What have you done with your bike/s today?

[berger]

not done much today only a bit of leak mending on a mates hot water sink tap where it was leaking under the back of the sink, he used to have gravity fed hot water and now he has a combi boiler the pressure must be up a bit and it found the weak spot, i couldn't get the tap spanner thing up there to tighten the nut so struggled with an adjustable but jobs a good en. then i took betsy's dynamo to MWAS to test on his mega for insulation , resistance and other things i don't understand , then we spun it up with a pully in the lathering tool and a v belt with me holding it, good news is it is chucking out 13 to 14 v at slowish rpm so my belt having seen better days looks like it was the problem. i will have it back on tomorrow now opening the bar thankyou for listening have a nice day 

[muskrat]

G'day Fellas.
Today I had a small job for a friend. Made a joining rod for his new quick shifter. 6mm ss rod 100mm long with right hand thread on one end and left hand thread on the other. I cheated and got a 6 x 100 allen head bolt, cut the head off and left threaded it.
While he was here he was admiring the Cafe, he is an old racer as well. I told him about the trouble I am having with one of the carbs. We spoke about it for a while and I thought I'd fire her up. Thinking she might not want to play I tickled both carbs, 1/8 throttle and an almighty boot. She roared into life and nearly blew him out the door. Embarrassment avoided 
Cheers

[berger]

musking rat because i'm not a real plumber or lathering tool man how many times did you pass over the bolt to cut the thread or did you centre drill it and rip into it with a hard tool ,,,,,, like me i'm a ard tool  now where's my black & tan gone 

[muskrat]

G'day Bergs.
I cheated and used a die. The button die I had is only 3/4" od so I made a bush to fit it in my 1" die holder.
Cheers

[berger]

i see musky you chicken i would have wrecked it trying to screw cut it then asked MWAS to do it , so did you end up with a bit like this for the gear lever.

[berger]

dynamo on with new belt and jobs a gudden , went for a blast with my old mate who sold me betsy-- he has had to swap his modern triumph for a hondamatic thingy because he now struggles to pull the clutch lever on a modern fluid clutch , he would never have coped with my old 6 spring once it was set up to get neutral on tick over and no slip when i made her have it , i made her have it today with the 4 spring trumpet clutch 6500rpm in second with him behind me and he loved it. now opening the bar , thankyou for listening have a nice day 

[muskrat]

G'day Bergs.
Yes very similar, all nice polished stainless.
Nothing on the bikes the last few days. I've been making the trophy's for the Winter Rally in a few weeks.
Cheers

[Roger (Doomtrainbarx)]

Had a decent run out today on the SR, mainly to assess the recent fitment of a 23 tooth engine sprocket.
What a difference in riding pleasure - cruising between 60 and 70 mph and just 3000 to 3300 rpm - don't know why I didn't change the sprocket years ago. !! - definitely recommended, and no noticeable difference in cranking speed on the kicker when starting.

[berger]

went out on betsy 2 and not a happy bunny investigation needed on a rainy few days the head is sounding like metal on metal and i'm thinking a set of big tappet gaps , the high lift cam shoving the rockers against the springs hard then them bashing against the other side or a loose valve guide . i have opened the bar to ponder and wait for the rain  there's always something 

[berger]

all the troubles i have put up with on brit bikes since the 1970's because my old mates [ deceased leon who i built this along with two other dedded mates in their memory  ]   saying was " japanese crap!!!"  i wish i had bought a japanese bike . whoops i forgot i did , honda 90 sports yam yg1 80 kwacker 250 tripple and urma 750 yonda fz . if it has t*ts or wheels it will always give you trouble but don't we just love putting the spanners on  these old girls ,,,,,, sometimes 

[BagONails]

Oh dear sorry to hear that Bergs after all your hard work. Hopefully something minor and top endish...

[Worty]

all the troubles i have put up with on brit bikes since the 1970's because my old mates [ deceased leon who i built this along with two other dedded mates in their memory  ]   saying was " japanese crap!!!"  i wish i had bought a japanese bike . whoops i forgot i did , honda 90 sports yam yg1 80 kwacker 250 tripple and urma 750 yonda fz . if it has t*ts or wheels it will always give you trouble but don't we just love putting the spanners on  these old girls ,,,,,, sometimes 

TBH Bergs, I see the GF as an engineering and maintenance project with a ride out being a bonus!

OTOH, the Kwaka is a 'kick the tyres and ride' machine.  Pretty much guaranteed to get you anywhere, anytime, comfortably, enjoyably and (sometimes) rapidly.

I certainly don't regard any of my Japanese bikes as crap.  Non of the bikes I had suffered any significant fault (except the XS750 which seized the middle cylinder due to the oil holes being too small), neither did the BMW.  For example, the Yam YB100 I had as a rural delivery vehicle did 20,000 miles per year, had no bearing failures, engine issues, gearbox issues, leaks, etc, etc.  I think it was at around 40,000 it had to have a rebore as a lip had formed on the barrel and the rings were shot.  All this was constant stop/start, and I never even had a broken control cable.

[berger]

panic over no loose guides but tappet clearance was a tad wide , now i think the tappetty noise is traveling up easily because the coffin tank doesn't cover much area , the old beeza tanks hang down and betsys yonda tank overlaps a bit so i'm thinking a bit of sound proof under the tank or EAR PLUGS!!

[Black Sheep]

Had to deliver a Douglas engine to an engineer over in Seil Island. 300 mile round trip, set off at 07:15, got home at 17:15. A cracking day out. The keen eyed amongst you might recognise the cafe.

[Joolstacho]

That'd be a nice strong rear rack mate. Excellent.