classic motorcycle forum

There's always more to learn....

Last night I left a clean bit of newspaper under the bike after I'd run it up briefly.


This morning....


I'm pretty sure the culprit is the pump , which is not a surprise at all.


But it's only a dribble, it's livable with for now.

Today's plan was to get a few more miles on the bike, by visiting a Cars&Coffee about 20 miles away, then heading over to the Selsey RNLI charity event.
First I topped up the oil and petrol


And while I was at it I spread a little silicon into the Monza cap rubbers


Then set off, not without a little trepidation I have to admit!

But the bike is transformed! Fuelling at pretty much any throttle opening as pretty damned good!  :banana-wrench:  :banana-wrench:
So many thanks to the guys who pointed me in the right direction!  :obscene-drinkingcheers:

It does have a tendency to spit a touch after a prolonged period of constant small throttle opening (ie 30 zones and following dawdlers...), but once you get "on it" it's fine!

There's still a dribble of oil escaping from the push rod tube (inlet), but it was only a dribble.


On the way back towards Selsey, I even got lucky enough to get an empty bit of smooth tarmac and wound it right open!  :angelic-green:


Chin on tank..... The needle crept round the dial...

68...

69...

70…

..

71!


72!


...


73!


:lol:

Flat out is maybe 75 on the Smiths! :lol:


But the engine felt happy doing it!


Obviously though, by the time I got back towards the coast roads, the traffic built up and it was back to pootling along at 40....  :roll: yawn.

The vehicle gathering at Selsey was (tbh) a little quiet,



The ride home was more pootling, which the bike still doesn't like, letting me know with the occasional spit and hesitancy, so I decided to try and give it a bit more of a go by hitting the A27 just for a junction.

And got a bit of a shock.  I'd just wound it open again when the thing died on me! It felt like either fuel station or lack of spark, then it picked up, then died, then struggled on again....

By which time I'd reached the next roundabout and peeled off for home.

Very odd.

The engine was fine again at low speed, then I got lucky again and had a clear run to the house, so I opened it up for about 300 yards then cut the engine to roll into the driveway on a dead engine.

The result. Black, but dry, the insulator isn't completely black.


I need to review the plug condition photos, but I don't think it's that far off...
Just need to figure out if it's a tad rich, or a tad lean.

When I had it WFO previously I did try easing off a tad a couple of times, and the engine just seemed to roll off, rather than gaining or complaining.

More testing required methinks.

Note to self... Top up the oil on the side stand!

Obviously, the bike was parked on its side stand during the afternoon, and I think it started dribbling then, because the was a stain on the thigh of my trousers....

I also remembered that I had Sealey pressure testing kit, so took the opportunity to check the compression while the engine was hot.



Hmmmmm, that's actually a little lower than I was expecting...


I should have checked it the last time I took it out, to establish an early baseline.  I think I'm going do the compression ratio test soon, so we'll see.

I think we have it pinned down. All that remains is to find out the frame number to confirm it.

That bog at Bracklesham is a throw-back from the 1950s which is probably the last time it was deep-cleaned. How long can you hold your breath?
I like the bendy road back to the A27 though.

Not long enough... bleuuuurgh!

Too much traffic around these days, the bike doesn't like constant speeds (especially below 50), it wants to be ridden!

More Thursday afternoon Shenanigans!

Frist I tightened up the pumps, we'll see if that makes any difference whatsoever (I doubt it)


I checked the level in the oil, it was showing exactly 4cm (which is a bit odd because I could have sworn it was a 4.2cm when I returned from the  ride on Sunday, maybe the oil shrank in volume as it cooled? Either that or there's actually a leak somewhere.... which I doubt...)
I then added another 500ml... and the depth went up to 6cm.
So... 500ml is APPROXIMATELY (the tank isn't a uniform cubic shape...) 2cm...  Interesting.  6cm is roughly half-full.



I was then just going around the bike checking things and realised the bloody tank strap was coming apart.
So I pulled the thing off (easier said than done, natch...), punched a couple of new holes a bit futher in, and refitted the end piece


I moved the attachment point to the forward of the two holes and redid the pretty wire...


To be honest, I really don't like that tank fitting.... I am going to think about improving it somehow.  (more on the tank later....)

Tacho don't work.


(but the rest I think is reasonably accurate)

I pulled the plug which I hadn't done after the last ride on Sunday.


Black and sooty.... to be honest, I'm completely unsurprised.  The ride home was at snails pace and the engine was not happy at low throttle settings.


I gave the plug a quick Millyarding




And chucked it back in...
Note to self.. FIND A BETTER PLUG-SPANNER  I hate this cheap piece of tat.


I checked the engine was still running ok, fired it up and it was fine, so I tweaked the oil slightly, and the idle speed (REALLY easy to do that with the extended adjuster screws! )
Even just idling in the shed there was some oil coming out of the push-rod tubes, but the crank case breather was working well, and was surprisingly dry.


So, I took it out for a spin.
Selsey Beach.  I actually had an ulterior motive... I need to talk to the local JAP expert in Selsey about the engine so went down to see if he was around, he wasn't, so I took the opportunity to get a photo or two at Selsey Head.



I then fancied an ice-cream so wended my way slowly over to Bracklesham (the next village west along the coast).
Even taking the back roads I was baulked by traffic virtually everywhere...


I did assuage the frustration by overtaking a few cars and trucks though - maybe not much to brag about, but it felt good given the bike I was on.

The engine breather, I think, has actually helped the engine run a tiny tad better, it seemed a touch more eager today.

One thing it DEFINITELY does NOT like is pootling along.... it's quite positively happier at 3/4 to full throttle and when it's pulling.  It does NOT like trundling along at 30-40 on a constant throttle... I had to adopt a sort of "hyper-miling" technique of dropping back at idle, or with the clutch pulled, then letting the engine pull up to the car in front before dropping back again.  I'll have to look at the tuning guides and see which part of the carb is effective in that range - I "think" it's needle height, so that may need some fiddling with.

I then took a slightly longer route home (to avoid having to turn right into the driveway... :roll: ) and got a run through the local tight bends - the bike suspension may be somewhat hard and jarring, but it handles beautifully, holds a line and tracks very nicely, I can't wait to get it out on some open sweepers.

Oh yeah - I also tweaked the side-stand round a bit on the frame tube, and the bike sits up a bit straighter now, which I much prefer.

There's still a way to go yet though: things that need a good looking at:
- carb tuning
- oil leaking (hopefully some RTV on the push-rod tubes will contain most of it).  I have a nasty feeling there's a couple more areas though. The oil return feed line leaks where it goes into the tank, which confuses the hell out of me because there's absolutely no reason for it to do so - I even trimmed a cm off the end because it was looking a bit tired and it's made no difference. Hmm....
- the tank, yeah... it's rubbing against the steering head (well, the rhs downtube actually) and it doesn't sit centrally on the frame pads.  So - I need to make up a boss or something to hold it centrally... hmmm... I just remembered I have something that might do the trick... <makes mental note>
- LHS fork needs a new seal, and I may as well rebuild it (I hate rebuilding forks...),  On Sunday the seal seemed fine, but it was weeping today, it needs doing.
- Tacho - I suspect the speedo is just some old thing Dad bought at Kempton, so that may be a winter project to see why the Tacho isn't working.


It ain't over folks!

From what you have given me I think very early postwar. It all seems to point that way. As it happens my Excelsior equivalent is a 1940 model so more or less last gasp prewar and very handy for comparison.
Supposedly Villiers did their final 9D upgrade in 1939 but when in 1939? War was declared in September which is also around the time the whole motorcycle industry including Villiers started announcing next years ranges and anything new. I'm still ploughing through 'MotorCycling" at the State Library and haven't got to 1939 so haven't an exact date yet but will in due course. 1940 was going to be a big year for Villiers. Lots of changes and upgrades that came and went between the declaration of war in September and the halt of civilian production in April 1940. Hopefully the State Library will clarify a lot of questions.
My Excelsior has the AAA prefix only and the number, 18330 is in the expected prewar position. The frame number is 1073 with the correct prefix for a 1940 Model 0. It is on a flat boss on the left side of the steering head lug just above the down tube. The frame number is always on the special raised boss provided for it. Your auctioneer isn't trying too hard if he can't find it.
The first batch of postwar Excelsior to arrive in Victoria all have AAA****A engine numbering system in the vertical style. We know this from the AOMC engine number cards as they all contain the date of first registration which leads me to believe its the original fitment with the auction bike.
We also know from past investigation that a Waratah /Excelsior was not quite the same as the current model Excelsior . All Excelsior but not quite identical, usually with the odd part from previous years models. I think that is what has happened here, in an effort to start selling bikes again in the early days of peace Excelsior cleaned out their stores and made up a batch of Waratah from what they could find. As I mentioned before, that bike has a prewar frame and forks that were used on other model Excelsior. The frame number would reveal a lot. I think it's genuine and very early postwar.