NIPPLES

[Luddite]

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?

[33d6]

Strange isn't it. I very carefully remove all those obsolete nipples from my vintage bikes and replace them with the modern type so I can actually get grease in to where it's needed. With modern ball ended nipples you can really pump the grease in whereas with the old sort all you do is get grease smeared around the outside and nothing where it matters. My bikes now ride much more smoothly with properly greased front forks.

I understand your concern though, you want the original appearance for when it matters. I keep the old nipples and replace them when I display a bike so it looks okay but the new ones go back in the first time it gets greased again. It's a bit of a nonsense but the improvement in riding comfort makes it worthwhile.

Having grease nipples shake out through vibration is a bit of a new one though. The common thread size for these nipples is 1/4" BSF so I'd suggest possibly renewing any worn nipple threads on the bike by helicoiling them. Very easy to do at home.
Cheers,