classic motorcycle forum

You've got to use Raleigh stuff, it's 26 TPI rather than the 24 of other manufacturers.  Still available new, or dirt cheap in as-new condition off e-bay.

Full strength Eucalyptus oil is good for removing burnt on oil.
Cheers,

The best way without Eucalyptus oil, as I've discovered, is two evenings worth of gently rubbing with Autosol (ironically whilst sat under the neigbours overhanging eucalyptus tree).  The nasal decongestant strength of Eucalyptus which I raided from the family first aid bag made no difference, but now you can smell the bike coming.  Maybe it's cleared the inlet tract, too. 

Thanks for the replies, your advice is very much appreciated.

''It only works if you have an original piston without an oil control ring or don't have one fitted on your modern piston.''

This fact dawned on me over the weekend as I was checking the oilways etc.  To be honest, I felt a bit of a muppet for not twigging onto that one a bit earlier 

''Where does it leak oil from ?''

I've not bottomed this one out yet, there's the usual timing case/ oil pump leak which I've seen on most Big Ports, and a weep from the tappets which I kind of expect, but it's draining out of somewhere else, too.  Doesn't seem to be the crankcase joint and there's not a great gush from the chain oiler.  It's not coming out of the tap or the pipe joints, either.  When If it stops raining I'll be out with the plunger pump tap turned off to eliminate the possibility of syphoning from that side..

Any tips on how to get bunt-on oil stains off nickel exhaust pipes?

Thanks for that - I hadn't checked the keyway  I'll get onto that this evening.  Ditto the handpump - it's likely to be siphoning from there rather than coming in from the other side.

I could strip that clutch in my sleep now!

My Big Port chucks oil out everywhere!  I've been progressively turning the drip-feed dial down, but am worried that I'll cut off all of the supply before I stop the mess!  The sight glass is always full, and the drips are coming around once every ten seconds at idle.  Even with the pump turned way up, I never get the blue haze. Can anyone give me a pointer as to how many turns out from fully closed the regulator should be?

It doesn't.

It was never used by the RAF to cope with Russian fuel, either.

My son has an Ariel Three.  It was bought without a V5 (the owner had lost it)  but a quick check of the DVLA system shows the reg. is still current.  He has rebuilt it to MOT stage, and needs to get hold of the V5 to change the keeper to himself.  The V5 needs a frame number input, and try as we might, we cannot find the stamping.  He has a manual, and it gives a vague location (at the rear near the trunnion), but we simply can't find it.  My worry is that it is either filled with paint, or it has disappeared during the rubbing down / prep stage!

If there's a Three owner on here, could you please tell me exactly where the number stamping is located?  A photo, with number obscured, would be very helpful if possible.  This should enable some targeted removal of paint, rather than the scattergun approach which is looming 

And why oh why did BSA choose to stamp the number in such a dirty, dark, difficult place?

I've got a mid-twenties AJS which seems to want to shake itself to pieces on every run.  The most Frequently Lost Items are grease nipples.  Now these aren't your usual hydraulic, ball-ended nipples but form a truncated cone with blunt end about 5mm above the hex.  They're a similar profile to the Austin 7 Enots type but smaller and not as rounded.  As they're on the fork links too, I was thinking they're most likely proprietary items rather than AJS-specific.  They're easy enough to turn down on the lathe, but as I sold the lathe to buy the bike this is a bit of a problem.

Does anyone know a/ what they are, and b/ where I can get some?