first ride and loving it

[chicago]

hi fella's, took my bike for the first ride, and i think its great. no running problems (well i dont think so), only cut out once because i forgot to turn the fuel on  . not been to far though, only did about 20-30 miles. it did seem to be getting rather hot on the top end though. you can keep you hand on the cylinder/barrels for about 5-7 seconds before you have to take them off due to the heat, is this normal. the bottom end and the oil tank doesnt get hot though, just nice and warm.
also when you change from 4th gear to 3rd you have to knock it up twice to get 3rd gear and when it does engage 3rd gear you get a crunch and seems to be a bit of whine when in 3rd gear and moving. is that anything i should worry about ?.
very supprised though as only 2 little drips of oil on the garage floor the next day, so pretty oil tight.
all the best. chicago

[Beezageezauk]

Hi Chicago and congratulations on your first ride.  It's a great sense of acheivement isn't it.  Remember...miles means smiles (sorry if that doesn't translate in kilometers for our metric orientated members).

Your engine temperature seems correct to me but I don't know enough to comment on your gearbox.  However, I'm sure that somebody on this forum will be able to advise.

Keep riding and keep smiling.

Beezageezauk.

[chicago]

cheers beezageezauk, it is a big sense of achivement for me especialy as there were times when i really did think it was impossible to pass my bike test. just great to be on the road.
"Your engine temperature seems correct" good was getting a bit worried.
cheer's fella

[bsa-bill]

well done Chicago, yes great feeling.
Quite common for third to whine, probably a gearbox guru on here might know a cure.
If the double knock to engage fourth persists then maybe a winter job to check the dots are lined up inside the gearbox cover - might need a tweak up or down

[fido]

Sounds like nobody has told you the starting ritual for these bikes or you could not fail to know the petrol was off! If you have a choke lever you can probably leave it permanently in the off position  as you don't really need one on these bikes. When I start mine I first kick it over on the kickstart with the clutch pulled in. The clutch plates sometimes stick so this frees them off. I then turn the petrol on and press the carb tickler until I see petrol appear. Mine is auto advance so I don't need to retard the ignition but on manual advance versions you need to give them partial retard. The amount of throttle you need to start will vary from one example to the next and even from one grade of petrol to the next. That bit you therefore determine by experimentation. You are now ready to kickstart the beast!

[morris]

Hi Chicago,

If it's your first ride and you are loving it, believe me (and many will confirm) it will only get better!
As for the temperature of the head, I wouldn't worry, you shouldn't be able to keep your hand for more than 5 seconds on something hotter than 70-80 °C.
Do check that the oil is flushing back in the oil tank when it's running, because oil is, apart from being a lubricant, also a very important cooling medium.

If you really like to know how hot it's running, you may consider to buy a temperature measuring gun (it's an infra-red measuring device you point to the surface you want to measure, and just pull the trigger). I got one myself, but never got the idea to use it on the bike. Next time I go fore a ride, I'll measure the temperature on mine and let you know what it came up with.

I found that my gearbox needs a firm foot. In summer I was riding it with some light boots, but now it becomes colder so I use my heavy boots, and found that the gearchange is less crunchier. I also noticed that, when down-changing with the lighter boots, I often hit a neutral between 3th and 2nd (and some crunching when I hit the lever again to engage 2nd), which I have no longer with the heavy boots.

Have fun! 

[RichardL]

If you can keep your hand on the cylinder head for 5-7 seconds after running 20 miles, you've got some really tough hands.

Richard L.

[Ted_Flash]

On the third gear whine - apparently quite common.  My first 2 A10s were quiet but the current one whines.  I replaced the bearings - no change.  Then I sourced another set of gears, one brand new unused and one used but virtually new.  No change.  Don't worry!

[duTch]

Good one Chicargo, Hope it keeps on rockin', but if your head were to cause grief,  maybe keep Trevs' u-beaut 'overhead valve mod' in mind (nice one Bill wink2), but a bugger about the whine, as I have that in both the boxes I have, but changed layshaft bushes in one hoping it'll fix, but maybe futile(that's the bugger factor)- It's a plunger hey, so you won't have Bills index dots, but maybe can back off the 'indent' spring a bit??
 Happy trekkin' ,duTch

[morris]

Hi Chicago,

If this may assure you, this morning after a drive of about 1/2 hour, my A10's cylinder head measured 95°C, and the cylinder, in the area of the spark plug 130°C.
The oil tank showed 45° on the thermometer.