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Messages - cardan

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31
European and Other Bikes / Re: Terrot MT 1, 100cc 2 stroke: non-starter!
« on: June 02, 2018, 07:58:04 AM »
OK - I don't get it. In the photo of the bike (and the photos of the internals of the cylinder, piston and motor) it looks like the transfer port is at the back and in the inlet port (the lowest port, that is uncovered and joins the carb to the crank case at the top of the stroke) is on the left (near) side of the bike. Viewed from this side, the steep part of the piston crown is to the rear, so the piston ring gap was always in line with the inlet port? Or is it an optical illusion? Or maybe the rings stay above the inlet port, in which case which port does the ring join line up with?

Maybe the piston in the bike when you got it was incorrect. When you peg the rings so the joins don't align with a port, make sure you fill the original peg holes. Or just use the dremel to remove the half of the original peg projecting into the ring groove.

[Edit: I just can't imagine you'd have to slide the ring gap across a port to assemble the motor!]

Cheers

Leon

32
Identify these bikes! / Re: Nostalgia is strong on this one
« on: June 02, 2018, 06:18:03 AM »
If we go as far as 1939 we get the correct mudguards on a James: http://simplywizard.co.uk/folders/pre1940/prewarl3/39k8250.htm

Or this https://cybermotorcycle.com/gallery/james-1939/James-1939-Range.htm

Not sure about the angular tank though.

Leon

33
Identify these bikes! / Re: Nostalgia is strong on this one
« on: June 02, 2018, 05:56:57 AM »

Mmm... not often I doubt a 33d6 identification of a two stroke, but in this case the bike doesn't look quite "Jamesey" enough to convince me immediately. Yet it does some have some Baker-ish features, so maybe James but later than 1930?

I wonder if, given the Sydney location, we should be thinking another Australian brand: Waratah. In the early 1930s I'd expect a Waratah to be Sun based (either built from Sun bits, or supplied complete by Sun). I think later Williams may have sourced their bikes from elsewhere - Norman is often mentioned as a source of lightweights for rebadging. Or maybe Excelsior? The angular tank, with gear-change gate up on the side, should help with the identification.

Cheers

Leon

34
European and Other Bikes / Re: Terrot MT 1, 100cc 2 stroke: non-starter!
« on: June 01, 2018, 11:58:48 PM »
Quote from: Terrotmt1 on June 01, 2018, 12:38:47 PM
Anyway, there is a huge 40mm wide land in the bore 180 deg opposite the current location. why the designer did not put the pins there I'll never know.

The steep side of the piston crown points towards the transfer port - the one that carries the charge from the crankcase to the cylinder. Correct?

Leon

35
European and Other Bikes / Re: Terrot MT 1, 100cc 2 stroke: non-starter!
« on: May 12, 2018, 09:12:23 AM »

Often there's a recommended clearance from the piston manufacturer. If not, Villiers clearance would be a guide. If someone tells you less than 2.5 thou, or more than 4, I'd double check.

Leon

36
British Bikes / Re: 1920 sturmey archer 2sp gearbox
« on: May 11, 2018, 11:57:05 PM »

At best I think there might be a parts list - no repair manuals as such back then.

But it's a very simple box. What's the problem?

Leon

37
European and Other Bikes / Re: Terrot MT 1, 100cc 2 stroke: non-starter!
« on: May 11, 2018, 01:35:32 AM »
Hi Graham,

Terrot built tens of thousands of bikes, so let's assume the little bike worked fine when it was new, and worked OK until it stopped working. Most likely it wore out. Probably at the end the owner got sick of it not starting on the kick-starter and having to push it down the hill and jump on when it fired.

The idea of restoration is to measure and check everything, replace what needs replacing and fix what needs fixing, then enjoy the bike as it was when it was new. If you want the bike to run, you'll have to do these things - sadly no amount of forum chat will make it run if the thing is worn out. If the man at the engine shop tells you the bore is worn out, it's probably worn out. New rings won't help, because they are round, and the wear in two-stroke bore is not. How's the big end? The little end? Does it have any compression? If the engine is worn out, it will be very hard to start.

I'd be more than happy to have a look at it for you, but I suspect I'm on the other side of the planet. Perhaps you can hook up with someone experienced who lives locally? In the meantime, if you want it to run take the advice above and spin it over with a drill (or whatever), or just push it down a big hill. It will run, with the rattle and clank of a worn-out two stroke.

Cheers

Leon

38
British Bikes / Re: Royal Enfield 505
« on: May 09, 2018, 11:09:01 PM »

The chain case looks a bit like Brough!

https://www.prewarcar.com/235239-royal-enfield-505-sport-double-port

Leon

39
British Bikes / Re: Cush drive , necessary or not
« on: May 04, 2018, 01:30:50 AM »
Quote from: Rex on May 03, 2018, 02:30:29 PM
I would think a big single bike with no cush-druve arrangements would be so horrible as to be unrideable.

A lesson well learned from the earliest days! Here's the cush arrangement in my 1903 Columbia. It lives on a counter shaft in the normal clutch position. The previous year, the "cush" was achieved by mounting the engine drive sprocket clamped between two large washers, but otherwise unconnected to the mainshaft of the motor. It things got snatchy, the sprocket just slipped. Crude, and not very effective, but Indian used a similar arrangement on their back sprocket for a number of years.

"Something's gotta give!"

Leon

40
British Bikes / Re: AJS model D needs a sidecar ?
« on: May 02, 2018, 12:34:55 AM »

Hi Karsten,

That's quite a sidecar - just perfect.

I wonder if the paint is from the AJS factory, or if it has been repainted at some time. If it's the original paint, I'd just clean and polish it, and have fun with the conversation that starts when people ask why the sidecar doesn't match the bike.

If it's not the original paint, I'd still leave it as it is, but I wouldn't be disappointed if you decided to repaint it.

These days there are many, many shiny things that are fake. If you have something that is genuine, enjoy it and tell people that yours (at least) is real.

I don't like fake patination - I'm sick of "barn find" board track racers and "racing" cyclecars.

Cheers

Leon

41
European and Other Bikes / Re: Terrot MT 1, 100cc 2 stroke: non-starter!
« on: April 26, 2018, 11:50:38 AM »

I'm a bit amazed that the timing side bush is unchanged, and that you're intending to leave the bore as is. But I guess you know when "the man" described it as "stepped and scored" that this is not good. Many restorations are like this: very pretty but rubbish mechanicals. Pity, as there is real joy to be had riding a machine that runs as it should. Measurement and fit are words just-about lost to motorcycle restoration these days.

Make sure you put the piston in the right way around. Was it correct before? The motor won't start if it's back-to-front.

Good luck.

Leon

42
Identify these bikes! / Re: Barr and Stroud mystery bike
« on: April 13, 2018, 12:12:41 AM »

What a pity that thought didn't stand up to scrutiny - it would have been a classic story.

On the sleeve-valve-motors-in-Melbourne theme: If a Barr and Stroud and Minerva - with full length sleeves controlling the ports - was called a sleeve valve, what was the Peugeot effort - with  very short sleeve - called?

"Cuff valve"! The late Jack Nelson owned one, as a young man in Melbourne just after the war. Nice car.

Cheers

Leon

43
Identify these bikes! / Re: Barr and Stroud mystery bike
« on: April 12, 2018, 01:32:36 AM »

Davies lived at 7 Zetland Road, Mont Albert. Maybe you can see if he's home? If not, check the crumbling shed at the bottom of the garden...

44
Identify these bikes! / Re: Barr and Stroud mystery bike
« on: April 12, 2018, 01:15:52 AM »

Hi 33d6,

Oh it's a cute thing! I do like a good cycle car.

JFerg and I recently discovered that quite a number of "Coventry B&S" motorcycles came in to Western Australia, complete with B&S engines, so in Australia we had both B&S bikes and loose engines.

I have method in my file names: yyyy-mm-dd-papername, so in this case 1928-08-20-herald-melbourne.jpg translates to the Herald, 20 August 1928. I don't usually use page numbers - I've found in the past that the Adelaide newspapers had several editions per day, and sometimes articles were moved.

Getting better photos is tough. In this case the Trove scan is pretty good, and a scan from the original newspaper wouldn't be too much better. At the State Library of South Australia, processing for Trove involved separating pages, and the papers were then properly packaged and put into "deep storage". I think I paid $60 to get a paper out last time I wanted a photo, but in that case the Trove scan was total rubbish. The staff at the library were amazed that I had been able to convince the powers that be to get the relevant paper out at all, and it was only because I convinced them that I was doing serious research, and the Trove scan was not fit for purpose.

Since the Herald is still around, I wonder if they still have an archive of photos that goes back to 1928? Now that would be interesting.

Cheers

Leon

45
Identify these bikes! / Re: Does anyone know what bike this is?
« on: April 11, 2018, 01:03:57 AM »

Levis introduced their "new low-built diamond frame" in late 1927 (for the 1928 season) on the K2 model.

According to the VMCC Register of Machines, frame number 19xxx would fit in with Levis from 1928.

A bit of googling and you'll see Levis machines with their frame numbers in the same position as on the mystery bike.

Looks pretty Levis-like to me.

Cheers

Leon

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