What have you done with your bike/s today?

[Greybeard]

I took my modern on the VMCC, (Vintage MotorCycle Club) Three Counties run yesterday. The ride covered parts of Warwickshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire.
Although the qualifying age of motorcycles for the VMCC is anything greater than 25 years*, the branch secretary gave me permission to bring the new bike. I had a lot of, possibly polite, interest in my bike and some scowls.

The new BSA, (there, I've said it) is still running in so may be stiff but is noticeably less flexible about which gear you are in than my low comp A10. The new bike requires me to be in the right gear for the road speed. When coming into a 30 mph area it's no good leaving the bike in fifth;  if I do not change into fourth or even third, it starts to chunter. Riding in convoy with slow moving motorbikes I spent a lot of time changing gear;  not so bad when I was on my own riding home as I just had to anticipate bends and speed limits.
The bike is very nice to ride; it has oodles of power. I accelerated away from traffic lights a bit enthusiastically and briefly lifted the front wheel 😣. The brakes are disks so excellent. The riding position is upright so the visibility is good.



*A VMCC ride out is strange because you will see a 1980's Honda riding beside a flat tank pioneer.

[orabanda]

I drill the spindle out with 3/8" drill, then pack with three off o-rings.
Then make a brass retaining bush which is short enough to provide required end clearance for the o-ring stack.
No leaks anymore.
I will find my sketch & post sometime soon.
BSAeeing you,
Richard

[Black Sheep]

VMCC rides can be painful. I was on one recently where we bumbled along at 30 mph. That was slow, even for the B31. Earlier this week, I was on the same B31 in a funeral procession. The only difference was that I was in a line of cars this time.
I'm not keen on riding in crocodile fashion. At least the ride home is a bit more fun... 

[Worty]

VMCC rides can be painful. I was on one recently where we bumbled along at 30 mph. That was slow, even for the B31. Earlier this week, I was on the same B31 in a funeral procession. The only difference was that I was in a line of cars this time.
I'm not keen on riding in crocodile fashion. At least the ride home is a bit more fun...

TBH, BS, I don't like riding in groups, all my concentration is on what everyone else is doing and doesn't make for an enjoyable or relaxing ride.  I also think it can be a bit dangerous in terms of keeping up or slowing down all the while, and trying to stay together with other riders - prefer the 'lone wolf' approach myself.

[JulianS]

This is the later drive shaft which takes the rather flimsy O ring, the bush had a square section rubber ring in the groove though BSA later changed it to a conventional O ring.

[KiwiGF]

I took my modern on the VMCC, (Vintage MotorCycle Club) Three Counties run yesterday. The ride covered parts of Warwickshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire.
Although the qualifying age of motorcycles for the VMCC is anything greater than 25 years*, the branch secretary gave me permission to bring the new bike. I had a lot of, possibly polite, interest in my bike and some scowls.

The new BSA, (there, I've said it) is still running in so may be stiff but is noticeably less flexible about which gear you are in than my low comp A10. The new bike requires me to be in the right gear for the road speed. When coming into a 30 mph area it's no good leaving the bike in fifth;  if I do not change into fourth or even third, it starts to chunter. Riding in convoy with slow moving motorbikes I spent a lot of time changing gear;  not so bad when I was on my own riding home as I just had to anticipate bends and speed limits.
The bike is very nice to ride; it has oodles of power. I accelerated away from traffic lights a bit enthusiastically and briefly lifted the front wheel 😣. The brakes are disks so excellent. The riding position is upright so the visibility is good.



*A VMCC ride out is strange because you will see a 1980's Honda riding beside a flat tank pioneer.

“Chuntering” in top gear is def a problem with many moderns, on most the root cause is simply that top gear is “high” due to the top speed of the bike eg a modern geared for 140 mph at 9000 rpm is NOT going to be happy doing less than 2000rpm at 30mph (especially if its a twin). If top is high then due to the 5 or 6 speed box then the gear down will be high as well.

Of all the moderns I have owned the 1800 gold wing requires the least gear changes (6 cylinders with redline at 5500rpm, 115hp, 60mpg) a truly amazing engine (and associated weight penalty), the second most “flexible” was a 675 Triumph (3 cyls) somewhat surprising that but it has a flat torque curve from a bit over 2000 rpm to over 12000rpm. The worst was a 1400 v twin suzuki (harley lookalike) which did not like revving and also did not like going much below 2500 rpm (max power at 5000rpm) so one was constantly changing gear to keep it at an rpm where it was happy, pretty awful to ride really, especially on hilly and/or tricky twisty roads and surprising given the laid back cruiser image those sorts of bikes have.

My 3 BSA’s are “flexible” even the B44, a real pleasure to ride around town or slow tricky roads, bit buzzy at 100k as they are geared low….which helps with the flexibility of course.

So, your comments are interesting to me, flexibility in higher gears is something I would definitely be looking for in any new bike I would look at buying. I am toying with trading my ktm 950 for a new ktm 390 adv  single, as its much lighter. The 390 ktm is made in india!

[Worty]

The Kwaka is pretty good generally.  Doesn't like top gear around town, but doesn't need it anyway.  Very good, forgiving motor if you get it a bit wrong - decent all round for a modern.

[Sav]

Loading the A10SR and kit into the T5 today, and two for others on the trailer, off to VMCC Cheddar first thing in the morning.

Picking up some of the smelliest cheese going, Fiery Fred, from Batch Farms on the way to stink the caravan out, they're going to love it!

[muskrat]

G'day Fellas.
The nice new paint job on the Cafe had a few bubbles All was good till I put fuel in it. Must have had a few porous spots that caused it. So tank off and covered with water based paint stripper as I cant used the good toxic stuff on fiberglass. The green paint peeled off with the help of a heat gun. Bl@@dy greenie stuff will take days. Once the 10 coats of spray bog and filler is off I'll re-fill and under coat (the red bits are the gel coat). Then I'll line the tank with Caswell and start again. Failing that I've bookmarked a steel Lyta tank.
Wish me luck.
Cheers

[RDfella]

Musky - can't you sand it back until you're into decent grp and then apply a couple of layers of csm before a light sand & fill / paint?

[muskrat]

G'day RD.
When it comes to paint I'm a 5 year old. I hate it with a passion. I'd rather work on bergers van grp csm
1st round of stripper done. Might get away with another one or two in the morning.
Cheers

[RogerSB]

Here's a strange one:-

I changed my GF's primary chain oil today. Old oil was fairly clean but it didn't seem that much. Not wholly unexpected because I've had a few drips of oil from the combined drain/level plug since fitting a new one a year ago. I poured in 225 c.c. of SAE 20 leaving the level half of the plug out for it to indicate the correct level has been reached. It ran out for quite while before just dripping, which I thought a bit strange, as I expected it to start dripping fairly quick.  When I measured the oil that had run out it was nearly 100 c.c. So leaving only about 125 c.c. in the chain case  .

I've come to the conclusion it must be the thick wax like coating of preservative that was on the new IWIS chain when I fitted it in Jan 2020 that has washed out of the chain and settled in the bottom of the chain case with the oil now sitting on top. I’m not too worried about that because the primary chain only skims the top of the oil on each revolution anyway and it hasn’t affected the clutch in any way in over 3 years.

I've always washed the preservative out of new chains previously but I know I didn't with this one, I remember thinking at the time that IWIS would put good quality preservative on their chains and it may help with lubricating it.

I can't remember exactly, but when I fitted the new drain/level plug a year ago and if I then relied on the level plug to tell me when the correct amount of oil was in the chain case that would explain why not a lot drained out.

This time I've tried a Dowty washer on the drain plug, so It'll be interesting to see if it stops the drips.

Rog.

[Worty]

I've got a similar story the other way round.  Put in 225cc and nothing came out the level plug.  Added quite a lot more before it did come out, then dripped for ages??  When I checked, oil seemed about right - and no clutch slip??

I too have a drip, which I'm pretty sure is the drain plug. Will try a Dowty next time.

[Greybeard]

Feckin useless domestic paint stripper 😡

[chaterlea25]

Hi All,
I would go with the quantity of oil rather than the level plug.  The reason being I have seen the tube on the level plug several different heights,
I think even the 2mm thickness of the dowty washer would make quite a difference?
As I have an electric starter on my SR I wondered if the normal level would provide  enough for the starter gears that run constantly??
As I have a decent seal setup behind the clutch and a breather on the filler cap I added another "dollop" of oil , then I could see oil being thrown up around the mechanism..

John