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Messages - Rex

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1066
British Bikes / Re: anyone interested in old cars as well as bikes ?
« on: August 03, 2013, 09:28:42 AM »

Musing:- Sand Yachts need stability. I wonder why they ALWAYS have two wheels at the rear??

They don't need "stability" as such, but they do need the ability to "lean into" the wind when cornering and lifting the inner rear wheel. Two wheels at the front (apart from needing a more complex and weighty steering arrangement) would have the thing leaning backwards and also move the front wheel "track" a metre or so from the centre line of the mast when on two wheels.
Jim, I think you're letting the memory of that "aluminium bodied Reliant"'s  performance and handling colour your judgement.

1067
British Bikes / Re: anyone interested in old cars as well as bikes ?
« on: August 02, 2013, 08:22:34 AM »
Reminds me of that special built for racing in the 1970s  which was a chassis with a Mini engine and box at each end. Wonder what happens to the handling if both engine speeds aren't synchronised?

1068
British Bikes / Re: anyone interested in old cars as well as bikes ?
« on: July 31, 2013, 09:27:14 PM »
Owen Greenwood.

I think planes may have one wheel at the front and two at the back because they start off with a skinny fuselage and end up with two much wider wings.  Sticking a big old beam axle under the cockpit and then balancing the weight of wings + fuel tanks on a single rear wheel wouldn't please the aviation authorities... ;)

Then again smaller planes and tail-draggers have two wheels in front of the one rear, and they seem to work OK when on the ground.
So we've had dodgems, kid's tricycles and planes all mentioned. Whatever next?

1069
British Bikes / Re: anyone interested in old cars as well as bikes ?
« on: July 31, 2013, 10:27:14 AM »
Yes I remember those sh*tty things. A mate swerved to void a cat and the resulting roll was terrifying he said , moreso that the thing ended up on it's roof (an upward opening canopy, remember) with him trying to force his way out through the side panels (not hard, admittedly) while battery acid and petrol dripped around him.

Not a great example of the "one front wheel is safer" concept.. :(

1070
British Bikes / Re: anyone interested in old cars as well as bikes ?
« on: July 29, 2013, 01:15:44 PM »
Two front wheels to steer is always going to be better than just one, and a two front wheel design will be extremely hard to roll. Consider that the forces which would be causing it to roll are acting in a direction at roughly 2 and 10 oclock (if the straight-ahead position is counted as 12 oclock) which in the Bond/Reliant configuration has no "support" but in the Morgan the force will be acting through the front suspension design and into the axle, ie it's well-supported.

Don't forget there were also Morgans, BSAs etc which had a water-cooled four cylinder engine set back from the between the front axle so stability is not just about the Morgan having a big old V-twin set between the front wheels.

1071
British Bikes / Re: Anybody with Twenty One / 3TA experience?
« on: July 29, 2013, 08:45:06 AM »
Those rollers are not 6mm, a 1/4 or even 15/64 but 0.2345" which is roughly 15 thou under a 1/4". You need the correct Triumph spares rather than industrial 1/4 X 1/4 rollers as those will lock the clutch assembly. ("1/4 by 6mm"......   ::) ::))

There's no thrust washer (or ally barrels!)  on the earlier C range bikes, so either there's wear on the hub or the basket is a Taiwan Ebay pattern part and probably machined to a less accurate finished size than the old one just taken off.
The tensioner being there or not is irrelevant to the clutch "rocking". Does the clutch grip when you've assembled it?

1072
British Bikes / Re: anyone interested in old cars as well as bikes ?
« on: July 26, 2013, 09:37:04 PM »
They used to race Morgans at Brooklands etc and many still are being raced around the world. They can be slung into a corner so fast that the single back wheel breaks away, but the same thing done with anything in the Reliant/Bond wheel configuration would have it performing a barrel roll down the track. The positioning of the engine is a red herring.
The child's tricycle is single front wheel because it's simpler ie cheaper to produce that way, although thinking back to the larger-wheeled chain-driven (as opposed to pedals on the front wheel) trikes kids had years ago it was easy to lift the inner rear wheel. Safety wasn't a priority, but costs where.

1073
British Bikes / Re: BSA B31 for first classic bike?
« on: June 28, 2013, 09:54:02 AM »
Doesn't mean it's there forever, just helps with modern roads

True enough, but then how far does anyone take that logic? Most riders seem to keep it roughly original and ride to the bike's capabilities rather than up-rate in an attempt to make it something it isn't.
If you want to stop on a sixpence wouldn't you just buy a Honda?
"100MPH T100SS"....uh-huh... ;) Not more than once though.

1074
British Bikes / Re: BSA B31 for first classic bike?
« on: June 26, 2013, 09:16:14 PM »
Indeed. Sticking some mongrel Jappa front end on an expensive Meriden Triumph is only feasible if you're building a bike from bits and really don't care what it looks like or what it does to the resale value.
The Triumph TLS brakes are good (even the comical ones) as are the discs. Quality relined shoes from someone like Saftek and decent heavy cables are the way to go.

1075
British Bikes / Re: 1914 Humber number problem sunbeam club
« on: May 26, 2013, 11:13:12 AM »

Rex.. I think Wetdog is yanking your chain mate... and doing it very successfully if you don't mind me adding.

Yeah, the good old standby "I was only joking" when you get caught out talking twaddle. Sometimes it even sounds convincing....

1076
British Bikes / Re: 1914 Humber number problem sunbeam club
« on: May 25, 2013, 10:27:05 AM »
Am I twisted?

Probably, and you make a lot of assumptions in an attempt to back up your arguments, too.
Go back a few posts and I said "it depends on the circumstances" and that hasn't changed. You've quoted no more than an old lady selling a Vin to a dealer and it being picked up by you. To make any sort of valid judgement (by you or me) on whether I would buy it or not the situation would need a lot more fleshing out.
You haven't done that, and repeatedly asking "but would you buy it?" shows that you haven't really grasped much of the debate at all, and stating presumptuous statements like "but you would do this" and "I know you would" is just lame as you don't know me from Adam.
I don't see any preaching from any moral high-ground either, although I'm rather perplexed as to what "experience" I've admitted to "lacking".
So to repeat the message of before, respond if you've actually got a point to make, but again, don't waste my and your time by another one of those multi-edited off-tangent diatribes. It really isn't worth your time to type or mine to read.

1077
British Bikes / Re: 1914 Humber number problem sunbeam club
« on: May 23, 2013, 08:13:35 AM »
If that's "twisted morality" then you have twisted logic or are just up for a confrontation. I suspect the latter.
I'll try it one more time. If you were willed something by a relative and after their death you found someone else had taken it I'm sure you'd be somewhat miffed, and if the item was valuable enough, you'd want to get the police involved, so the where is the "perfect example of human greed " in that?
To be the victim of a crime and want redress is "greedy" is it? What utter tosh.

Feel free to make a sensible reply if you have one, but don't waste my time with another silly twist-and-turn meaningless jibe.

1078
British Bikes / Re: 1914 Humber number problem sunbeam club
« on: May 22, 2013, 06:43:28 PM »
"Her actions may have been different" in that she might have pressed the coppers to obtain convictions for theft had she known that she was the beneficiary in the bloke's will.
What's "greedy" about that?

1079
British Bikes / Re: 1914 Humber number problem sunbeam club
« on: May 22, 2013, 01:28:31 PM »
Regarding the Vin case, as I understand it the police were called in but as the female relative (sister-in-law?) knew nothing about the situation and didn't want any unpleasantness to be attached to the Vin man's passing, she let it go. That doesn't mean it wasn't theft.
Of course, if she'd been told prior to his death that there was a financially worthwhile collection of bikes and bits and that they would be hers then her actions may have been different.
I couldn't afford a Vin even at 20% of the market value, but we've already covered the "morality" bit haven't we?

1080
British Bikes / Re: 1914 Humber number problem sunbeam club
« on: May 22, 2013, 08:14:34 AM »
The Vinnie blokes weren't bagging a bargain, they were stealing parts that weren't properly secured. If you read the long long tale of what went on, the people concerned justified their actions by saying that the dead man had "always promised me this bike when he died" and then they promptly took it/them before the probate process had a chance to list them all, and that's illegal.
With regard to the buying of a "cheap" Vin, it depends on the circumstances surely?
If the widow had invited a shyster/dealer to give her a price then let's hope she's wise enough to know the dealer would give her as low a value as possible and probably bearing no relationship to the current market value, much the same as if she was flogging antiques or gold jewellery to a passing knocker-boy.
Most (nice) people wouldn't attempt to stiff their aunt/grandma/family friend by offering a ridiculously low price, I'd like to think.

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