What have you done with your bike/s today?

[Greybeard]

I went for a ride in the Cotswolds and saw Diddly Squat. That, of course , is Jeremy Clarkson's Farm Shop from the Amazon TV programme. It was closed but the ride was great.

I really enjoyed that series. Of course Clarkson plays the fool but I found it educational about the problems of farming.

[berger]

changed the fork oil and checked the head races for play. this was done because i did a 100 mile round trip all over the hills of derbyshire and a bit of staffordshire yesterday. i went on lots of single track roads and they were bumpy, the banging at the front end going over the bumps was doing my head in i know these type of forks do bang a bit but it was screaming at me to check the head races. there was nothing wrong at all then i got hold of the honda tank that slides onto two rubber bushes and has a rubber cushion at the back and i got the BANG! the rubbers had all shrunk to the point that they were letting the tank move. the job is now sorted and at least i checked the stearing and changed the fork oil, first time in about 8 years. after that ride out my neck was killing me , one day i might have to take the clip ons off. thankyou for listening it's now chicken pie time. chicky pie chicky pie chicky pie pie pie

[Worty]

You might have answered a question for me there Berger.  I get a bit of a 'boom' occasionally over a biggish pothole - did sound like the tank but I have loads of foam rubber, etc under it, will check it out though.  I do allow a bit of play in the steering so as not to overload the bearings.  Generally, I take hold of the fork sliders, lift on the centre stand, and rock.  If there's a slight 'clunk' ( and I mean 'slight') and the front end swings freely from side to side, I'm happy.

Still getting a little pinking at low speeds when opening her up a bit.  Could this be down to the rebuilt ATD that has new, slightly stronger springs, taking a little longer to advance?  I've got the timing at 11/32 (or as near as I could get it), and running tappets at 12 inlet and 16 exhaust.  Plugs are perfect at a nice light grey/tan (B6HS), ticks over beautifully and runs spot on 99.9% of the time.  If I do get a bit of pinking, dropping it a gear clears it immediately.  Funny how it only does it occasionally, usually cranked over on a tight bend or on inclines with the revs a bit low.  Will respond well with a more gradual throttle opening rather than a big handful!

[muskrat]

G'day Worty.
The steering head should have no discernible play but no stiction.
Try lifting the needle 1 notch.
Cheers

[Worty]

Cheers Musky.  What will lifting the needle do, i.e., will it make it run richer or leaner??

[muskrat]

G'day Worty.
Richer. The only way to combat pinging is to richen the mix or retard the timing without doing mechanical work eg lower compression.
Cheers

[Worty]

Makes sense Musky.  I did read somewhere that the timing could be finely adjusted by altering the contact breaker gap.  Mine is set to the standard 0.012, would an adjustment either way be feasible and, if so, which way, i.e., if I set at 0.011 would that retard or advance? 

Interestingly, since I replaced my faulty maggie (condenser kaput), the plugs are in perfect nick rather than being very sooty.  I reckoned this was down to too rich a mixture - perhaps it was just down to weaker spark??

[Worty]

Answered my own question here.  This is a decent article re timing/magnetos/cb gaps, etc.

https://www.themagnetoguys.co.uk/points-gap

[RichardL]

Answered my own question here.  This is a decent article re timing/magnetos/cb gaps, etc.

https://www.themagnetoguys.co.uk/points-gap

Well, that link and the several links within it is(are) pretty enlightening, such as the arithmetic and mag construction for V-Twin timing.

Richard L.

[Biker Chris]

Trying to figure out why my right fork is jammed in the upper position...

... whomever rebuilt it failed to replace the spacer at the bottom of the fork, amazing for a £0.25 washer it cost nearly £80 in special tools to make sure it went back together right!

[Worty]

Cleaned and checked the beasty for the next ride out.  Here's an interesting one: after I set the timing a few weeks ago I replaced the plugs - bike ran fine.  Decided to replace the plugs with some others just for the hell of it.  Bike pinked a bit and offered a few backfires, etc, at low revs.  Checked points gap today and fired up again, still a bit of spluttering at low revs.  Thought I'd try the plugs I'd used after setting the timing - bike ran fine.

THEN, I realised, the plugs I'd put in that were causing the problem were the ones I'd secured the terminal cap with threadlocker!!  Forgot I'd done that and also forgot that threadlocker is an insulater.  When I put the non-threadlocker ones back in, no problem.

The moral of the story - DON'T put threadlocker on terminal caps!!  I have since removed the terminal caps and cleaned them all thoroughly (the ones with threadlocker on, that is).

[muskrat]

G'day Worty.
Good one, that would have had many scratching their heads.
I hate elecTRICKs.
I'm investigating a problem with the '88 FXST. Battery fine, charging fine, running great. Till I turn the headlight on  . Thinking it must be the ignition switch, the same design as the switch fitted to a 1936 model 
Cheers

[Worty]

Meant to say 'insulator' by the way.

I can't do elec-tricks myself Musky.  Had a huge problem for ages with the friggin' electrics not working intermittently.  Tried new batteries, bulbs, etc, checked wiring, etc.  In the end, it proved to be not one, but 3 faulty batteries all in a row!!!!!!!  Two were AGM and one lead-acid.  The electrics would work one day then drop out the next.  When I first got the bike on the road, I had a lead acid that boiled over and dumped acid all over the r/h silencer, stripping the chrome off.  When I noticed, I said calmly, 'Oh my word, that was unfortunate.  Never mind, I'm happy to pay another £60 for a new silencer'.

[Biker Chris]

Yeah... Waiting until my wife wasn't looking and acquired a sidecar...

... just to convince her that it's OK to put a toddler in it!

[Worty]

So, to update and confirm.  Went for a 135m trek around York, Bedale, Hambleton, Masham, etc.  Apart from an early spit at me at some lights (probably a complaint about the dodgy plugs I had in before!), bike ran like a dream - picks up with a growl from low revs, and revs out smoothly throughout.  I did go back to the points before the run, and set them at a very tight 0.012 (probably more like 0.0115 as I used a 0.011 feeler).  Very happy with the performance, about as spot on as I can think of (no pinking at all).

One other thing, I was wondering what I could use down the plug hole to get an accurate BTDC reading.  I have a vernier gauge which, when you open the jaws, the slider moves out of the end (opposite end to the jaws).  Because it's quite thin, I reckon I could set it up to measure BTDC digitally, which would do away with the measured rod arrangement.  Having said that, the latter did me just fine judging by today's ride.

....... and another thing, how do you tell if your rear shockers are shot - mine seem a little wallowy at times - they do get a hammering though, especially with the wife on the back