What have you done with your bike/s today?

[RogerSB]

Bill, my first thought was ideal to fit one in each of LE's leg shields - but then quickly realised  will be 12v.
At that unobtrusive size and price - excellent.

  That scene looks familiar.

Rog.

[groily]

Yup - the Bright Eyes are 12v only afaik Rog.
The ones I've got are + earth . . . and I checked, they don't like it up 'em t'other way. You need the right polarity and I don't think they'd be any good at 6v.
 
The more modern BPF LED h/lamp substitutes I'm also using are 'either polarity any voltage' and they do seem better than the versions with a single diode 'top and bottom'.
The Qs will be: 'Do they last?'and 'Can they illuminate the highway better by night?', on which the jury's out so far.  At the price per unit, I hope so. Winter will tell, and if not happy, I'm very attached to my old Cibié units with tungsten/halogens in.

My LE Velo seems to be doing very well with its new LED for the headlight though - brighter than the 24/24W standard globe anyway. What could be dimmer???

Familiar scene? I do hope so. I hate change, even if it is 'the only constant' they say.

[berger]

wow cool front mudguard bracket i bet you could lift the whole bike with that Bill

[Worty]

wow cool front mudguard bracket i bet you could lift the whole bike with that Bill

Check it out here Bergs: www.bikebullbar.com

[RogerSB]

Qs will be: 'Do they last?'and 'Can they illuminate the highway better by night?', on which the jury's out so far. 

10 bulbs on my combo, 9 LEDs of varying wattage and a BPF Quartz Halogen 35/35W for headlight - all from Goffy, all have lasted a few years, so quality must have been ok. I believe LEDs are supposed to last longer than incandescent bulbs.

I stuck with BPF for headlight as a few years ago the general consensus was that LEDs didn't projected a very good beam pattern for actually seeing where you were going and being very bright were in danger of blinding oncoming traffic. At the time, for me it was stick with what I was sure of for headlight.

Also there was some doubt then as to whether fitting an LED to a headlight was actually legal in the UK and would be an MOT failure - unless originally manufactured with LEDs. I've read somewhere since that the law changed in 2021 and now it's ok - providing it conforms to the legal requirements such as the ones specifically produced to replace BPF.

Have a good trip Bill.

Rog.

[groily]

wow cool front mudguard bracket i bet you could lift the whole bike with that Bill

Ha! There's a story there - a boring one though  Bergs. Bear with me if you will!
Bike was a dirt cheap bitza, with a modded 10+:1, twin concentrics & dangerously overbored to 610cc G9 500cc motor in it, but it came with the original (seriously big time broken, rods and cases) 650. And it went like a bat out of hell at a regular 7000rpm with the silly G9 engine in. Until when I had it apart for a look-see I saw how silly it all was.
But it had fibreglass 'guards. Yuk. 
I don't like any AMC 'guards a whole lot, steel or other, apart from the alloy jobs on CSRs as what I had on my P11. 
Anyway, another bloke in the owners' club needed some 'guards and was prepared to fit the plastics for a bit, as steel are pricey and hard to find - as with beesas. So I gave them to him and bought some cheap fit-anything ss blades.
OK so far? 
But when fitted, the front end of the front 'guard vibrated. It hummed as you went along, something like strumming a bass guitar maybe.
Now, AMC forks come in various types according to year, spec etc. Mine, on this bike, don't have any cast  lugs for a forward-mounted stay, just the ones for a rear-facer low down.
So I made some brackets out of handy (s)crap and attached them under the nuts on the studs for the axle clamps.
Then, had to figure how to attach to blade.
So, a bit more ss.
You know those strips you buy for joining bits of carpet together  . . .? Well, there was one of them knocking about, so I thought I'd repurpose  it. Supported by a couple of bits of bar, bit o' threading, some ss domed nuts, bit of bendying of the ss, and there you go. No vibes, all good. And quite shiny even, not that I care about that too much.

So now it's 'matching numbers' (who the hell cares?) after spending a fortune on crankcase welding, and on every oily bit you can think of (seriously, every single bit, including a brand new crankshaft and Thunder rods) but is still a scruffy unrestored daily rider which makes it OK for people like me.
I call it the 'Farmyard Special', and there's a ss plaque on the oil tank saying as much.

It's actually a CSR-spec 8.5:1 (dynamo) 650 motor in a standard M31  frame, it has run non-stop since I converted it from dangerously-overbored 500 back in 2013, and has been thrashed more than I ever dared push my A10 or would risk pushing my Notrun. I am stupidly fond of it.
An 'ugly duckling wot works' Bergs, is what it is. Which it's gonna need to next week, as she'll be running with old mates on Commandos, a Trident, and a R100 something beemer for 1000 miles in quite demanding conditions. (Luckily, I have a spare brand-spanking new crank and more Thunder rods in a box  . . . hope I don't need them!)

[WozzA]

I pulled the covers off the '57 after 6 months hibernation...  drained over 2 ltrs of oil from the sump, gave her a tickle & she fired up 1st kick..       I let her warm up for 10 minutes.  drained the oil & replaced with new...  burnt my hand & arm on the exhaust   , shut her down & gave the rocker box bolts & nuts a bit of a twitch up hoping to remedy a weep...       Roll on the good Spring & Summer weather..    

[muskrat]

G'day Woz.
Now you have to re-set the tappets Any tweak of the rockerbox bolts will close up the tappets 
Don't you love that 1st kick start after hibernation?
Cheers

[Worty]

Right, put the new primary on today and I have a question:

I pushed the gearbox forward as far as it would go, loosened the rear wheel and pushed it forward.  Found out the primary was way too long - must be around 72 links as I had to remove two links (plates were attached but I think it counts as two links.  The chain was still a bit long, but I was reluctant to take out any more links for fear of making it a bit too short.  However, both the primary and final drive chains are near the limits of their adjustments.  There is a bit left, and the chains are tensioned correctly.  I'm reckoning on running it until the primary needs adjusting again and then take out another link and push the gearbox forward as far as it will go (this will also take care of the final drive chain adjustment).  Final drive has done about 11,000m, and seems ok - is it prudent to knock a couple of links out of that to take it away from max adjustment?

Oh, and can anyone recommend a good link extractor or similar.  My Chinese rubbish just bent when I applied pressure - had to use a bit of ingenuity to get the rivets out in the end.

What d'you reckon folks, does this sound about right?

[RDfella]

Sounds like it's about time to check the chain (and sprockets) for wear. Seeing how far the chain bends @ 90* is a fairly reliable indicator.

[Worty]

Sounds like it's about time to check the chain (and sprockets) for wear. Seeing how far the chain bends @ 90* is a fairly reliable indicator.

Sprockets are fine, RD, final chain a little worn, but the primary is brand new with a very good engine sprocket and a bit of of worn chainwheel.

[berger]

a good link extractor is in my garage you can have it , well two of them BUT the best one is called an angle grinder with a cutting disc on  [ oh no i hear people cry you shouldn't do that !! ] and gently shave down the rivet flush with the plate then support the chain very well get a very good small punch and knock it out , never failed for me.

[berger]

yesterday i drained betsy  gearbox oil and went to buy some bronze bearing friendly oil from a supplier i have used for donkeys years picking up 5 gallon drums of straight 50 and strapping them to the bike back in the day all the way to collecting them in the van years later.  i got into their posh reception [ big 4 wheel monsters outside being charged up with their snaking electric leads ] to be told all there oil products have been shipped out to a new supplier called spectrum. all they do now is send it out once sorted and don't sell to the public anymore. they said this was to let them get on with the job HAHAHA!! of sorting the oil and not having the added pressure of dealing with lots of customers.  [ going forward in these exciting and diverse times making PROGRESS!!!! ]  the chap i spoke to gave me a leaflet for the oil i needed and on it was a one litre or a 4 litre option of gear oil for old machines like ours. i went to spectrum and gave them the leaflet only to be told they don't have it. they phoned aztec oils and asked about this oil and aztec told them they would only supply it in 4lts even though they have the picture of a one ltr on the page!!!! meaning spectrum would not buy 4 ltrs unless i bought 4 ltrs. long story short i have bought the same spec oil in a 4ltre drum off ebay because i was MADDER THAN  McMADD about this total rat sht that happens again and AGAIN!!  saving about 5pounds from spectrums price. talk about the middle man! apart from that i took urma the yonda for a blast because she told me she felt neglected seeing betsy go out so much. thankyou for listening have a nice day, i have because i did not go to the pub       BUT i am tomorrow

[Worty]

a good link extractor is in my garage you can have it , well two of them BUT the best one is called an angle grinder with a cutting disc on  [ oh no i hear people cry you shouldn't do that !! ] and gently shave down the rivet flush with the plate then support the chain very well get a very good small punch and knock it out , never failed for me.

Cheers Bergs, wouldn't presume to have it without beer tokens mate.  However, I like the angle grinder technique (don't have a problem with alternative ways of doing stuff if the end result is the same).  I reckon I could take another link out and all would be good, but I didn't want to shorten it to a point where I was at the max adjustment the other way round.  I reckon as long as the chains are at the right tension with a bit of adjustment left, that should be ok.

Clutch went back on ok, and looks pretty straight too (not much run out).  The chainwheel also looks decent with my shaft key 'fix'.  Next will be to get the primary cover on, maybe check timing side to see if all is good in there, check sump and fix the oil p1$$ing out of the gasket, maybe fix the fuel tap leak and then totally ignore the l/h fork seal leak.  I'll then kick it it up and go for a run somewhere - maybe to yours Bergs for a cup o' char.

[Worty]

Bergs, just buy 20l of 10w/40 for £38 of Fleabay and be done with it.