May 2012
This bike was brought to me for my opinion on the carb tuning. I rode it briefly and thought it went extremely well. However the owner was not happy with it and decided to acquire a new set of carbs.
He travelled to the UK soon afterwards and brought the new parts home with him.
I did not get to see the bike again after the new parts were fitted, and I suspect that it did not prove to be the cure.
There is no "new carb" cure for old British bikes. Even the replacement parts for the original carbs are no longer dependable as to their quality, so even buying a new set of the correct parts - slides/jets/needles - is no longer guaranteed to result in a happy engine.
Basically, these days it is neceasary to modify the original parts to obtain the correct tuning. If you fit new carbs you still need to do the same, but chances are the start point will be even further removed from ideal than it was to begin with.