classic motorcycle forum

Ive heard said that B&S motors were very difficult to get the port timing right,and often refused to run after repair...years ago I had a Willys Knight 66 of 1930 vintage,because it had but one timing shaft,things were easy-ish.I "found" the car because I worked at Repco,and the owner had sent the motor in from the bush for overhaul,and was quoted a massive sum.......a year later the motor was still sitting in the shop,and so I found the owner and bought the car......I managed to get the reco done in stages for free....some was pretty out of the ordinary,the steel sleeves had to be flame sprayed with babbit,and ground to size....In those days Repco regularly remetalled vintage car (and diesel) big ends.....After the reco,the motor ran real well and was completely silent,but used bulk oil....like 5 gallons in a 200 mile rally.....It took a lot of miles for the motor to settle down.....I had been warned about this by the old timers at Repco.

Just had a look in my big Chiltons ...there must be a million different models,pages of specs& WHY.....anyhoo,its always a good idea to replace capacitors ,as they fail first of any ignition components.....About that time the US legislated to prevent street bikes being stripped of electrics for offroad riding,this required complicated wiring and ignition systems that are hard for a british bike owner to figure out.

Gone fishin?

before damaging the bush,check clearance,it may be ok,and will save a lot of work....Next,make sure the crank isnt bent,often happens with taper flywheels etc.....If the bush needs replacing,it will have to be line reamed with a piloted reamer in the drive side.....I notice an oil spiral,make sure any new bush doesnt have the spiral cut too close to the ends...To check compression,I would simply fit piston and barrel,and check for the puff of air coming up the transfer port,usually a "pop" too.Dont forget to oil the bush for a seal.....Crankcase compression will be low with a "mower type" crank,not a full circle one.Regards.

A capacitor thats easy to fit inside the flywheel is one of the little ceramic ones sold by the magneto repairers......I havent been following this lately,as the yard is turning into jungle,and just thinking about it is tiring......anyhoo    .....has the crankcase sealing been restored.....without crankcase pressure no 2stroke will start under about 3000 revs,when exhaust depression pulls mixture thru the engine.

John Deere graders are the worst,designed to go together on the assembly line,and be completely inaccesable for field repairs to quite simple parts.

Some Miller and Lucas generators  have mag std tapers ,a small keyed sprocket is more likely from a generator.......If it is Splitdorf,it may be from a generator drive....Indians had chain drive generators,driven from the clutch drum by a gear and chain.

My suspension was worn,but because of spring pressure I made up a threaded puller ,and didnt attempt to drive the bits apart....You can get away with hammering Caterpillar parts with a sledgehammer,but not bikes.I also used a car spring compressor to restrain the bits as they came free of the frame......Now here a story of bike hammering......professional restorer? attacks a Matchless V twin with hammer to release the timing gear......bashes the shaft to bits,then cuts the gear and shaft endwise with a cutoff wheel.......he s been told the shaft and gear are available from the Morgan club......Anyhoo,orders shaft and gear,when it comes the shaft is the wrong length.....he s got a 1937 motor,shaft is for 1938,doesnt fit.!937 is unobtainable......customer is a outlaw bikie...not amused......