how to start an old montesa

by John R. Haberbosch

I was reading through an old owners manual for my first motorcycle for the 10^th or 20^th time and on crossing the title “STARTING SYSTEM” I noticed how simplistic it was. It simply stated, “It is started by means of the kick-start pedal”. There is some history here. It lacks a great deal of explanation covering how to choke the carburetor, how to tickle it, (the carburetor that is) how to swiftly stroke the kick crank, and how many times it must be stroked.

Unlike modern day motorcycles that require little in the way of understanding the starting principle with all of their electronic black boxes and foolproof carburetion, the Spanish motorcycle needs understanding and the proper gentle touch to bring life to its cold and unclearcoated aluminum heart. This happens to be one of the endearing qualities for which we become attached to our Spanish mount. The Spanish Amal monobloc carburetor was one of the most endearing.

First of all there is no need to turn on the key as the ignition is on all the time anyway. The fuel taps must be turned on prior to touching the engine. If you have left the fuel taps on for a notable period of time it will not be necessary to flood the carburetor or to choke it as frequently there is already sufficient fuel in the engine for a rich mixture. It may have more than the 1:15 fuel/air ratio and brings on a condition called “wet sumping” which will not be covered here, as it requires additional preparation time in the starting procedure that is another endearing quality for which this missive shall not delve into.

Now that the fuel taps have been opened it is necessary to flood the carburetor by depressing the “tickler” button on top of the float chamber, which is positioned off-center to left of the main jet. This must be held down until a fuel/oil mixture bubbles up around the button and down onto the polished aluminum cases which will soon attract dust to the oil left from the fuel evaporation. The “choke” lever is activated to full or slightly above full on position. The transmission is now placed into neutral and the clutch lever released. If you don’t release the clutch lever the next step may be painful. Depress the kick-start pedal swiftly downward. When the engine starts adjust the throttle position, the choke control, and the “tickler” to maintain a running condition.

If a over rich mixture causes the engine to not start and operate in an acceptable manner it is necessary to deal with a flooded condition. With the old Spanish Amal monobloc it was sometime necessary to find a moderate downhill, or strong friend, twist the throttle to full open, and engage LOW gear after reaching 5 to 10 mph. Amal’s tended to load up (flood) you see.

The other way was to turn the fuel taps off, hold the throttle wide open and kick until much smoke and many intermittent explosions signaled life. At this point the motorcycle must be leaned onto its left side so fuel would flow away from the main jet. Once the engine cleaned out simply right the motorcycle and turn the fuel taps back on.

Oh yes! Occasionally it would start on the first or second kick, which would tend to confuse you. Don’t you miss those days? You can go out to your garage and relive those days or just put a round slide Mikuni on it and just forget about it.