Hi John,
As Singleminded says, no two bikes are the same; wear and tear has given them all their own, um, personalities, you might say and the need to earn the drill for your bike is part of the bonding process, sort of...
However, firstly, you shouldn't need to tickle a carb when the engine is hot. If you do it suggests that the fuel mixture is too lean in the low range - which most likely means the pilot circuit - or the throttle slide cutaway,given that you probably open the throttle slightly as you kick it over - is at fault.
The ignition lever setting should not be affected by engine temperature and will always need to be retarded slightly to prevent a kick back. If the engine does seem to need more advance when hot it could indicate an ignition problem. Magnetos are internally timed such that the strongest spark occurs at full advance, the spark becoming weaker as you retard the lever. This is no problem with a healthy mag but because magneto problems tend to appear when hot, an engine requiring more advance than usual to start when hot can be a warning that all is not well. if you get a really good spark at full retard with the engine hot, that's good, if not a mag rebuild is on the cards.
But check the points gap - I ran into this one recently. For a mag it should be 0.012". If new points have been fitted the gap tends to close up as they run in and although the engine will run, it can then take an almighty kick to jar them enough to open at kick-over speeds.
Carb wise, weakness in the pilot circuit can, in theory, be addressed by the pilot air screw but if that doesn't help there could be a blockage in the fuel drillings. These are contained within the brass jet block within the carb body. To remove it you need to undo the large nut on the bottom (remove the float chamber, it's the vase shaped nut the float chamber nut screws into) and then carefully pressing it out - bashing it can distort it. There are some tiny holes that need to be clear. Unfortunately these are the pilot 'jets' so there's no easy way to alter the fuel supply; an air screw should usually be 1.5 to 2.5 turns out fro fully closed, if it's happiest wound fully home it may be you need more fuel but it may also be down to slide/bosy wear allowing too much air in.
If you have removed the choke on the carb, make sure the hole for the cable is blocked in the carb top or you introduce too much air.
The slide cutaway is easier to alter, usually engines are happier to start when rich than weak so maybe a lower cutaway would help. The cutaway should be stamped on the top of the slide and is measured in 16ths of an inch so a 4 cutaway is 4/16" or 1/ 4" - that's if you stood the slide on a flat surface and measured up to the apex of the 'arch'.
Realistically a bike should start hot with the throttle completely shut if the pilot is right but throw in an uncertain amount of slide and body wear and the fact that modern fuel isn't the same as the stuff it was made for and it all gets very vague. If your mag passes the hot/full retard test it's likely to be carburetion or technique. Hopefully a bit of practice will sort it out, meanwhile it's good you were able to bump it.
Cheers Rick
