Amal Carburettors

Who Are AMAL?

AMAL was a Birmingham based, engineering company and main supplier of carburettors and carburettor parts to the British motorcycle industry from the late 1920s until the early 1990s. Today, AMAL carbs are still manufactured and sold under the company Burlen Fuel Systems Ltd. for the classic and vintage motorcycle market. The Burlen company have also proudly reintroduced a number of other, famous, vintage fuel systems and parts back onto the market.

How did it begin?

The AMAL company first formed in 1927 when the three manufacturers: Brown and Barlow, Amac and C.Binks came together to operate under one name: Amalgamated Carburetters Ltd. The company headquarters was the Brown and Barlow factory in Birmingham. In 1931, the company name was changed to AMAL Ltd.

Amal Products

Amal were well known in the British motorcycle industry for their three main carburettor designs. These include the Standard, the Monobloc and the concentric. The ‘standard’ was fitted up to 1955 and featured adjustment screws on either side of the carb body, meaning it could be fixed with either a flange or spigot type fixing. The Monobloc was available on the market from 1955 and featured an offset float chamber. The Concentric was a more modern design introduced in 1967, the float chamber for the concentric was now repositioned to sit directly under the body, offering a more inconspicuous and non-protruding look.

Alongside the AMAL carburettors, the company also produced various other products for the motor cycle industry including fuelling accessories, controls and cables, gas injectors, fuel pumps and more.

The Amal Journey

The AMAL company became part of the ICI Metals division in 1940. AMAL continued to produce carburettors and accessories at the original headquarters until 1943, where a fire at the premises meant the company had to relocate. During the mid 1950’s the demand for AMAL carburettors fell as the British motorcycle industry began to decline, however despite this the company employed 600 new persons in 196, and continued to manufacture as a subsidiary of ICI until 194, where the outstanding shares were acquired by the company IMI. In 1993, the company was bought by a fuel system component supplier under the name of Grosvenor Works. It was under this new management that the company began to re-manufacture some of AMAL’s discontinued parts and product lines. The company continued to run under Grosvenor Works management for 10 years, where it was then bought by Burlen Fuel Systems in 2003. Burlen Fuel Systems still continue to manufacture the original AMAL carburettors, carburettor parts and other products today.