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Messages - mini-me

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811
Autojumble / Re: Wanted. dual throttle/choke lever for 7/8" handlebars
« on: February 22, 2017, 05:16:20 PM »
Quote
some silly old sod kicking away at his P&J while the watching crowd grows ever-larger, i

yeh, been there :(

812
Autojumble / Re: Wanted. dual throttle/choke lever for 7/8" handlebars
« on: February 22, 2017, 03:09:20 PM »
Even if you could find one at a Jumble you'd be lucky to get one for less.
Which is why I gave the advice in the original thread.

This is no longer a poor mans hobby, sad to say. Ride the bike, do it a bit ata time and keep looking.

I need a peculiar propstand for a bike I have had for 40+years, 3 years ago I found half of it. I expect in another 30 yrs I'll find the other half, but the bike has run very well without it.

Hang in, as all us old guys die off the market will be flooded with spares that our heirs will dump, the joke is that only us old guys know whats what. :D


813
I'd stop worrying about little things like that and get it well sorted first.

The silencer is one of those pride and clarke repro "brooklands" cans that were popular some years ago with the look-a-like crowd.

Years ago I fitted one to a cobbled up from spares bike,  its sole asset was that it acted like an echo chamber instead of a silencer and made a lovely racket; [according to whether you were riding on it or being deafened by it as I rode past]

Having looked at the photo of your bike, I am going to be hard and say its not a bad little bike, but if I wanted to go where I think you want to go,I wouldn't start from there.

A decent period set of bars,those are horrible, to take inverted levers and a straight pull throttle plus the lights  you want could easily cost you as much as the bike if you wanted to go strictly original.

The correct non inverted levers should be solid brass, easily 150-200 for a genuine used set, you should beware of, and avoid indian made crap, although you can get good UK made inverted sets, or from the guy in Czech republic.

If it was my bike I'd get a period magdyno, there is one for overhaul on ebay now at 40£, and a small period lamp, junk the brooklands fake and repaint the tank in a correct style and colours.

Its not a bad little bike, ride it.

I am very very biased against the VMCC and just because they say its one year or another I would not take it as holy writ, they'll approve almost anything for cash.

815
Ariel Arrows are what taught me that there was such a thing as SAE threads, that my whitworth stuffdidn't fit,well I was a very young and suffering with a Crusader sport....

On the other hand I knew a very talented  and precise engineer, now dead sadly,who converted all the threads on his Honda 400 four to whitworth forms, why, because he could,  and as he said, it will really confuse someone in the future. That I know will have been an excellent job.

then again, I once had a Rudge replica to sort out, an import from Spain, it was held together with a lot of coach bolts; having had previous experience with what happened to pre war bikes in Spain I chucked the lot and paid a visit to THE Rudge man at the time, an ex Brooklands rider who still had a stock of genuine Rudge stuff....he gave me a handful of coach bolts.......that evidently was original Rudge practice.

You never can tell. Put me off Rudges thats for sure.

816
I once had a bike from a collector of "investment" dinky toys, a T110 as it happens, to check over, he couldn't ride a bike but it was another "investment".........

the engine was held in by undersize studding, so slack that it moved as you tried to kickstart it; brakes where lined with some kind of cardboard-ish muck glued on with fish glue.

 I gave him the bike back FOC, I refused to have anything to do with it.

The young and oversensitive have never experienced that sort of thing, to understand the cynicism of us who have.


817
The Classic Biker Bar / Re: Very quiet on here....
« on: February 22, 2017, 09:45:32 AM »
Is it snowing again? Is that a snowflake?

 now THIS is sarcasm.

https://youtu.be/oYOZ3IzRaf4

The primary tool that anyone who rides an obselete antiquated inefficient machine needs is, above all, a sense of humour and an ability to see the funny side of our hobby, and to laugh at oneself.

without that you are missing 50% of the fun.

818
European and Other Bikes / Re: Russian Minsk M1A
« on: February 21, 2017, 02:28:13 PM »
Russian 2 strokes had such an appalling reputation here in the past I can't imagine why any one would want one.

819
Whats the most bodged old bike you ever came across that still ran?

Mine's an Ariel Huntmaster,back in 1977 I was asked to overhaul the engine in one, which attached to its sidecar was used to transport an old chap's wife and himself to visit their son in a care home.
Bike started and chuffed away quite happily, I could start it by just gently depressing the kickstart ;easy peasy, cushty little job.

famous last words
took the head off, inlet tract almost clogged with coke,exhaust nearly as bad, valves recessed back to last year, guides so slack you could get two valve stems down.Carb so slack you could hear the slide rattle.
Bores of course knackered, so down to the crankshaft, a bit of wear in the bigends, TS bush well fekked, so off to the regrinders, noticing, that the TS side was abit off centre.
Should have been a warning...

 camshaft so worn that the followers ran between little ears the lobes had worn down so far, and the magneto was running in oil yet had a big fat blue spark.

Meanwhile back from the grinder came the crankshaft, "we had a bit of a job to centre it" said the man.

Oh dear, so, it goes into the cases, but one side won't go fully home, each side fits the bearings fine, yet together the cases won't meet, driving me nuts by now well over estimate of time and money.

Scuriny of the now chemically cleaned crankshaft shows faint vice marks on the webs, with sinking heart I measure the distances, the damn thing had been gripped so hard in a vice it was bent.

"Was the last bloke to work on this a mechanic?"  I asked
"no its my neighbour, he's a dustman."

every word is true, I found another crankshaft and what the so called engineering shop did to that is another story, just as bad, if anyone out there has an A10 crank with the sludge trap welded, I can tell them why.

Its tribute I think to that old BSA/Ariel engine that it could keep going that worn out.


820
The Classic Biker Bar / Re: Very quiet on here....
« on: February 20, 2017, 03:40:26 PM »
I am now so upset I shall tie my Garlic-Sniffeur round my neck and drown myself in the fruits de mer, wherever that is. :'(

821
The Classic Biker Bar / Re: Very quiet on here....
« on: February 20, 2017, 02:21:37 PM »
Funny you should ask that, I just bought a 1930 Garlic-Sniffeur which is missing its baguette.

where can I get a manual in english for it?
Is there a spare parts supplier near Wiltshire?
Is there an owners club because all I can find is one in Toulouse and no one answers my facebook question.

What oil should I put in it? someone has suggested olive oil, are they being sarcastic?

Lastly, why won't it start?

822
Autojumble / Re: 8 inch headlight wanted
« on: February 17, 2017, 08:36:05 AM »
In Strasbourg,or rather just outside there is a huge bourse around september time I think, I last went ther ein 2001 so I presume its still there;can't remember the name of the actual town, and of course there is Mannheim, and the MotoLegende event which use to be at Montlehry South of Paris but which has moved.

Sorry can't be more specific, have not crossed the channel since 2007.

I will rummage in the dark corners of my memory and see what I can remember.



here
31 March to 2 April 2017: Veterama, Hockenheim, Germany.


27 and 28 May 2017: Coupes Moto Legende, Dijon, France.

6 to 8 October 2017: Veterama, Mannheim, Germany.
- Huge autojumble.

17 to 19 November 2017: Salon Moto Legende, Paris, France.
- French show. The dates are provisional. No exact dates available at time of writing.



823
The Classic Biker Bar / Re: How much was a years road tax in 1981 ?
« on: February 16, 2017, 04:40:43 PM »
Have a look at Poplar Gregs site,     http://www.poplargreg.com/

everything you will ever want to know about vehicle tax, he will do you the correct disc to order, or anything you want.

Top bloke,dealt with him lots.

824
Autojumble / Re: 8 inch headlight wanted
« on: February 15, 2017, 08:04:52 PM »
ah,well, that explains a lot.
In the UK it is possible to reference the letters of the registration [or matriculation?] to a particular town and specific dates of issue.
Sometimes the BSA records can even tell you which dealer the bike was supplied to. I think you should contact the BSA owners club with photos of the bike and of the numbers. They hold copies of the records.

Besides which there is the added complication of impressed bikes.
In 1939/40 there was a shortage of bikes for the military, so the government grabbed 1000s of bikes from everywhere, dealers, factory stock, private owners; the result was, until standardised, a vast variety of sometimes unsuitable bikes. Thes ecould have been disposed of anywhere and vast numbers where abandoned after Dunkirk.
If you can find pictures of the vehicle dumps  in Belgium and France in 1940 you will see some interesting stuff, this was dispersed all over europe by the German army who put a lot of it back into service.
Your bike could possibly have an interesting history.
Anyone of the above could have resulted in your bike having any old number stamped onto it.

Plus, if it was in use in prewar France you could fit a Bosch, Marechal or any make of headlamp and it would not be wrong; Bosch headlamps could be bought here in the 1930s as well.

I reckon you need to book a trip to the big bourse in Strasbourg this year.

825
Autojumble / Re: 8 inch headlight wanted
« on: February 15, 2017, 06:12:31 PM »
post the letters of the registration I'll tell you what year it was registered,then you can compare numbers to factory records.

If I were you I'd be wary of numbers, and the BS you might be told from "experts", Factory records are availiable.

I have several sets of number and letter stamps, availiable for hire for those that want that "factory special" :o :o ::)


another thing is that I have seen BSA sent out with the fittings for hand change on the tank and foot change.
I had an ex-police 500cc J12 like it.

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