Help - bike's gone bang!

[Worty]

Sorry duTch, too much ale!  Any tips on how to clean the slipring, or check its condition, or diagnose if it's that that's causing the problem?

[morris]

Take the brush off and have a peek in the hole. If there’s a carbon trace it should be visible and/or can be felt with your finger

[duTch]

 

Sorry duTch, too much ale! ......

      making me look good 

 

......... Any tips on how to clean the slipring, or check its condition, or diagnose if it's that that's causing the problem?

 A small round mirror and bright light is handy for close look; to clean I just use some metho on a rag and poke that in (one of) the pickup holes with a stiff middle finger- can be a bit fiddly... and crank it over *slowly* (lessens chance of a whack if no kill-switch) Do all the brushes also, not forgetting the Earth brush at drive end.

 Brake or Carby cleaner may work too, but unsure of compatibility with bits.

[chaterlea25]

Hi,
As Morris found out try starting the bike with one plug lead disconnected (the same happened to my bike some years ago )
Next,
I would check the timing, maybe the mag tufnol gear has failed?
Next,
Check the valve clearances, you might have sticky valves??
If the tank has sealer in it it can dissolve into the fuel and cause sticky valves What a PITA 
When you have the rocker covers off check with a suitable lever /screwdriver that the pressure to open each valve is the same ( I once got an A10 in with a very soft valve spring)

John

[duTch]

 You may or not also have another earth brush behind the points plate (CB Plate), my magneto has both but I'm not sure if they all do.

 Just remembered when my maggie died last year, it fired up fine as normal to go to work, then cut out one side but came back intermittently but finally died completely after 1 or 2 Km's ( 'dead' = burned windings & dud condensors)

[Worty]

Morning all, up bright and early to start investigating. 

Thanks for all your suggestions - really helpful!!  I suppose that the method of starting with the simplest is the way forward.  Just a PITA that it's just before a half decent week of weather in the UK (rare) when we could be hitting 20C (heatwave).

To my chagrin, I have to confess (duTch) that my terminology and knowledge isn't as good as all yours when it comes to Brit bikes (slipring gaffe), as this is really the first one I've owned apart from a brief flirtation with a B31.  As a kid, it was all 70s and 80s japanese bikes apart from a 1959 R60 BMW which was found in a chicken shed and restored by myself. 

A good soaking in ale complicates things even further.

Thanks for you patience!

[duTch]

 hmmm....not sure what to make of that ^^ I try not to do doubledutch, but sometimes it just happens   let me know which bits are messing you up ??

 PS ;

..while you down there...nah just jokes....get up and face the day....

[Worty]

You posted a  when I mentioned putting a dab of oil on the slipring.  What I was getting confused with was the ring where the points sit (the ring with raised bits to open the points).  There, you can see how thick I am.  Was hoping to avoid some of the humiliation but your saucy comment has helped dash any hope I had of that.

[bsa-bill]

Was hoping to avoid some of the humiliation

Like many here I've spent 74 years trying to avoid humiliating myself, not quite there yet but getting a tad better .
No worries it's all worth it when you get out and about on an A and see the admiring glances, oh and that would be the camring

[Worty]

Thanks Bill, my mental health has now improved after that nasty-wasty wikked duTch said howwible fings.

Camring - of course - after drowning my sorrows with copious amounts of Tetley's Smoothflow, my brain departed to Never Never Land.

You're right about getting out on the A. Only told wifey I'd be going for a quick jaunt to blow the cobwebs off and ended up all over the Peaks (down Woodhead Pass and back across Snake Pass) - absolutely brilliant!

Just to complete my humiliation, by the way, I broke down about a mile from home.  Knowing Mr Breakdown wouldn't recover me so close to home, I pushed the (Better Shoved Along) back home - damn near killed me especially as some of it is uphill.   It was also at the warmest bit of the day in T-shirt, fleece and jacket, so I was dripping when I got in.  I'm sure I saw a few grins as I pushed it forlornly through the town centre.  At one point, a guy came out of his house and helped me - probably though it was that or an ambulance.   The joys of owning a Beezer eh.

[duTch]

 Above all- *don't* panic...we here to help each other......and have fun
   

.....when I mentioned putting a dab of oil on the slipring.  What I was getting confused with was the ring where the points sit (the ring with raised bits to open the points)........

  Had a feeling th's what you meant, as B-Bill says it's the 'Cam-ring' that opens the points, the Slip-ring is under the pickups at the other end of the plug leads from    yep the spark plugs

 

Quote.... Was hoping to avoid some of the humiliation ...

 I'm a bit different in that I guess I make a point of self-humiliation and get in first to steal the thunder of those that like to burn others... then it's all skyward...

A bit off topic, but it's often difficult to determine where each of us is at, because not just here, but in the big world we're all encouraged to 'sell' ourselves as big as possible; like with resumes/CV's, we're expected to embellish the facts with bullshit- I don't come at that at all....feel free to tell it like it is. I stuff up a bit most days ('no-not that left, the other left')

edit-rounded me up...
 

Thanks Bill, my mental health has now improved after that nasty-wasty wikked duTch said howwible fings.    

 Ok daffy- dat gave me a belly good belly laff  ... too bad I just ran out of 
 

[jachenbach]

Best to systematically troubleshoot. You say compression "seems good"? Check it and know for sure. If good, move on to ignition timing, spark quality etc. Finally carburetion. Going helter skelter from this to that is generally time wasted. I'm not saying not to check the obvious first. I've had bikes brought in to the shop due to being out of gas! All the above suggestions are possibilities, and I agree that ignition is the most common ailment on most any engines I've ever worked on, but diagnosis is a process best done in a linear fashion.

[Triton Thrasher]

Clean the points.  Check the points gap and the ignition timing. 

Do it now!


Yes, clean the slip ring.  It is not the cam ring.

[duTch]

 ...and don't forget that some symptoms that suggest a fuel/carby thing often turn out to be ignition...conversely things that (do I need to say it?)...show symptoms of Ignition related turn out to be fuel/carby issues

[Worty]

It's ok duTch, I'm with you with the bull&^%$ thing. When it comes to the world and all the carp in it, I'd rather be on the bike giving a metaphorical two fingers to all the nanny-state, snowflaky, pc, brigade that blindly follow all the other sheep in believing what they're told. Don't worry (sure you won't mate), I work in a secondary school with teenagers with behavioural issues - you soon grow a very thick skin very quickly!

RIGHT - have checked the SLIPRING and a curious thing happened.  As I did what was suggested and put a clean rag with meths on to clean it with my finger (did have a bit of carbon deposit on), turning the rear wheel in fourth no plugs, I found I could actually STOP the slipring from turning just with my finger in the hole (easy duTch).  There was also a bit of vibration which felt like a gear wasn't engaging properly (like when your bike chain used to come off or you've not engaged a gear fully).  I'm pretty sure this shouldn't happen as the slipring needs to be turning constantly.  I'm also guessing that if I've stripped something and it's not turning properly, all my timing will be out as well.

If I'm right, does sound a bit like a s**t load of money to get something rebuilt.  I tried to include some photos of the slipring which also shows what looks like a bit of a chunk out of the right hand side?  Files are too big to upload apparently??