings - next year!

Peter
 

Tom Gaynor

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Mine is a Shadow, has 289's anyway. But I agree with you. And I too have a Roy Price ATD, persuaded by finding FIVE wrecked Vincent ATD's in my "spares box" - along with five alloy idlers each with a tooth missing - that Eddie Stevens got it right in KTB. Lucas ATD's are all right new, but once worn and rusted, best used as fishing weights. (OK, he didn't actually suggest that, but it is implicit...) With sleeved carbs and the new ATD, the bike, c/w high first gear, is a delight to ride in traffic. It goes, it steers, it stops (PV brakes) and other drivers are stunned into paralysis by the sheer noise it makes. The roads seem empty as the numpties pull off convinced that WW III has started.
My resleeved 289's are so good that I usually need to use the air levers when the bike has merely cooled, and always need to use them when it is cold. Which is most of the time.
 
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