Recent Posts

71

Introductions, Stories, Meetings & Pictures / Re: What have you done with your bike/s today?

« Last post by berger on 04.09. 2024 11:36 »

worty happy birthday to you now if you like taking things apart get down here and dismantle all the front end on Christine the possessed then try and get the exhaust manifold off JUST to get the turbo off or access to the waste gate. bare in mind the subframe has to be dropped once AGAIN to get the rad out    it's ok mate this time it is going to the garage where they have lifts etc and spanner modern cars every day. i will be dropping Christine off and going to the pub, have a nice day

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Frame / Re: Front 2LS

« Last post by mikeb on 04.09. 2024 11:22 »

the TLS brake plate won't just fit your 8" FW hub, but the whole TLS hub ( and/or wheel) probably will, but not plug and play. you are probably aware of the locating lug needing fixing for the a10 forks, possibly spacers, and the possibly different spindle lengths (depending on the donor's year). i went mad over spinlde differencs and posted a summary here:
https://www.a7a10.net/forum/index.php?action=post;quote=132080;topic=15533.0;last_msg=133315 and
there are plenty of other relevant thread to search.
its worth the effort

73

Introductions, Stories, Meetings & Pictures / Re: What have you done with your bike/s today?

« Last post by Worty on 04.09. 2024 11:14 »

Thanks Bill, much appreciated.  Looks like you're living in a place I'd love to live - out in the country with loads of space.  I have to make do with a normal garage and a couple of average sheds, but I do have a decent selection of tools.  I'll have a go at pretty much anything, but putting engines together with such fine margins for error is a bit scary for me, especially when it comes to knowledge of engineering principles like line boring (Bergs/MWAS) which I'd never heard of before!  

Having said that, nobody can be an expert at everything.  My working life was mixed, but primarily in managing non-profit making organisations in some of the dodgiest areas of West Yorkshire (the Projects, as Musky would call them).  Never got bikes out of my system, thankfully, I was hooked at 14.

As for knowing how things worked, I always took my toys apart when I was a nipper just to see how they worked.  This extended to trying to cut a golf ball up and spraying the ceiling with 'something'.  That was at about 4 and I got a wallop for it.  Later it was taking a differential apart as I couldn't envisage how it worked with the sun/moon gears, etc.  I even took an old FSI-E engine apart and put it back to working condition.

There's just something so satisfying in building and fixing stuff.  Can't explain it but it's been with me all my life.

Nice to be with like minded people who also suffer from the same condition

Oh, and it's my birthday today - special prize for working out which one based on previous posts   Birthday treat from Sue is a French trimmed rack of lamb and crispy chips

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Frame / Re: A10 handlebars

« Last post by Jules on 04.09. 2024 11:11 »

304 Stainless is often used because its easier to manufacture being "softer" than 316 but its also less expensive and more prone to corrosion than 316. However, when compared to mild steel like for like, 304 SS is softer than MS so you need to be cautious with bolts in particular to check their grade, but its much more corrosion resistant! As long as you are aware of these limitations then SS is a fine alternative, I think........

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Frame / Re: A10 handlebars

« Last post by limeyrob on 04.09. 2024 09:33 »

I think another problem is that while we have a pretty good idea what we get with mild steel even though there is some poor quality around, with stainless it can be a gamble. Quality sourced with correct grade and treatment is excellent but there's a lot of Chines rubbish around that work hardens with vibration and fractures.
Screws are an example - marine grade stainless are excellent, but I recently bought some "generic" ie Chinesium stainless screws and the heads were shearing off before they were tight, it took hours to drill them out and replace with zinc plated steel.  I tested the rest in a vice, they were all over the place.  So while  stainless can be very good, you need to be sure that's what you are getting.

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Frame / Re: A10 handlebars

« Last post by Topdad on 04.09. 2024 09:19 »

TT "mild steel bends in the event of a crash ",I agree as my right knee as a dint in it where it bent the bars on my Shooter in 1967 when I had a fight with a bus Bus . When I saw it in the shop whereI worked I couldn't beleive it the angle was fantastic had it been SS I'd have lost the knee !

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Frame / Re: A10 handlebars

« Last post by JulianS on 04.09. 2024 08:57 »

I fitted stainless bars way back in 1977 and have been using the same ones eversince. No regrets. No problems.

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Frame / Re: A10 handlebars

« Last post by Triton Thrasher on 04.09. 2024 08:18 »

Mild steel bars also bend in a crash.

79

Introductions, Stories, Meetings & Pictures / Re: What have you done with your bike/s today?

« Last post by groily on 04.09. 2024 07:39 »

It still stuns me how clever you guys are - I'm pretty stupid in comparison to your knowledge of engineering and rebuilding engines.  In another life, I may well have trained as an engineer, as I really like fixing, fabricating and problem solving, etc.  Hats off to you all!

Been pondering your comment there Worty.
My knowledge of 'engineering' is pretty patchy. I make no claims at all to any serious knowledge, but I have had a lot of practice over half a century owing to our perverse habit of liking older machinery. My 'real' working life was spent in the publishing industry, my private life in various sheds, pubs and beds. Like a good few of us here, I'm just an 'auto-didact' as they say, who had the invaluable benefit of an oily-fingered dad and uncles and a handful of good mates who are proper engineers. Plus I'm curious, plus I'm mean and don't like having to get other people to do things if I can do them myself.

However, for the 'proper engineering' (ie precision machining) bits of these jobs, it's essential to find, use - and pay! - competent professional people, otherwise things can end up costing a lot more and a lot of riding time gets wasted in the back of recovery vans and then having to revisit balls-ups.

You're definitely not stupid at all, comparatively or otherwise. You can do loads of stuff. In fact you're very wise, because you got the berger on side with his bro' with special skills to retrieve a pretty tricky situation with your A.
It's horses for courses, it needs practice and patience, it needs facilities (space and tools above all) - and some of us are lucky to have them. Best thing I ever did was take the risk over 20 years ago of moving somewhere where affordable space isn't at a premium, where I can do what I want without upsetting my not-too-close-neighbours and where the roads are perfect for old bikes. Just as well I'm happy, because it was a one-way street: if I wanted to come 'home' I might get a small terraced house and maybe a small garden shed somewhere inexpensive in exchange for this old farmhouse, barns and 4 acres.

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Frame / Re: A10 handlebars

« Last post by bl**dydrivers on 04.09. 2024 03:20 »

Stainless bars are generally thinner walled than normal mild steel ones. Should you slide off on a fuel spill on a roundabout, stainless bars can bend. This will stretch the throttle cable to wide open whilst the back wheel is off the ground. The resulting over-rev can cause a con rod to let go which can cut the crankcases in half.
I have the evidence on a shelf.

Wow, I thought stainless steel was the way to go! Was going through my boxes of parts organizing the garage, found the handlebars I got years ago and thought they were light!
Did not think of this!