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Topics - iansoady

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1
British Bikes / Triumph unit small twins
« on: February 23, 2023, 10:09:14 AM »
I'm embarking on a new project - a Grumph / Tri-Greeves. I have a Hawkstone frame and a job lot of Triumph engine parts - both 500 and 350. I'm not at all familiar with Triumphs so would very much welcome any hints and tips from the collected wisdom here. I will have a load of surplus bits so these will become available once I understand what I need and what not.

Thanks in advance

2
Autojumble / Honda CX500 tank wanted
« on: November 05, 2022, 10:01:31 AM »
This is a long shot but I'm modifying an XBR500 to do away with the giant petrol tank and am looking for a CX500 tank in useable condition. In the UK. Thanks for looking!

3
British Bikes / Villiers silencing question
« on: August 06, 2020, 01:35:02 PM »
I've gone over to the dark side (again) and bought a 1955 Francis Barnett Cruiser with a Villers 1H engine. When I started it it made the most unholy racket so I had a look inside the "silencer" and found this:



On dismantling the silencer I found that the front pipe had a baffle tube attached to it. This has about 20 3/4" diameter holes in a sort of spiral pattern. The baffle is not blanked off at the rear end. The silencer tail pipe has a blanking disc in the end and a slit about 5" long x 1/4" wide on the underside of the tailpipe.

The baffle tube was virtually filled with what looks like fibreglass wadding to an extent that only the first couple of holes would allow any exhaust gas through. I take it that this had been added by a previous owner.

Can anyone confirm whether this looks like the correct baffle tube? I'm puzzled by the fact the tail end is unblanked as this would just let the gases straight through. Or am I missing something?

This is the bike:



Needs some TLC but will be ideal for pottering around the Worcestershire lanes when done.

4
British Bikes / Setting Lucas voltage regulators
« on: June 13, 2020, 10:24:45 AM »
I've never been very keen on the way of setting Lucas MCR2 and similar voltage regulators by using the bike's engine to set the cutout and field voltage regulation. I was browsing ebay and came across this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Adjustable-AC-DC-Power-Supply-Adapter-Charger-Variable-Voltage-3V-12V-Universal/362934886316?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

It made me think that maybe I could use this to bench test and calibrate the regulator I'd had in a box of bits as I had no idea whether it was working or correctly calibrated. So I bought one and after checking the mechanical aspects of the regulator I used the voltage supply connected across the dynamo and earth connectors to set the electrical side. The voltage control is a bit coarse but I was able to successfully get the cutout (well cutin really) operating at the required 6.5 volts approximately, and the voltage regulator operating at around 8 volts.

I then put it on the bike and it works perfectly.

May be useful to someone else?

5
British Bikes / Scott
« on: November 10, 2019, 09:51:29 AM »
A (hopefully imminent) house move will see me with greatly enhanced garage space so I am considering extending my "fleet". I've always had a yen for Scotts and nearly bought one about 15 years ago but went for a Venom instead.

I came across this in ebay: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1929-SCOTT-FLYING-SQUIRREL-498cc-TOURER-MATCHING-NUMBERS-VINTAGE-CLASSIC/163920723459 which looks very pretty and is the era I'd be looking at. It seems vastly overpriced to me especially as it's the economy touring model rather than a TT rep. What do people think?

I know the usual advice is to  join the owners' club (which I will probably do) but always respect opinions from the collective wisdom(?) here.

6
Autojumble / Sacrificial cylinder barrel wanted
« on: February 11, 2019, 10:58:11 AM »
There are a few broken fins on my ES2 which I'd like to tidy up in the fullness of time. I don't want to wreck an otherwise good barrel, neither do I want to pay much (anything?). So does anyone have a scrap cast iron barrel (not necessarily Norton) lying about, preferably in the West Midlands, that I could use as a donor? No rush as it will probably be next autumn before I'm ready for it.

Failing that I'll probably pop, over to Yeomans and see what they have.

7
British Bikes / Slimline chrome!
« on: October 07, 2018, 11:37:03 AM »
The lower fork spring covers on my ES2 looked a bit odd.



So on stripping them down I decided to investigate further. I discovered that a previous owner had taken a Ryvita packet, which is obviously metallised foil, and glued it to the metal with the shiny side out. It actually looked quite good from a distance.



Very ingenious and a cheap option, but I'm getting the bits plated.......




8
British Bikes / ES2 progress
« on: August 09, 2018, 01:50:51 PM »
It's starting to look much better:







Starting and running well thanks to fitting a 3.5 cutaway rather then the specified 4. Many thanks to Dave for supplying me with this. I suspect the original was for economy rather than performance.

Still a few jobs to get it on the road so I can assess what needs to be done over the winter apart from cosmetics. But so far I'm pleased with progress.

9
British Bikes / Monobloc carb slides
« on: August 04, 2018, 04:41:45 PM »
My 1952 ES2 is fitted with an (incorrect) 1 1/16" Monobloc 376. It should be a 1 1/16" 276 type but I'm happy to stick with the later carb at least for the time being.

The "correct" settings for both the 276 and the 376 (which is correct for later machines) include a no 4 cutaway. I've found it runs much better with a 3.5 component although the only one I have in my fairly extensive collection of bits is well past its best.

It struck me that perhaps I could skim .030" or so off the bottom flat face of a good No. 4 slide which I have (I understand the numbers increment by 1/16" per whole number).

I appreciate this will probably ruin the slide but as they's knocking on £30 by the time VAT & postage is included I'm tempted......

10
British Bikes / Norton prop stand
« on: July 26, 2018, 03:27:42 PM »
Been a bit quiet here so thought I'd bring you up to date. My ES2 came without the prop stand which is a hefty affair that looks as though it was designed by Brunel. It's possible to buy repros but at the thick end of £150 a bit much for me.

I'd read that a Kawasaki ZZR item could be pressed into service so picked one up from ebay for £7. With an old alloy engine plate and some spacers and lengthened studs this is the result:












Seems to work very nicely. I do like saving money.......

11
British Bikes / 1952 Norton ES2 spark plug
« on: July 18, 2018, 05:43:02 PM »
I generally consider myself quite competent with old bikes but confess to being flummoxed here. All the handbooks for my ES2 including the one by Edgar Franks who was responsible for much of the design detail, suggest that it should have a 1/2" reach plug (Lodge H14 etc). However, the threaded hole in the head is 3/4" long and a standard long reach plug fits fine without hitting piston crown or valves. Cast iron head by the way.

I can't imagine that such an error would have been perpetuated (but having written user manuals myself I know how an incorrect statement can be carried over from version to version). But if I fit a short reach plug, (a) the spark will be happening far from where the mixture is, and (b) the lower threads will get caked in carbon.

I'm still at a fairly early stage with the engine and have just correctly timed the ignition (which was 5/16" BTDC instead of 5/8"). I haven't run it with this setting but when I started it on the 5/16" position with a short reach plug there was lots of missing. Not carburetter as I've gone through that carefully.

Any observations?

12
British Bikes / Norton plunger suspension seized.
« on: March 22, 2018, 03:47:49 PM »
I had a feeling this would happen.....

I'm starting to get down to some work on my 1952 Norton ES2. I did have a feeling the rear suspension wasn't working and have discovered that the alloy slider on at least one side (all I've looked at so far) is seized onto the bearer rod. After slackening the pinch bolt and freeing the taper the bearer rod is free in the frame but the slider just moves with it.

I've run penetrating oil down the join as much as I can but suspect large amounts of heat (which I don't have) will be needed, I don't really want to get down to the bare frame at this stage as I was hoping to get the bike up and running to discover what was needed. Seems I've got to this point already.

This is the arrangement:



Any helpful suggestions welcome.

13
The Classic Biker Bar / Quiet on here......
« on: December 14, 2017, 12:09:24 PM »
And everywhere else for that matter. I hope everyone hasn't gone to faceache (or maybe they're doing Xmas shopping.......)

14
British Bikes / Stolen bikes
« on: November 14, 2017, 10:34:59 AM »
From another forum:

STOLEN: A VINTAGE MOTORCYCLE COLLECTION.
From a Norfolk Section member.
Eleven machines were taken from a property in Norfolk.
1930 BSA Sloper.
1968 Bantam Sports.
1927 AJS
1926 Coventry Eagle
1952 Bantam.
1946 Ariel Twin Port.
1948 BSA ZB.
1914 New Hudson.
1933 Francis Barnett Lapwing
1929 Ariel 250 LH
1952 Ariel VHA.
A 4 wheel car trailer (chained to a concrete yard) was also taken. The robbery was quite sophisticated. An electric chainsaw was used to cut a hedge back to get a vehicle on the site.
If you hear anything at all about machines answering these descriptions, please inform the police.

15
Classic Motorcycle Sport / Bob Mac / Dunlop Gilera 100 mph lap.
« on: August 29, 2017, 03:01:51 PM »
I've posted this elsewhere but for those who haven't seen it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAFZ9g5hH00

And the original:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrtyd6ARqqM


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