Inconsequential ramblings of an Old Git

[mangocrazy]

Purple anodising please.

Er.... No.

Sorry.

You're just trying to get Weeksy's OCD going aren't you?

Purple plates, with a blue and an orange bolt, preferably different positions on either side.

Oh and a green brake hose one side and a white one the other side.

I don't think you're taking this entirely seriously, old chap...

[Count Steer]

Purple anodising please.

Er.... No.

Sorry.

You're just trying to get Weeksy's OCD going aren't you?

Purple plates, with a blue and an orange bolt, preferably different positions on either side.

Oh and a green brake hose one side and a white one the other side.

Then add a brown seat and hey presto! Weeksy can post it up as the 'Custom Bike du Jour'.

[Druid]

Er.... No.

Sorry.

You're just trying to get Weeksy's OCD going aren't you?

Purple plates, with a blue and an orange bolt, preferably different positions on either side.

Oh and a green brake hose one side and a white one the other side.

Then add a brown seat and hey presto! Weeksy can post it up as the 'Custom Bike du Jour'.

You'll need to bin the airbox and fit pod filters too

[mangocrazy]

You'll need to bin the airbox and fit pod filters too

Hah! Best way I know to totally ruin the fuelling.

But then I'm sure you already knew that...

[mangocrazy]

Never let it be said that I don't respond to suggestions. @weeksy requested that the brake mounting plates be satin black, not plain ali. And by the magic of Xylan coating it was made so...

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I've also been receiving lots of little packages during the course of the last week. Here are the contents:

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Better start making up some brake and clutch lines, then...

[Mr. Dazzle]

Xylan coating

Shudder.

But that's just my experience with one specific part. Why not anodised out of curiosity.

[mangocrazy]

I've had Xylan coating done before and it's been fine; the forks (pictured earlier) are Xylan coated. I needed the brackets finishing off cosmetically by a local firm that does stainless/ali polishing but also offer electroless nickel plating, anodising, phosphating and Xylan coating. The main guy there recommended Xylan as the best option so I agreed. I got the items in the picture plus a pair of wiper arms for my old Beta done in Xylan for £40 cash. If they look shit after a while I'll take 'em back...

[Mr. Dazzle]

Yeah my experience with Xylan is a totally different environment, way more aggressive. I can't speak to how it works on the outside of a bike but it straight up fell off my bits

[mangocrazy]

It's not a moving part and most of the bike's days are spent in the South of France, so the most aggressive chemical it's liable to face is the local red wine...

[mangocrazy]

I'm having an enforced break from VFR-bothering, as I've belatedly remembered just how difficult making up braided hose lines really is. The stainless braid is an absolute vicious b'stard to handle, giving you puncture wounds for fun. So I've made a strategic withdrawal and am hatching A Plan on how to deal with it. This involves (as usual) Buying Stuff Online and waiting for it to be delivered.

So I've turned my attentions back to Elsie, particularly as it's showing signs of incontinence in its old age. From time to time I need to move the LC out of the shed it shares with the VFR, as space is at a premium. When doing this I've noticed gummy deposits on the floor where the LH centre stand leg was, and it turns out to be gearbox oil escaping past the gearchange shaft oil seal. This is a well-known issue with LCs of a certain age, as the seal wears a groove in the shaft allowing oil past. In some cases the steel shaft actually wears the alloy crankcases giving rise to iffy gear changes. Mine hasn't gone that far (it's never been Yorick'd) but the solution is the same; hoick out the old oil seal and replace it with a niftily machined alloy part incorporating an o-ring, phosphor bronze insert and new oil seal housing which moves its position outwards by 10-15mm and on to an unmolested part of the shaft (see picture).

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The machined alloy part is an interference fit and is drifted in to the former oil seal housing using a suitable length of steel tube. Once the alloy part is fully home, the oil seal is then drifted into position in the same manner. By far the hardest part of the whole operation was removing the old oil seal. Once that was out, cleaning up the seal housing and fitting the new parts was the work of a couple of minutes. The kit even provides a replacement for the manky 40 year old nylon sleeve that protects the gear change shaft from flappy chains.

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So hopefully that will be the last of gummy deposits on the shed floor...

[Skub]

I've belatedly remembered just how difficult making up braided hose lines really is. The stainless braid is an absolute vicious b'stard to handle, giving you puncture wounds for fun.

Oh,yes. I had a short lived love affair with making my own cables,never again.

[mangocrazy]

I've belatedly remembered just how difficult making up braided hose lines really is. The stainless braid is an absolute vicious b'stard to handle, giving you puncture wounds for fun.

Oh,yes. I had a short lived love affair with making my own cables,never again.

I think I'd blanked out the memory of it. I had to make up lines for the fancy AP Lockheed calipers I'd bought for my LC. I didn't have a work bench or a vice and all I had to cut the bloody stuff with was either a blunt hacksaw or side cutters. It took me hours to do just one line and I doubt I've ever sworn quite as much before or since.

I'm not quite sure what possessed me to take it on again - probably the cost of getting two sets of front brake lines and two sets of clutch lines made up (I'm an honorary Yorkshireman and Dad was proud of his Scots heritage). But I've bought all the bits now, so I don't intend to waste all that outlay plus shell out for ready made ones.

Watch this space...

[David]

I'm having an enforced break from VFR-bothering, as I've belatedly remembered just how difficult making up braided hose lines really is. The stainless braid is an absolute vicious b'stard to handle, giving you puncture wounds for fun. So I've made a strategic withdrawal and am hatching A Plan on how to deal with it. This involves (as usual) Buying Stuff Online and waiting for it to be delivered.

So I've turned my attentions back to Elsie, particularly as it's showing signs of incontinence in its old age. From time to time I need to move the LC out of the shed it shares with the VFR, as space is at a premium. When doing this I've noticed gummy deposits on the floor where the LH centre stand leg was, and it turns out to be gearbox oil escaping past the gearchange shaft oil seal. This is a well-known issue with LCs of a certain age, as the seal wears a groove in the shaft allowing oil past. In some cases the steel shaft actually wears the alloy crankcases giving rise to iffy gear changes. Mine hasn't gone that far (it's never been Yorick'd) but the solution is the same; hoick out the old oil seal and replace it with a niftily machined alloy part incorporating an o-ring, phosphor bronze insert and new oil seal housing which moves its position outwards by 10-15mm and on to an unmolested part of the shaft (see picture).


DSCF2955.JPG


The machined alloy part is an interference fit and is drifted in to the former oil seal housing using a suitable length of steel tube. Once the alloy part is fully home, the oil seal is then drifted into position in the same manner. By far the hardest part of the whole operation was removing the old oil seal. Once that was out, cleaning up the seal housing and fitting the new parts was the work of a couple of minutes. The kit even provides a replacement for the manky 40 year old nylon sleeve that protects the gear change shaft from flappy chains.


DSCF2959.JPG


So hopefully that will be the last of gummy deposits on the shed floor...

Not if that switch has any input......

[mangocrazy]

Hmmm - good point, well made.

I' haven't refilled the gearbox yet, so will investigate further tomorrow. Without taking a high magnification flash photo of that area (and you pointing it out), I'd never have seen that oil droplet.

[David]

Happy to be of service....

[David]

Perhaps I should have said " output".

[mangocrazy]

It looks as if the o-ring that seals the nylon plate from the passage of gearbox oil has become brittle and is no longer doing its job. I guess it's allowed to after 40 years in the same position...

Part ordered from Fowlers (still available from Yamaha), so hopefully that will fix the problem.

[mangocrazy]

O-ring arrived yesterday, was fitted with lots of silicone grease and then the gearbox re-filled with oil. It's now on drip-watch...

The other Big Thing (as far as I'm concerned - I doubt it will register a flicker on anyone else's WTF scale) was the successful fabrication of a Special Tool to assist me in making up braided steel hose lines without bleeding to death from puncture wounds. The photos show Wot I Dun better than I can explain. I give you the Special Tool...

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It's made from 30mm x 10mm aluminium flat bar and has a 7mm hole bored through the centre, which is slightly larger than the o.d. of braided hose in its unmolested state (6.4mm). It also has a 2.5mm deep x 10.5mm wide hole milled on one side, the reasons for which will become apparent.

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Top view of the tool, showing how the braided hose flares out (and makes life difficult) when cut.

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The tricky bit. The tool is gently pulled down the braid until all the loose ends are contained within the tool and the milled section is free of any braid.

[Skub]

Well thunked out.

I'm still buying ready made.

[mangocrazy]

For some reason I couldn't add any more pics on that post, so continuing in a separate one.

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Then the ferrule is placed inside the milled section and given a firm push (using pliers to avoid damaging fingers) so that the braid can't escape and is held within the ferrule.

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Then the tool is unscrewed and removed and the ferrule pushed fully back.

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