What have you done with your bike/s today?

[berger]

bill WASHING LINE! that reminds me of when the mate of mine who loved his MZ more than his other bikes broke down with a newly purchased 350cc bsa type chopper.  we were travelling to my house about 12 miles from his  and we stopped at a pub { of course } and his bike wouldn't start so we paid a young lad to bring his mums washing line so i could tow him to my house. good old days    apart from that reminisce i have been wrestling with one of those long reach screw driver things to set the tick over on urma the yonda 4 carbs 

[Greybeard]

Fitted oil tank and tool box to 'Manchester Ship Canal' RGS. Oil tank is original, needed a couple of holes brazing. Tool box was beyond repair so used one of my 'shed stock'.

Looking good Andrew 👍

[Sav]

Exactly 100 miles on the new tiddler, roundabout route to Jo's cafe on the marsh, bike ran like clockwork, might have actually bought s decent one for once!

That completes 500 mile for the little thing,, cheeky email to Honda is called for to ask for the free 500 mile service  still applies

[groily]

They are excellent things - just about due its weekly oil change then Sav? 

[muskrat]

G'day Fellas.
Pulled the rear wheel out of the HD for a new tyre. What a  of a job. The shop said the tyre should be there Wed for Thurs fitting. It had better be as have 4 day ride starting Friday.
Not looking forward to the next tyre change as the rear belt will be changed. Rear wheel out, primary & clutch out, inner primary off, rear suspension off, swing arm out 
Cheers

[Black Sheep]

Had a fine morning's ride on the B31 - to a funeral. Then fitted the rebuilt mag to the Star Twin and at the same time removed the bolt-on side stand that fouled the exhaust pipe. Sadly, that's about to go back to Draganfly. ANyway, the Star Twin should be ok for a while now. Top end rebuild, mag, gearbox and rear sprockets and chain, tyres. Now to look at the Velo dynamo.

[groily]

Not looking forward to the next tyre change as the rear belt will be changed. Rear wheel out, primary & clutch out, inner primary off, rear suspension off, swing arm out 
Cheers

That's a LOT of work Musky and highlights the hassle of endless transmission parts where the business end isn't 'overhung'. Your clutch is on the wrong end!
I was dreading replacing the endless rear chain and sprockets on my XJR Yamaha, but found when I actually bothered to look at it that the job could be done, swing-arm out (to avoid using a soft link), in about 2 hours.
I'm guessing it'll be a day's toil with the Hardly Able, especially as I assume 'no centre stand', making many jobs bloody difficult.

I suppose it's partly about encouraging people to take things back to the shop for nearly any- and every- thing  . . . Good Luck!

[Worty]

Maybe manufacturers could build machines with maintenance in mind - now that's a thought.

[berger]

i went out on betsy to have words with my MOT man about the 31 year old van. oh deary me it looks like it will go to the crusher or a mates graveyard of all things old and mechanical he hangs onto, i will ask him if he wants it for his collection. the van has excessive corrosion around drivers seat belt fixing and very near the vin plate,  - a big job it is all rotten under the seat and arch ,it also suffers from lots more metal worm in various places, extensive weldering required the clutch master cylinder has started dripping fluid into the footwell and it is buried behind the dash board, i can only just see it if i twist myself into the footwell--- very painfull   the crank seal has started dripping a lot more oil and the prop shaft has made a very good job of flinging oil all over the underneath. at least it's not rotten there can't complain it has served me well for about 6 years since my brother gifted it to me. i think he knew something BUT what a ride on betsy beezer grinning all the way there and all the way back, vrooom vrooooom

[muskrat]

Not looking forward to the next tyre change as the rear belt will be changed. Rear wheel out, primary & clutch out, inner primary off, rear suspension off, swing arm out 
Cheers

That's a LOT of work Musky and highlights the hassle of endless transmission parts where the business end isn't 'overhung'. Your clutch is on the wrong end!
I was dreading replacing the endless rear chain and sprockets on my XJR Yamaha, but found when I actually bothered to look at it that the job could be done, swing-arm out (to avoid using a soft link), in about 2 hours.
I'm guessing it'll be a day's toil with the Hardly Able, especially as I assume 'no centre stand', making many jobs bloody difficult.

I suppose it's partly about encouraging people to take things back to the shop for nearly any- and every- thing  . . . Good Luck!

G'day groily.
A mate took his HD in for 2 tyres. $450 for the rubber, $450 to remove wheels, fit rubber and refit wheels 
Lucky I have a pneumatic bike bench with a removable section to get the wheel out.

Last night I shrunk in the cam and main bushes into the cases. Waiting on the reamer to arrive.
Cheers

[RDfella]

Yesterday re-torqued the head after leaving it at 30ftlbs overnight. Then spent most of the afternoon fitting the rocker box. Always one pushrod failing to engage, despite using the comb. Eventually removed the two rear studs so I didn't have to twist the box around the inlet springs, thereby upsetting the comb / pushrods. Started around 2.30pm and finished (tappets adjusted etc) around 5.30. So now I can add the appalling design of the rocker box to the equally appalling design of crankshaft and lubrication system. These engines look attractive, but have an abundance of lousy design under the skin. Re the rocker boxes - why not make then with a removable lid, so one can guide the pushrods home? These engines could have been so much better. Steel rods don't fail like alloy ones, so why change from steel to alloy in later models? Why change from an innovative crank to - around '56 I believe - one with a pressed on flywheel?  And why not use a 180* crank to reduce the vibes a parallel twin always has? Or stay with vee twins, as they are much smoother (except HD) or had they become unfashionable?  Engineers back then did warn 500cc was the limit for a // twin as beyond that vibes would become an issue.  BSA singles are largely problem-free, so how did it all go wrong with the twins?

[Worty]

I reckon the interest and investment just wasn't there, neither was the innovation and R&D.  The japanese soon cottoned on and made largely superb bikes.  The only issue I had on japanese bikes was my XS750 which had the middle cylinder seize up due to the oilway feeding it being too small.  I understand the XS850 overcame this issue.

I don't think you can beat the look, sound and feel of a Brit bike, so many have tried to copy but they just didn't have the pedigree.  The only thing I can think of that comes close is the XS650 (though some may disagree).  Their reputation for being bullet-proof and super reliable made them popular, but they simply didn't have the prestige and curiosity value of British iron.  Perhaps it's worth the many hours of frustration, skinned knuckles, bad language and copious amounts of beer to keep these two-wheeled anachronisms on the road.

[groily]

so how did it all go wrong with the twins?

Invitation for long essays and a prize for the winner??
Or 'answers on a postcard' using fewer than thirty words, of which not more than half can begin with F?!
I ran out of Fs just thinking of the pain of assembling Notrun twin top ends in the frame. So, without my tablets Nurse, I can't continue  . . .

[BigJim]

Eventually removed the two rear studs so I didn't have to twist the box around the inlet springs, thereby upsetting the comb / pushrods.

Yep RD, The two rear rockerbox studs live with the cylinder head on my bike with 2 nuts on each. The front and rear top inspection cover studs are also double nutted and are removed completely like a bolt each time. Now i know you engineering types are gonna balk at screwing steel into alloy but tough. this works for me, not leaking oil at any of THESE joints (plenty everywhere else). Makes fitting of rockerbox bearable esp with the comb clamped to a fin.

[muskrat]

why not make then with a removable lid, so one can guide the pushrods home?

Like the Ariel Huntmaster
Cheers