Hi to all,
I resucitate this post that had stayed in my mind all this time.
I do feel the same as RD fellow about the shortcomings of the A10 ,its probably the most irritating bike of the 60 or so i have owned, sold or restored over the years.
Bought cheap and in very good condition it served me well for 10000 miles or so unti she wet sumped mad and the small end bush got worn out.
I Bit the bullet and because i always considered it as a keeper i brought it to the best A10 specialist in the UK to get the needle bearing conversion and a new pump.
When i got the bike back, (5200 pounds later) i took it for a very wet 30 miles spin around their workshop and noticed straight away that the clutch was slipping like hell and it rattled way louder than when i brought it in, all worn out as she was.
They told me that it would settle down and that they had fitted triumph springs( against my advice as i knew that it would slip with them.)
Any way i took the ferry back to Ireland and upon opening the door of the van a big pool of oil was looking at me on the floor.
None of the engine bolts were tight and it sounded rattly.
Called them and fair play they accepted my grievances and collected the bike for remedial work.
All good so far. I picked up the bike three month later, still a rattler ,still leaking oil and she had lost its oomph...
Checking on the bill i noticed that they had substituted my perfect 356 cam for a flat one again they accepted the problem and took it backto change the cam and said they could not find anything wrong with it ant that, yes there was an intermitent rattle.
Anyway back home and the leaks continued, i have a few vintage and veteran bikes, most of them with engines that i have completly rebuild myself over the years (from guzzi bacon slicer to V-Twin japanese sv) so i tolerate the odd weakness in the bladder department.
Now 2years down the line from the big spend with new everything in the engine i still have an intermittent rattly bike with corresponding rattly front forks despite having rebuild them(myself with new old stock legs ,bushings,seals ,springs and stanchions ...
The engine is leaking mad,from the primary/gearbox seal to the breather hole behind the mag, as well as the rocker box gasket in front on top of the exhaust.
The swing arm silent blocks have a lot of play and were overlooked when engine , gearbox and backwheel were out.
Add a poor set of mag brushes (that they supplied) that wore in no time leaving me stranded at a rally and the next set that i fitted that dug deep in the slip ring destroying it.
The wrong washer behind the dynamo pinion so the pinion could not lock properly on the taper (another van rescue job).
Now , you see, i had a heavy-weight Matchless for 28 years and my friend who bought it use everyday:
i have never taken the clutch of that bike apart nor opened the forks and the AMC gearbox is a delight while the top of the engine is perfecly dry.
I recently bought and fitted a new plunger for the oil pump (a simple job) so was the fitting of new swing arm bronze bushings prior to the sale.
Everything is straight forward with AMC, no blind bush in the gearbox, no whine in third gear,no scraping central stand, no 'they all do that, Sir.'
Now its time to decide between ebay,the sledge or a box of matches.
I have spent over £10000 on a bike thats despite been cosmetically very good and with all the right bits (nacelle, chain enclosure etc) and end up with a bike that is not enjoyable as i never know what is to go wrong next.
My first big bike 42 years ago was an A65 and it was bullet proof.
The blues.
