Introduction Newbie

[Waterman]

All, thought it was time I posted some details on my recent purchase. I bought my A10 1953 Plunger from a chap in Leicester transported it home, placed it in storage and put in my list of things to do...

My FPO aka Fun Prevention Officer also known as the Wife! Had other plans for my free time, gardening, decorating internal and external plus holidays etc.

Fast forward to September bike was brought out of storage, fresh petrol place in tank, checked over all externals and she fired up, adjusted tick over and went out for brief test ride. On my return I heard some noise from the Clutch casing plus the Clutch was slippping. I suspected that the plates were sticking as it's over 30 years plus since the bike ran.

I hav decided to replace the whole Clutch with a new one a this should provide years of trouble free service. I have also made a list of jobs, these include new accelerator, air cables, I make these myself so should not be a problem.

Whist I was acting like test pilot Biggins the front forks springs were either stuck, or the wrong size ones had been installed. I drained and refilled the oil, bounced and few times on the forks but no change in suspension, again I have decided to replace.

Once I have Clutch mpleted these jobs test ride number 2 will be in the cards, I will,post some pickies of my bike..

Take care and keep it shiny side up at all times.....Andy

[Greybeard]

 

Plunger clutches are ok; better than later designs.

[KiwiGF]

Welcome, forks could be stuck or stiff for a number of easily remedied reasons, a common mistake is to install the front axle incorrectly (eg after a new tyre is fitted) such that the fork legs are either forced together or apart and this can jam the forks.

[RichardL]

Oh jeez! Do l have to be the one to say this? I was hoping someone else would jump in and save me from being Debbie Downer. "Sludge Trap," I don't believe a '53 will have the tube through the crank, but there is a passage that wants cleaning. Thirty years is a long time to sit and allow crud in the crank to get crusty and, potentially, come loose and block flow to the big ends. With so much work to do, are you up to adding an exploratory trip into the nether reaches of the crankcsse and  crankshaft? After all, all else was not perfection.

Those cheery words said, welcome to the forum. .

Richard L.

[Black Sheep]

It all depends... If the bike has had regular oil changes before it was laid up it should be fine. The problems arise when bikes have been neglected - i.e. oil rarely if ever changed and using a non-detergent straight oil leading to a build up of sludge. It does take a long time and lots of miles to build up sludge and hopefully with us all using multigrades and changing oil regularly it should be a very slow process.
A bottom end should be good for around 100,000 miles. 

[RoyC]

A bottom end should be good for around 100,000 miles.

Oh no, I'm on 97,000.
and welcome.

[LynnLegend]

Welcome Waterman - I'm sure this forum and your bike bring you many miles of headaches, oil leaks, and if you're lucky the occasional great ride out 

[RichardL]

"it's over 30 years plus since the bike ran."

Seems unlikely Waterman would know the  maintenance history, having fairly recently bought the bike.  So, Black Sheep, as an owner and mechanic of much experience, if this bike was yours, would you take apart the bottom end for peace of  mind? As a far less experienced motorcycle mechanic whose first A10 rebuild (after it sat for 27 years) resulted in a spun bearing, I would. At the time, I didn't know there was such a thing as a sludge trap, so of course I didn't clean it. Did the bearing spin for some other reason? Maybe, but maybe not.

Richard L.

[RichardL]

Waterman,

Another thing, did you drop the sump plate to check for any nasties (like shim bits) sitting on top of the sump screen?

Richard L.

[a10 gf]

Welcome, thanks for the story 

[Butch (cb)]

I’d be changing the oil and taking my chances on the bottom end – running as is unless there was something obviously amiss.
(Accepting that I blew mine up within a couple of months of buying it).

[Black Sheep]

Hi Richard, as mentioned it all depends. First check would be what's lying in the bottom of the oil tank? An inch of sludge? Strip the engine. If not, a full service, a ride and then check what state the oil is in. Grim=strip, OK = keep riding. Even if you don't know the history, you can learn a lot just from a good look over plus the first service. Inside the rocker box clean? A good sign. Rounded and/or loose nuts, a bad sign.
In my younger days I would strip an engine at the drop of a hat. Nowadays I'll only do it with a good reason. Reliability curves are interesting viewing. An odd U shape with the right side stretching out a long way. I like being in the bit at the bottom of the U, i.e. a while after the last rebuild but a long way before the next.   

[Waterman]

Gents, many thanks for all your kind words of wisdom, I and a colleague of mine visited him and he showed us some of his restorations. I appreciate that this dose not mean they are all OK, but I had a great feeling when I met him and his son that they were genuine. We even keep in regular contact, and met them them at Stanford Hall in the summer. A highly recommended set of chaps.

The parts have been purchased from "Priory-Magnetos" https://sites.google.com/site/priorymagnetos/home and excellent chap with a vast amount of knowledge, please note I have no connection or relation with the company, but highly recommend. I have already changed the oil, to my surprise it was like golden syrup, clean and no bits of debris. At least I now know that it's got fresh oil in the engine. The oil return flow rate seems correct, spark plugs correct colour. All systems go! as brains would say.

I never thought of the wheel alignment causing the forks to bind, guess that's why I'm on a forum and I'm asking the questions. The bike has new tyres, exhaust etc, so it may be possible cause. Thanks again guys, it's on my list of things to check, feels likes I'm back with my FPO creating a list, but now I'm doing the bloody list making.

If my FPO has no other jobs for me this weekend I intend sorting out the A10. As always a full discription of my adventure will be posted afterwards..and if I feel able, pickies to be included.

Take care folks and keep it shiny sides up at all times...Andy

[Greybeard]

Priory Magnetos = Andrew Guttman = Beezermac on this forum; A highly respected chap!

[Topdad]

Ditto what Gb said ! Welcome and enjoy.    Re the poss of stripping the engine . Strange how our perspective changes with age (and poss deeper pockets ), ,around 1966 , we'd be given all manner of bikes ,all we'd do was check there was oil in the tank ( of some sort !!) and we'd be disappointed if the thing didn't go ,let alone started to bang a big end .We'd then proceed to razz the whatnots   :oof the poor beast ,we got away with this shabby treatment with huntmasters and a couple of A10's plus numerous AMC singles .The only ones that seemed to require better were the various AMC twins ,even with changing oil they seemed to implode with a rare monotany.
after my messed up year I'd suggest a few runs and strip the engine duringthe bleak mid winter which isn't to far off , either way enjoy .