What have you done with your bike/s today?

[madsens]

took the A10 for a ride - the first one since september 2022...
I had an issue with her being impossible to start, so I spent the winter trying all I could think of, checking sparks, fuel, compression and other things,  but no luck  .
In the end she got a refurbished magneto and a new carb - and she is now on the road again, now the clutch needs some attention... it never ends 

rgds Joergen

[Worty]

took the A10 for a ride - the first one since september 2022...
I had an issue with her being impossible to start, so I spent the winter trying all I could think of, checking sparks, fuel, compression and other things,  but no luck  .
In the end she got a refurbished magneto and a new carb - and she is now on the road again, now the clutch needs some attention... it never ends 

rgds Joergen

You're right about it never ending Joergen.   I had a new carb on the original rebuild and it was one of the best things I did.  Maggie was restored/replaced by an esteemed member of this Forum, also another one of the best things I did (apart from a new (other) ATD) supplied by another esteemed member of this Forum.

My pre-ride checks go something like this: check oil level and drain sump if it has wet sumped, check g'box and primary levels, check oil is returning, check tyre pressures and spin tyres round to make sure a big nail is not sticking out of one, check lights (work well sometimes, but I have a bad earth somewhere), quick look round to see if all the necessary nuts and bolts are there, check fuel in tank and off I go.  Of course, all this amounts to a 4am start on a ride day.

With the Kawasaki, I take it out the garage, press the button, and I'm off.  This necessitates a couple of checks the day before, as I know (unlike the Beeza), the Kwak won't decide to have an unprovoked issue overnight.

[RDfella]

Well, in the end I did do a bit on my bikes - helped my son move the rearsets on my hill-climb B31 further back as he found the riding position uncomfortable (he's 6' 4")
Trouble is, whilst turning a rod to link the gearbox lever to the foot lever, my lathe packed up (Holbrook B17). Sounds electrical, but the star-delta mechanism is a nightmare - it's a cast iron box about 2ft x 9 inches x 4 inches mounted on the rear of the lathe. And the lathe (as many are) is set against the wall, making access to said box almost impossible. I'll have to move the lathe out a bit - it's only three tons 
Pic is of the star-delta wiring diagram (it's all mechanical).

[CheeserBeezer]

Had to change the rear rim on the red A10 single seater due to it cracking around the spoke holes. I've always rebuilt my own rims ('always' means for the past forty years, never with any problems) but, on this occasion, cracks were starting to appear around the dimples. I'm going on a 700 mile trip Saturday to Wednesday and didn't want the back wheel flying apart. Previous rim was Wassells stainless and I've replaced lie-for-like but wondering if they're a bit flimsy so I've not tightened the spokes quite as much as usual. Will report back on Wednesday!!

[Sav]

Fettling the rocket for Isle of Man TT departure tomorrow, three weeks away.

My first and probably only visit to the TT

[BSA_54A10]

Well more so what I did not do today
The Zig Zag railway offically reopened today se the BSAMCC did a run up to the opening , Richmond to Clarence
The week had been very poor motorcycling weaher with icey cold winds , cloudy days & clear nights Brrrr
However the motorcycle gods smiled widely today as no wind, clear sky & Pommie "summer " sun
Found a fuel cap with a gasket in it and proceeded to get a fill up then ride the 65 km to the Richmond meeting point.
Now I had a cheapskate moment as I passed te localservo with unleaded @ $ 1.98 because it was $ 1.65 in Penrith last night.
So $ jaminsimtown I filled the tank confident that t wuld not leak from the fuel cap & I am pleaed to say it didn't
However a k down the road there was a steady stream exiting near the left side of the steering stem.
Seems that ths tank was not cheap kust becaue of the rubbish attempt to fil some dents & knackered fuel cap.
It seems to have 1 hole surplus to requirement
So on the best day for riding we have had in nearly a month it was back to the 4 wheeler , bummer .

[Worty]

Checked the oil levels on the GF ready for the next ride - interestingly, it did not wet sump this time.  The gearbox and primary oil leaks are still there, as is the mysterious l/h fork 'leak' (oil is there but the oil in the forks remains at quite a high level?).

Decided to helicoil the bearing carrier on the Skoda Octavia.  Went extremely well and was successful.  Got the pillar drill out and lined up the chuck with the hole by inserting a M9 tap into the chuck and making sure it screwed into the remaining threads on the carrier (turning by hand, of course).  Once the tap screwed in and out freely, in went the 9mm drill to clean the hole of the old threads (light oil to lubricate).  Then turned to the specialist drill - no problem.  Tapping out went well, but had to use a small socket and ratchet on the tap as there wasn't enough room for the handle.  Checked repeatedly to ensure tap was straight.  Helicoil went straight in, nice and snug.  Wanted to loctite it in so screwed it straight through the other side (they don't reverse).  Note to self - if helicoiling a blind hole, make sure the loctite is applied before insertion.  Very pleased with the outcome!

Shower tray is now glued down and solid as a rock.  Next is the surround, which will be a bugga as it needs assembling, with glass, prior to putting it on the tray - all this with very little room!

[CheeserBeezer]

Took the silver A10 to Ellesmere Port National Boat Museum where there was (allegedly) a 'Mods and Rockers' day. There were no signs up or marshalls indicating where to park and no obvious location for the bikes. Nobody said 'hello' or 'Thanks for coming'. The event was supposed to start at 10.00 a.m. Not sure what constituted an 'event' as absolutely nothing happened! Sorry to grumble but are we being used as a sideshow for the benefit of everybody else? I feel the same about 'Bike Nights'. One of our local pubs has a 'bike night' every Thursday which, I'm sure, boosts their drink sales massively.

[Worty]

Discovered a patch of oil under the sump plate when I went to the garage, so decided to investigate.  Oil was leaking past the gaskets - not surprised as they've been reused a number of times now.  Took sump off and reassembled BUT, as I was tightening the last of the stud nuts, it didn't tighten and continued to rotate *&^%$*&^% I thought

Turns out that the thread for that stud has stripped in the crankcases.  I know this because on removing the stud for examination, the threads were full of aluminium   They also had the remains of red loctite on them (RM
)
So, cleaned the stud thread, lathered it in loctite, and shoved it back in.  Did the nut up finger tight to allow for loctite to go off.  Secured the loose-ish nut with an R clip on the threads.  Interestingly though, I've cured the oil leak with three studs and two new gaskets

[berger]

worty nowt to do with me that one , have you found the big ends on the sump plate yet and have you done what i did today with betsy beezer and get it on full chat i had older chaps out for walkies in the sun turning to look what was coming a 1000 yards away and i was going that fast they could just see a blur as i past. those ally reverse cones are better than sx haha . my gf heard me coming home from 1/2 a mile away , she can't hear me on urma the yonda , don't know weather that's a good thing or a bad thing 

[Worty]

worty nowt to do with me that one , have you found the big ends on the sump plate yet and have you done what i did today with betsy beezer and get it on full chat i had older chaps out for walkies in the sun turning to look what was coming a 1000 yards away and i was going that fast they could just see a blur as i past. those ally reverse cones are better than sx haha . my gf heard me coming home from 1/2 a mile away , she can't hear me on urma the yonda , don't know weather that's a good thing or a bad thing 

Don't worry Bergs, I'm never going to attribute anything that goes wrong to yours and MWAS's work.   Bike has done 400m from rebuild and sounds sweet as nut.  No big ends or con rods on the gauze yet!  Just trying to get out and open it up a bit.  Sue always says that she knows I'm on the way back because I arrive a minute or two after she can hear me, but Kwaka is always stealth mode despite the megas.

As for the stud, I believe it's 1/4 Whit - I could tap out slightly larger to metric (apologies for mentioning metric), but given the state of the crankcases, it's a miracle it's on the road and working anyway. If I had a nicer example, I'd be more tempted to keep it standard.

I have metric taps to hand, and should be able to thread without drilling (aluminium??). Are the stud holes blind?  If so, would need a bottoming tap?

[berger]

worty you could just try a small paint brush petrol wash in the stud hole get it super clean and re fit the stud with super locky stuff or try arraldity stuff providing you let it set properly , or 7mm depending on the hole size now. the other option if there is enough ally is to go 5/16th and open up the sump plate if there is enough to take that size hole, but i have just looked at my spare cases and 2 of the holes will go to 5/16th the other 2 will not, and yes the holes are blind.

[Worty]

worty you could just try a small paint brush petrol wash in the stud hole get it super clean and re fit the stud with super locky stuff or try arraldity stuff providing you let it set properly , or 7mm depending on the hole size now. the other option if there is enough ally is to go 5/16th and open up the sump plate if there is enough to take that size hole, but i have just looked at my spare cases and 2 of the holes will go to 5/16th the other 2 will not, and yes the holes are blind.

Cheers mate, I'll have a look at the options and report back.  It's not leaking at all with three studs, so should be ok riding - right?!

[berger]

worty if not leaking just keep an eye on it, but to work on it and get a clear picture tank off and bike leaned over a lot so you can study it properly .

[berger]

well i did not go to the pub , i took betsy beezer out yesterday so today was urma the yondas turn and we blasted over the derbyshire hills and had a lovely time. the photo of the big rocks is curbar edge where my old mate ruffs ashes are blowing about after he got killed on a suki 1200 bandit i told him not to buy. o well i said hello as i rode past the rocks . rip ruffty  the other photos are beeley more and monsal head . have a nice day   hey BIG JIM i got rid of the FOG