Twenty two hours in the garage

[weeksy]

Great stuff, nice one

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Nice one, shame about the LC tank, that's the kind of carp I usually do.

Stopping the engine, could you put a switch on the low tension side of the coil to cut voltage to it, this is what I do on my Kawasaki, you might be better off grounding the voltage like a two stroke motocross bike.

[KungFooBob]

If you want to stop it, put your hand over the bellmouth... or will it suck the skin off?

[Yorick]

Oops.

[Noggin]

I'm always amazed when people walk past bikes like yours or really old cars. To laugh at them is shocking

I know I'm just a petrol head, so I will look at anything with an engine that makes a noise!!!! But classics/vintage stuff. I can look at, admire and attempt not to drool on all of them!! The classic rally last weekend was my kind of heaven. I knew nothing about any of the cars or bikes but damn they were gorgeous!


What the dismissive people forget, I guess, is that without cars and bikes of your era (and before) they wouldn't have their modern stuff. It does seem weird to me not to have at least an appreciation of classics and vintage

[Noggin]

I do get it, I might have done the same when I was young, I wouldn't have understood why anyone would want to ride a 90yr old bike and struggle around it's foibles and inadequacies. .

But after decades of riding new stuff I found that it's less exciting than it used to be, anyone can go and buy a new bike and ride it around, but putting together something very old and then riding that around is a new experience.

People change, I can now see a point where I might abandon ICE bikes for good (I'm burned out with fixing them and constantly having dirty hands) and I could actually see myself switching to electric bikes. Having a modern bike with a combustion engine isn't what it used to be anyway, you can't see anything moving or even get involved with it, it just propels you forward and soon there will be better ways of doing that.

I think I've always been a bit weird. I've always loved old vehicles and hate seeing them rotting in fields or barns - always wish I had the money and mechanical brain to do them up to their former glory!!

I used to go to the TT and Manx GP a lot (marshalled every year after the first trip!) but the thing that stays in my memory the most is queuing to get away from the ferry at my first Manx GP and being surrounded by old bikes where I could see valves moving, like on a trumpet (not a Triumph!!). I was in total awe. And there were loads like that!! There was I on my Honda Blackbird, absolutely wishing I could have one of the classics (as well! I could see the limitations!!)

I feel the same about cars


No idea why I've always had that brain. But if I'd have had money, there'd be an aircraft hangar somewhere full of classics/vintage with the odd modern special thrown in!! Like Dirk Pitt!!! It's still a pie in the sky dream that hangar!!!

[Yorick]

Can you get one of them mobile "Chips Away" guys to fix the tank?

[iansoady]

Just stumbled across this - looks like an interesting rebuild. Prewar bikes are great fun to work on - I restored a 1931 Sunbeam a few years ago: http://www.iansoady.org.uk/Sunbeam/restoration.html. There's always a workaround if you can't get the "proper" bits but sometimes can be a bit tricky.

Stopping the engine - yes, for a bike of this era the decompressor / valve lifter is the way to do it and as you say makes starting much easier. That cam looks awful. Phil Irving (chief engineer at Vincent) suggested that roller followers weren't a good idea as they can tend to skid as they're accelerated and decelerated although probably not such a problem with modern oils - I see you're using "R" but wonder why (apart from the smell).

I'm surprised by what you say about the advance / retard not making much difference - it does on my ES2. Here it is idling on full retard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6IMRXgZE8k

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

I do get it, I might have done the same when I was young, I wouldn't have understood why anyone would want to ride a 90yr old bike and struggle around it's foibles and inadequacies. .

But after decades of riding new stuff I found that it's less exciting than it used to be, anyone can go and buy a new bike and ride it around, but putting together something very old and then riding that around is a new experience.

People change, I can now see a point where I might abandon ICE bikes for good (I'm burned out with fixing them and constantly having dirty hands) and I could actually see myself switching to electric bikes. Having a modern bike with a combustion engine isn't what it used to be anyway, you can't see anything moving or even get involved with it, it just propels you forward and soon there will be better ways of doing that.

I think I've always been a bit weird. I've always loved old vehicles and hate seeing them rotting in fields or barns - always wish I had the money and mechanical brain to do them up to their former glory!!

I used to go to the TT and Manx GP a lot (marshalled every year after the first trip!) but the thing that stays in my memory the most is queuing to get away from the ferry at my first Manx GP and being surrounded by old bikes where I could see valves moving, like on a trumpet (not a Triumph!!). I was in total awe. And there were loads like that!! There was I on my Honda Blackbird, absolutely wishing I could have one of the classics (as well! I could see the limitations!!)

I feel the same about cars


No idea why I've always had that brain. But if I'd have had money, there'd be an aircraft hangar somewhere full of classics/vintage with the odd modern special thrown in!! Like Dirk Pitt!!! It's still a pie in the sky dream that hangar!!!

You should see Ford's shed in Dagenham, one of everything they've ever made in the UK, plus a load of works rally and touring cars.

[Noggin]

I do get it, I might have done the same when I was young, I wouldn't have understood why anyone would want to ride a 90yr old bike and struggle around it's foibles and inadequacies. .

But after decades of riding new stuff I found that it's less exciting than it used to be, anyone can go and buy a new bike and ride it around, but putting together something very old and then riding that around is a new experience.

People change, I can now see a point where I might abandon ICE bikes for good (I'm burned out with fixing them and constantly having dirty hands) and I could actually see myself switching to electric bikes. Having a modern bike with a combustion engine isn't what it used to be anyway, you can't see anything moving or even get involved with it, it just propels you forward and soon there will be better ways of doing that.

I think I've always been a bit weird. I've always loved old vehicles and hate seeing them rotting in fields or barns - always wish I had the money and mechanical brain to do them up to their former glory!!

I used to go to the TT and Manx GP a lot (marshalled every year after the first trip!) but the thing that stays in my memory the most is queuing to get away from the ferry at my first Manx GP and being surrounded by old bikes where I could see valves moving, like on a trumpet (not a Triumph!!). I was in total awe. And there were loads like that!! There was I on my Honda Blackbird, absolutely wishing I could have one of the classics (as well! I could see the limitations!!)

I feel the same about cars


No idea why I've always had that brain. But if I'd have had money, there'd be an aircraft hangar somewhere full of classics/vintage with the odd modern special thrown in!! Like Dirk Pitt!!! It's still a pie in the sky dream that hangar!!!

You should see Ford's shed in Dagenham, one of everything they've ever made in the UK, plus a load of works rally and touring cars.

You'd be hard pushed to get me to leave somewhere like that!! At the rally last weekend, a friend joined me for a coffee for a bit. But I just sat looking at and admiring all the vehicles for soooo long, he got bored!! LOL Don't know anyone else up here that 'gets' it. Got a girl mate that is also a petrol head (she used to rally cars) so at least when we catch up it's nice to talk to someone with a similar brain!!! Not sure she's into old stuff like I am, but she appreciates the mechanics of things, so would be happy to admire for a bit (then go collect her bloke from the modern car aisle, order the coffee, grab a seat and wait whilst I dragged myself away!!)

I do need to make time when I'm back next year to go to some places with the old cars and bikes on display - I've only ever seen stuff at rallys, so, the few that are still roadworthy!!

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

I decided to go out on my RD350LC, I fancied something a bit modern

It started making a strange rotary whirring noise, I thought it might be the water pump, or even a wheel bearing, but it sounded like a very small turbo that was about to eat itself. It was quite loud at times.

Anyway, on the way back my speedo went all erratic and then the cable snapped, so it must have been that because the sound stopped immediately.

Quite common, the rev counter cable did that on one of my 250s

[Rockburner]

running it with a 10TT9 Amal carb so it doesn't have tickover - so I don't need a decompressor to stop it - no keys or other way to stop it really. In fact because it's a racing carb it stalls for fun even if you let the revs die too much in between gear changes.
....

It was a bit lumpy and kept missing when cold, not sure why, but once it warmed up it settled down,

Not seeing any form of connection there, no sirree, not a one.

perhaps some damp in the system.
I'd forgotten what it was like to ride, it makes my 1980's bikes feel like starship technology. I eased it up to 60mph gently because it's still running a new piston in and it had some left to give but it wasn't a rocket ship and it's still a lumpy old thing, it's a 500cc single from 1936 with an open head, I don't know what I expected but on a scale of one to VFR800 it doesn't score very highly.

It's definitely running better and it is a little quicker though, but you have to be in the mood to ride it, it's more of an event than a ride. I would imagine it's like a steam roller, if you want to ride on one then nothing else will do, but you have to want to ride on one.

The carb is unsuitable and as soon as Amal open on Monday I'll get them to ship me a concentic carb and run with that, it's not OEM but it will run a lot better, tick over nicely, etc, bugger the purists. But then I'll definitely need to fit a decompressor or I can't think of another way to stop it.

Switched earth for the mag?

ie a wire run from the mag (I'm not sure which connection), via a switch to any bit of metal on the bike - ie a kill switch.
In simple terms - a drain to let the electricity run away before it gets to the coil.

The JAPton has something similar (iirc).

The ignition needs work, it has manual advance and retard on the handlebars but it didn't make any significant difference, you could feel a change but not massive. I did set it dead on 13mm BTDC and the manual says 12-14mm, so perhaps that's why, the movement on the lever perhaps doesn't throw it one way or the other to make a big difference.

It's taken me since September 2019 to get this running. Of course, most of that is because I couldn't travel due to covid, but still it feels like a journey because during all that time I was emailing, reading, learning and having parts shipped about by friends and family. It feels like a bit of an anti-climax now, like a huge project is done and now I'm just left with a lumpy old 500 single, lol.

I think I packed our new GoPro, if I did I'll do a little video of me riding it at some point this week.
The garage now smells lovely, it's running on Castrol R.

[KungFooBob]

Is it twin spark?

I didn't realise they were doing that kind of thing back then. I was always told Alfa used twin spark heads because it was easer than designing an efficient combustion chamber

[Mr. Dazzle]

The Rolls-Royce Merlin had/has twin sparks. As I've said loads of times, most of what you think of as new and racey was dreamed up years and years ago for aircraft engines. Prior to the 1940s piston engines were the highest performance engines you could get, so the enormous budgets and clever thinking of aerospace was poured into them.

[Skub]

Castrol R,the smell of pure nostalgia for folk of a certain age!

[Mr. Dazzle]

I've ordered a new Amal carb, it should be here in the post tomorrow.
It's the updated version of an OEM one, with all the benefits of modern technology, plus it's in aluminium and has a hardened slide, etc, so it should last my lifetime. It sort of looks authentic, most people wouldn't notice, some people even run with actual modern carbs but that does ruin the look a bit with a new square bowl Mikuni on.

I parked up next to a new Triumph "classic" the other day, not sure what model it was. I did smile a bit when I saw they've shaped the EFI throttle body to look like an old Amal monoblock.

[Yorick]

Castrol R,the smell of pure nostalgia for folk of a certain age!

Never heard of it ...

[Count Steer]

You can buy 'Castrol R' candles. Just the thing for that romantic ambience in the garage.

[KungFooBob]

I was told to use Castrol R in the gearbox on my air cooled RD racebike, if the seals went you'd know straight away by the smell.

[Mr. Dazzle]

I was told to use Castrol R in the gearbox on my air cooled RD racebike, if the seals went you'd know straight away by the smell.

They used to do the same on steam trains and similar....put "stink bombs" of strong chemical smells in bearings etc so you would know when they were dying. No word on whether castrol R was one of the options.