What have you done with your bike/s today?

[Colsbeeza]

Berger, Some days were meant to just stay in bed.
Col

[berger]

colsbeeza today was about the same, i made 4 brackets for the led indicators i had given to me for betsy 2 and found out i had wired the  bike +ve earth  with led'lights front and back so i tried the indicators but they were -ve earth . i pondered on buying some more indicators for +ve earth [ expensive and would spoil my black&tan purchase or i would fail on the council tax  ]  until i found out the bulbs i had fitted front and back worked both ways . then for some reason i started a search for positive earth indicators . WHY?  so i have changed the battery terminal wires over and luckily i had left enough wire to do this and now i just need a flasher unit and maybe a switch , this has to be investigated with the switch i put on the bike to see if it works because i bought it cheap and remember one bit for full beam didn't work [ chinesium  ] that someone else had bought and maybe found  a problem and shoved it on evilbay. i promise the bar wasn't open when my brain cell went awol but it is now. thankyou for listening have a nice day and if i don't go to the pub tomorrow i will be confusing myself with the wiring and the switch, but not using battery power just continuity to be safe.   bar is now open.

[CheeserBeezer]

Just sold two of my bikes to make way for the next project. I've sold my very original Super Rocket and my silver single seater. Both good bikes and sorry to see them go as they were my 'go-to-any-weather' bikes. I've still got one wet weather bike and I haven't made my mind up what the next project is going to be, though it will have a B31 frame and an A10 engine.

[berger]

urma yonda goes tomorrow and i am a bit sad     but in the long run it will be a blessing even though i have lost my pants on it  . two bikes and christine the possessed van is enough for me to contend with. today i started to sort out the wiring for betsy2's indicators so the yoooof of today know where i am going. now waiting for the flasher [ female i hope ] to arrive and some shrink wrap to put on my head and squeeze that last brain cell into action . bar is now open i can tell  thankyou for listening have a nice day and i might even visit the pub tomorrow --- not been for a couple of weeks , doing things keeps me out of the pub, can't wait to buy the three garages in a row behind the house so i can turn them into boat people abodes and become a capitalist 5 garage owner whooopeee

[Worty]

You could turn them into the triple B - Bergs's Biker Bar.  Open every day you feel like a B&T, or just open every day

[Colsbeeza]

It is many months since I worked on the Flash. It has been off the road for more than 8 months. The Lilac overtook it in the meantime. The electric starter had stopped working in 2024 and at about that time a clunky rattle happened twice. I dismantled the chaincase, timing case, rocker cover in search of an elusive foreign body, all to no avail. I decided to get the new battery tested and yep - a massive fail. Fitted the new SSB battery today, pressed the button and BINGO it fired up perfectly. The nacelle had a severe vibrating shudder, and I found one of the 4 bolts had disappeared. Fixed that up and will finish the forks tomorrow. Col

[RichardL]

So nice when annoyances that threaten massive time investments are easily resolved.

Richard L.

[a101960]

I decided to get the new battery tested and yep - a massive fail. Fitted the new SSB battery today, pressed the button and BINGO it fired up perfectly.

Yeah, the battery integrity is crucial. Anything less than a fully charged healthy battery and it wont start in my experience

[Worty]

160m on the GF today!  Good news is no clutch slip after tightening me nuts

Bad news is that I got to the bottom of the M1 slip road at my junction, pulled the clutch in and found .......... no clutch

Pushed bike to the side of the road and took out the spare cable I had with me, plus a screw clamp nipple (as per CB's suggestion) to get me home (6m away).  Found that the inner cable had snapped, so threaded the new one through ........ but it didn't come out the other side!!!  Found out that the outer cable had sheared through and the inner cable was protruding out of the underside of the engine!

With the help of a passing, friendly biker, we managed to cobble together the two severed parts of the outer cable and run the new cable through it using the clamp nipple - it worked.  Well, got some way up the road and it slipped off.  Ended up on the pedestrian refuge near a very busy roundabout.  When I'd reattached it, the bike was a pig to start again (plugs, points??).  Anyhow, got it going and made it home.

Methinks I may have routed the clutch cable incorrectly (too close to the chain).  I'd forgotten there was a hole in the l/h engine plate which I think is for the clutch cable and I think I'd used that before.  On this occasion, I'd run the cable under the engine plate, which brough it nearer the chain.  In any event, the inner and outer cable are complete toast.

On both recent occasions when I've gone out on the GF, the initial start up is the same.  I get the bike out, all ready to go, all my gear on, bike won't start after 10 kicks.  Take off all my gear, bike starts first time

It also cut out at a junction - pulled up, bike 'popped' once then stopped.  Started again a couple of minutes later first kick??

Eventful day, very good ride, bike excellent apart from clutch.

[Colsbeeza]

Took the Flash for a Club run this morning for its first outing since Nov 2024. It went like stink except for a little clutch slip. it was warmish 30 deg but comfortable. And the electric start worked a treat. Quite happy

[CheeserBeezer]

Made a start on the next project. Fitted the timing side bush and reamed it out to a snug fit, though haven't fitted the crank on the inside yet. Probably another half a day's work to finish the bush and set the endfloat.

[berger]

 it is not lively tonight so i will tell you this, i did not go to the pub but after sitting on betsy 2 i decided to try and start her. she was not playing and only a hidden force knows why ,  after growing octopus arms i managed to get my fingers to play with the air flow while trying to keep her firing. i will tell you now after kicking that beast over with straight 50 oil it was a difficult procedure even with the yonda longer legger helping.  to my surprise once i had her under my spell i had turned the air screw in one full turn to make her tickover and respond to my now very long octopus arms on the twist grip and screwdriver . then i fired up betsy  4th kick so what happened to betsy 2 because betsy has been stood longer .. so the conclusion was to open the bar and get some black&tan down me and think. so i did and my explanation is i have not got a freaking clue. thankyou for listening have a nice day episode two will follow i'm sure. ps my cat is snoring bless him. 

[Black Sheep]

After much pondering I installed an anti-sumping valve on my B31. Not too awkward a job after all and it works. So a full oil change was done as part of the deal. Quite pleased with myself.
Took the 1913 Douglas for a test run after the engine rebuild. Not good with partial seizures. Photos of scuffed pistons have been sent to the engineer. Damn.

[groily]

Took the 1913 Douglas for a test run after the engine rebuild. Not good with partial seizures. Photos of scuffed pistons have been sent to the engineer. Damn.

What a real disappointment BS after all that work.
Will the pistons (and bores) polish up do you think or are they scored / smeared in areas that really matter? I don't suppose they are bits that grow on trees either.
Here's hoping a polish and a hone will get her running OK again  . . . .
Good luck!
 

[CheeserBeezer]

Working on the 2026 project and fettling the crankshaft. I've decided that the pattern sludge trap tubes are crap as they have swaged ends so don't make a seal against the nose of the extended plug. To make the sludge trap work you need to skim the end and centre bore it to make it smooth and flat, then it is necessary to machine the extended nose of the plug to suit. Both parts come from the same supplier so it's just lazy, and shows what they think of their customers, to supply critical components which are incompatible with each other. I used an original tube and repaired the end where it had been damaged.