Quick question, exhaust bracket + cable shortening

[chaterlea25]

HI Stephen,
Cable soldering is a skill I was taught by an older motorcyclist when I was a teenager!

Use tinmans solder, a good flux (Bakers fluid) and the advice given about splaying the cable is very important.
DO NOT USE ELECTRICAL SOLDER
I melt some solder using an old soup ladle as a solder pot, alternate dipping the cable end in the flux and then the solder until the solder has penetrated all the strands. Wear eye protection!!!!!

I always make up my own cables as you have found they seldom fit!!!!!

I would NOT use silver solder as the temp involved will damage the cable

HTH
John  O R

[MG]

John,

Just to make it clear and to avoid misunderstandings:
I wrote about a special silver solder with a working temp. of 350°C (662°F), which is about the same temp. as with normal tin solder. This is not the one used for silver brazing which uses far higher temperatures! It has the advantage of a significantly higher tensile strength than normal tin solder, which gives me additional peace of mind for this critical application.

Another thing I forgot to mention: After the cable has cooled down after soldering, I put the nipple in the vice and give the cable a good pull to check the work. You would rather want it to come off in the vice than on the bike.

Regards, Markus

[bsa-bill]

Hi John and Marcus - a question for you

I am having problems with font TLS brake cable, can't seem to get the correct length in a cable of quality ( got one almost correct length but looked about the correct gauge for a pushbike).
I do have one good cable with a brake switch incorporated (handy, I could use it) but I had to shorten the outer and now need to shorten the inner  , these cables are around twenty pounds plus.
I'm thinking of investing in a solder pot http://www.mrtechservices.co.uk/product.php/501/248/quick_100_4c_solder_pot
What's your opinion
it can be bundled with lead free pellets - is lead free OK or is it significantly different from tinmans

All the best - Bill

[MG]

Bill,

I only know the lead-free stuff from electronics. The working temperature is a bit higher (around 50°C), and it is a bit more difficult to solder, yet not really a problem. But I have to say that I'm not overly impressed by that lead-free solder concerning the wetting and flow characteristics. And there are some problems associated with it (google for "tin whisker lead free", if you are interested), furthermore there's not much long-time experience available yet. So whenever I have the choice, I use the good old tin-lead alloys. I guess there is a reason why they are still using it in aerospace and medical industry.

Just my two pence worth.

[a10 gf]

afaik, only use pure tin solder as used by plumbers, with a separate decapant.

[BSA_54A10]

Lead free solder is a wank, forced upon industry by wankers with absolutely no idea what they are doing because in their infantile minds any person that comes within 1 meter of any form of lead will turn into a pillar of salt ( and be added to a big mac ).
Tin based solders are horribly complex alloys and usually contain Antimony, Bismuth. Cadminium, even Arsenic.
Soft silver solders are even worse, however a tiny amount of silver 0.005 to 0.01 % added to a lead based solder will add considerably to its' strength.
A lot of lead based solders containing silver are marketed as "silver solder", such is the impact of the multi million dollar snow job foistered upon the public by the oil companies to turn lead into Satin itself.

None of the "new" solders have the mechanical strength and wide range of applications as good old perfectly safe lead tin solder, very few are recycleable and all of them will not tollerate the tiniest amount of surface contamination.

Tinmans solder is the same as plumbers solder except that it usually contains a little iron which extends the freezing temperature range ( mushy period ) and substantially reduces dissolution of copper soldering tips oft erroniously called errosion. So is not the best for cables.
Hard plumbers solder is the way to go ( 70% Sn + 30 % Pb) and what I use on my cables applied with either a big electric iron ( and  mean big ) or better still a 4oz copper bit heated with a blow lamp.
I am not a fan of directly heating the cable with a torch for several reasons all of which revolve around the lack of proper temperature control and the fact that steel starts to form tough surface oxides from around 200 deg C ( we call them temper colours and a good example is blueing of your exhausts). You want the joint to be just hot enough to melt the solder and no more.
And yes, Bakers flux, liquid of paste is a must, as is washing it off in boiling water after you have finished as it is corrosive in nature.


And finally if you are going to buy & fit new drums to your cables the get the free floating type, not the directly soldered on type. Free floating drums will last just about forever as they allow the cable to rotate inside the drum which prevents the cable from fracturing just where the cable exits the drum and actaually transmits more of your applied force to whatever is on the other end of the cable.

If you do not know what a free floating drum looks like have a look at those universal cables that are supplied with 1/2 dozen different sized drums that slip over the cable and bear against a pear ( or ball ) on the end of the cable. Well they are the same thing but without the slot (although you can use the slotted ones ) 

[Stephen Arsenal]

OK ,fitted the exhaust,but they do´nt seem to be in harmony,the chain side sticks out much further than the right hand side.I had to put the bracket on the outside of the hole,otherwise the exhaust(even bent in the right position) cannot move far enough into the middle-the nut tightning the front footrest blocks this. er on the subject of soldier the wire,I´m going to keep on searching for a correct length one,or instead of putting a new nipple on,I´ll just measure the correct length,and tie tha cable into a neat ball and then give it the the welder to make it into a proper sphere,so that the MOT do´nt complain(must be more secure than cutting the cable and re soldering ?)granted not cricket,but patience is wearing thin,just need to get through MOT and then can get the correct cable when it turns up on evil bay.

[Stephen Arsenal]

oophs,Hi guys,the soldering issue is way over my head,but I ´ll show it to my german welder.Other pics

[Stephen Arsenal]

,

[MG]

Hi Steve!

First of all: I think welding the cable is not a good idea, because the cable will be heated far too much delivering unpredictable results in tensile strength and ductility. Soldering a new nipple on is absolutely okay when done properly. You can ask in any shop that sell and repair bicycles and/or mopeds, they usually have some in stock. If you have one and don't dare to do it yourself, I can offer you that you send me your cable, let me know the length you need and I do it for you, if you want to.
There's also a firm in Germany that makes any cable you want. I'm sure they can also change the length of yours. If you want their address, I can look it up for you.

Ref the exhausts: I think the end of the exhaust pipe should be lower. Then you can move the silencers further in and it should be okay. Usually, if you push the pipe into the exhaust port of the head, it naturally goes down on the other end. So either the bend is not correct or you just have to push it further back on top. Hard to tell without the head. I would wait for the head to return, fit everything and try again. If it still doesn't work then, there's something wrong with the pipe.

[G/F DAVE]

Hi, Stephen having looked at your photos I would say the silencer bracket is out of shape.The whole silencer looks like it needs twisting clockwise (looking from rear ) and the bracket needs to be on inside of frame mount. Also the foot rest mount looks to long.Personally I would remove the bracket from silencer then get  both silencers matching each other level wise you can hold the silencer where you want it with masking tape/wire, then either bend the bracket to fit or make a new one.I dont think there is anything wrong with the exhaust system only the mounting brackets.These thing can take a while to get right but are worth the effort. I think also I would have the cylinder head fitted before I done the bracket.Stick with it you,ll get there in the end Dave..

[bsa-bill]

Steve - I have similar problem with the silencers, partly due to the crank on the kickstart lever not being enough to clear the silencer on the timing side.
I got them pretty near even by using washers and a bit of lateral thinking re the brackets - there are options such as put one on the inside of the holder on one side and one on the outside on the otherside also you can turn turn the bracket to get the crank in it to put the silencer further in or out.
Thanks guys for the advice re solder pots and so forth ( apologies Steve for  hijacking your post to some degree)

All the best - Bill

[MG]

Forgot to mention: www.louis.de also sells various cables and nipples.

[Stephen Arsenal]

Hallo MG,thank you for your offer,I´d be be more than happy to send you both cables to shorten if you have the time.Naturally I´d pay the post both ways,if you could send me your @ then I could contact you direct.I do´nt really want to go to the local welders or bike shops,this wire shortening is too specialized (still not sure why all the firms in internet have´nt been able to produce the correct length,the front wheel doe´snt move,the rear one OK).cheers steve.       Stephen.Smith@gmx.de

[lawnmowerman]

Hi Steve

I have recently had loads of problems with pipe and silencer fit. I put twin goldies and new pipes on my 59 Super Rocket (see my previous posts). A very small movement at the head end has quite a dramatic effect at the tail end and, for what it is worth, I would wait until the head is on before fitting the pipes and silencers.
The distributer who supplied the system said "well you have always got to "fit" these systems to old bikes - they never bolt straight on." In the end I had to take an angle grinder to the pipes and take about 25-30mm off each end to get them to line up. I also had to make brackets to rear-set the goldies.

Good luck with the bike - looking forward to seeing photos when it is finished.

Jim