What have you done with your bike/s today?

[Black Sheep]

Having fixed the wring problem and set the valve clearances I fitted the freshly repainted and lined petrol tank and fired up the bike just to confirm all the electrics are working as they should.
Now the rest of the bike is looking a bit shabby.

[Worty]

.........o and spurs won for once

Twice this week actually!

Very 'unSpursy' of them (cackle, guffaw, et al )

[Greybeard]

The weather was so lovely today, I can't believe it's November, I took off on my BSA Gold Star modern and rode to Falmouth which is a 45 minute ride for me. I've never been there before. I love boats, so this was a great place for me to visit. The bike was perfect, as usual. I had a moment on fallen leaves that made my heart miss a beat but otherwise perfection.

[RichardL]

GB,

Glad you had this enjoyable time. Thanks for the great travelogue photos. I, too, love boats, but not to the point of buying one. Back in ‘72 I thought I might try to build a 40’ ferro-cement yawl, but reality set in for the under-financed 25-year-old.

RichardL.

[Greybeard]

GB,

Glad you had this enjoyable time. Thanks for the great travelogue photos. I, too, love boats, but not to the point of buying one. Back in ‘72 I thought I might try to build a 40’ ferro-cement yawl, but reality set in for the under-financed 25-year-old.

RichardL.

Presumably you are near the Great Lakes, so a good place for boat spotting. 👌

[limeyrob]

Took the A10 for a run round Windsor, petrol fill up and about 25 miles.  Still staying close to home in case of teething troubles but its running really well.  Mixture is now close - just a tad rich - dark straw but OK for now.  Pulls really strongly and cruises very easily at 50 or 60 but since the speedo is way off and the tacho only reads up to 2000 revs its hard to know .  One thing I'm watching is the 2 - 1 exhaust, I've lock wired the collars together across in front of the head and so far the pipes are staying in place.

[Worty]

Drained the Kwaka carbs ready for the winter layup.

Having said that, I may be ferrying Sue to work on it as we're have a spot of bother with the car.  Had a clutch fitted 2 years, 8 months ago and have done around 28,000m since (warranty is 3 years and 30,000m!!).  In gears 4 and 5, under fairly rapid acceleration, there's a bit of clutch slip.  It could be oil contamination I guess but, other than that, the car drives perfectly, no probs with gear changes, no smells or burning and the car stalls from a standstill when starting off in third.

The only other thing to do is wait until it gets worse then put my hand back in my pocket to the tune of £500.   Original clutch lasted 137,000m

[Adler]

Hello Forum,
yesterday was a bit cold at around 4°C but the sun gave me such a good feeling for taking the GF for a short ride in the countryside near my home. Perfect day, perfect ride.
Although it has not been finished yet, I prefer to ride it instead of letting it standing around in the workshop. Motorbikes have been build for being ridden, Radco (the author) wrote some time ago - I agree.
Best regards, Manfred

[Worty]

Too true, and nice to hear from you.  Like the look of that countryside too.

As for me, will be finding out how much the clutch repairs will be costing me tomorrow.

[Adler]

Hello Forum,
some days ago I had to visit the TÜV to get the official 2 years roadworthy certificate but the friendly test person mentioned, that my GF`s front wheel being too wide and the gap btw. the side wall and the embossments of the front mudguard in the area of the fork stanchions seems to be too small. In his point of view the remaining distance should be at least 7mm or the diameter of a ball point pen. Grrr.
So, I have to organise a smaller front tyre 3.25-19 instead of the good looking 3.50-19. First, I was a bit angry somehow. But in the end it seems he was right. The inner surface of the embossments of the mudguard show some very small abrasion in the respective area, i.e. the paint is dull and the primer starts to shine through
Two good aspects of the story:
The tyre can be used later as a replacement for the rear (also a Dunlop K70 3.50-19) and as I mentioned the guy has been friendly: he said, listen, I did not see and check your bike, so this advise does not cost you anything while winking towards me - normally once already having started the check, he should charge me the whole cost.
Next week I will receive the new 3.25-19 and then, the GF will be sent to the "winter sleep" (hibernation?).
Good night.
Manfred

[limeyrob]

Fitted the 23 Teeth engine sprocket in place of the 21 Tooth.  Its already clear that its a bit under geared so this should correct that and it s cheap and simple solution.  Bit of luck as the primary was just long enough with the box fully forward as was the rear chain.  The 23 T is aftermarket (MCA I believe) and has a slightly more raised land but by another bit of good fortune mine has shims in to line the chain up so with those out it was perfect.  I've no doubt I'll pay for this good fortune but for now I'm happy.
Noticed a slight weep from the rocker box and found it was finger tight,, I'm pretty sure I did it up so that's the gasket settling, checked everything else and got 1/6 or a turn on the cylinder base nuts which was a surprise.

[chaterlea25]

Hi Rob,
Those tightenings will have closed up the valve clearances,  so you had better re check them

I spent the afternoon  finishing off some bits on my 24 BSA, I am hoping to take it off the bench tomorrow while my son is here to help and see will it start 
There is some more to do to the bike so it will be going back on the bench again

John

[limeyrob]

Yes I was thinking about the tappets and left the bike up on the stand, put that off 'till tomorrow.  I'll see how things have bedded in now its done about an hour's running.  The dynamo comes up on charge noticeably quicker so the residual magnetism is building back up.

[limeyrob]

Good call on the tappets, I was expecting that they may have closed by a thou or two but they were all pretty much completely closed up. Could have ended badly if I run the engine for any time.

[ringding]

Lifted the seat on the A7 to see what battery was fitted (it's got a 12V conversion and Dad had adapted the battery box to accomodate an appropriate battery).  Had to blow the dust of the "Brit Bike" toolbox to get the imperial spanners out.

Have also spent some time sat on the sofa planning the most painless way of resolving the wetsumping, so have got a shopping list and hopefully will get her running in the spring.  Need to concentrate any garage time before then on the 250LC so I can sell her when the weather picks up.