Time takes its toll, yes, but in some ways is also a healer! The picture above is a ‘before’ and with a bit of time and hopefully not too much money, something better will definitely become of it

I am beginning agonisingly slowly to put some workshop equipment together again for my various projects. Drill press and Myford longbed lathe with gearbox and a load of accessories, including Capstan and (small!) milling capability; bandsaw, bench-grinder, polisher, small lever-arm press and the usual collection of hand- and machine-tools, measuring and thread-cutting tools are nearly complete. Loads of good spanners of all types, Allen keys, screwdrivers and -bits, pretty much complete hand-tool setup for woodwork and patternmaking. Just need a few pullers and such, just waiting for the lathe to be up and running (the cellar is very small and needs a complete rework to make space to work in) so that I can start making stuff like bushes and screws, nuts and bolts.

No space to work on a complete bike, so will have to make do with a bit of pattern-making and working on engines and their refurbishment.

I have a new area and ‘learning curve’ in the form of smaller prewar J.A.P. engines – up to 250cc – in both SV and OHV versions. Beginning to gather bits and pieces and am on to more possible items at the moment – will tell if they come to fruition.

I have an almost complete ’29 200SV engine (see above) + an empty crankcase for a 1930 175/200/250cc OHV lump. I have a Pilgrim oil pump and an extra outer magneto-drive cover, my Inner one is broken and will need replacing, as will the valves/springs/keepers and short pushrods will need replacing, cam looks good, engine not get split – the piston and bore seem to be in good nick with little wear. The three pictures below prior to disassembly and cleaning up!

Negotiating at the moment for a 1935 POZ/R****/S overhead-valve, dry-sump, double roller-bearing driveside main-bearing engine in definite need of a complete going-over and more than likely a new barrel and piston, too (Pretty rare, unfortunately, as most of the smaller engines regularly exploded with hard (mis)use back then… Will be an interesting and worthwhile project to cut my teeth on! This is a picture of the relics I am getting soon…

Interesting are the gearbox, the alloy cylinder barrel and the UFO attached to the head…

The post (S)lowly starting up again first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

 I am proud to offer here the only KA169/2 footrest rubbers for the rigid Velocette range, exactly the same as the original part with the step for the 1936- onwards bikes: Will, of course, fit all the rigid MOV, MAC, MSS and KSS as well as earlier models, too. 

 The patterns ‘readily available’ for more than £12 each (!) are incorrectly closed on the top surface and have (unlike the originals) vertical ridges along the top of the front and rearward-facing edges. You will also find that the upper surface is incorrectly quite flat compared to the originals and that the ribbing and the thickness of the rubber is not constant, bulging in places, indicating that a soft material has been used for a mould, instead of using a proper metal die as a form.

 The rubber of the available patterns is also quite different, being relatively soft and glossy (almost slimy), as opposed to the matte finish of this hard-wearing material. The metal moulded-in inserts are stainless and should give no problems for many years of use and, quite naturally, will fit the original screws. (Recommended would be to use some grease or copper-paste to stop the threads sticking when attaching them with normal steel screws, though, as stainless is very ‘sticky’ and will indeed corrode when in contact with iron or mild steel)

 The last picture shows the correct domed top surface and the straightness of the ribs. Absolutely as original

 My aim is to provide only the best of the best on the market. 

 Quite apart from the difficult and lengthy search for absolutely unused and definitely 100% original parts to make facsimiles of (this time located in Australia!), High-Tech methods are employed with close quality-control at every step of the process to ensure absolute accuracy and consistency of these items . 

 I am 100% sure that you will be 100% satisfied with these, they will be an absolutely authentic, hard-wearing, stylish addition to your classic Velo, which was built to last and made to ride hard. 

The post Velocette KA169/2 Rear Footrest Rubbers for rigid frames first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

I found this on Gumtree and just couldn’t resist it for the price and it was right next door to the ‘Chunnell’ terminal in Ramsgate, where I was due a few hours later!

It came with a very nice motor and all the various brackets and drive system complete, along with a range of changewheels etc.

The bearings are just so smooth and despite its ‘used’ appearance, it is in fact in very good condition and has been well maintained. I did a bit of research into these and they are very capable, but not as well-known as the ubiquitous postwar Myford ML7 and Super7 lathes, for which there are a great many spares and accessories available.

For one of these, it is necessary to keep an eye out for second-hand parts and accessories, but they are still about, if not in the abundance of the later stuff – and for much more amenable prices.

I worked out the back-gear arrangement (giving it six-speeds) and it is a great little lathe with thread-cutting capability, including left-hand threads.

It also came with the original face-plate and catch-plate and a spare saddle faceplate, some very effective wick-oilers for the main bearings, and added improvements to the tailstock-wheel and a handle on the traverse (very handy, if you can’t get used to the ‘reversed’ operation of the slide travel direct off the rack!)

The picture below will give a better overview and the last one shows it in size relation to the Super7

Please ignore the chaos, these pictures were taken a few weeks ago before I got organised…

The post Little ’40s Myford 3 1/8″ ML2 first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

This part is ready to have the tooling made, if there is enough interest!

As a first move forward in the Ukraine setup might be this prewar kick-start/gear-change rubber B60/2, which for at least twenty years has been sold under this part-number with a closed end… which is completely wrong! And yes, I realise that the ‘script’ is slightly different to the original, but that is intended, for my own ‘protection’ of intellectual property. The original rubber was for both applications and was OPEN-ended and as such, I will be selling them in pairs, for around £11,00.  I shall be getting the tooling together to make those soon, hopefully I will be able to sell a few, too, as the tooling is not cheap for injection-mouldings…And so the parts will also not be ‘cheap’, as a result of low-volume, high tooling cost and high quality of the material used. Unfortunately, most people only see the ‘price’, which has to be a reflection of the effort required, firstly to make an authentic product and the tooling-cost to achieve an end, without the prospect of selling ten thousand a year…

Nevertheless, I shall continue in this ‘vein’, the next products being probably top and bottom yokes and links for all the Webb forks, rear stands as original-looking as possible, some Miller electrics that might be interesting, mudguard-sets complete with stays that will actually FIT and be right for the year and model of bike etc. etc..

This has become a sort of  ‘Crusade’ in my semi-retirement, to right the ‘wrongs’ of the belief that we simply have to ‘make do’ with the crap that is on offer and people like Mike at Groves serve us up with (or what he is served up with). If HE doesn’t have the clout to get things made properly, then who else has? The problem is that he is a business man with LITTLE or NO INTEREST AT ALL in the bikes or their users and their problems, if it does not serve his purpose of making a profit to stay in business. Such a shame!

The same appears to be the case for the Velocette Owners Club Spares Scheme, but for a different reason (I suspect). Every other marque seems to have a working and profitable spares scheme, what is wrong with the Velocette Club scheme?? Why does it not make a profit? They seem to insist on remaining so far removed from the modern needs (like being ABLE to order per email and ACCEPT PAYMENTS quickly and conveniently) and requirements of the Velocette owners as to be worse than pre-historic in their methods. Sorry guys, this is the 21st Century already! All the dealers and producers of the parts are only interested in the money that they expect to be able to earn from the rich bastards that have old bikes (who have for years to put up with poor service and parts), but that our own spares-scheme also has to rub salt in the wound? In fact I am sure that many owners buy from ‘other suppliers’, purely because they can’t be bothered to take three weeks of backwards and forwards to achieve anything with the Club.

THAT is why I am disappearing to to the arse end of the universe to change things, maybe only one-at a-time, back to what they ought to be – as they ‘were’. Will you be ‘there’ to support me? I doubt it. SO many still live in the seventies and expect to pay only pennies for hard-earned graft for their bikes that are now worth twenty times what they got for them only ten years ago. So I have no intention. wish or hopes of ever getting rich from the tight-asses that I see, begrudging the postage on headlamp-clips (only a few quid), which protect their now over £200-worth of headlamp shell.

You know what? I don’t care, I will STILL make the stuff that I do, because it has to be done, and I don’t give a damn that 90% of the owners of Velocettes are too to tight to want to pay a realistic price for stuff that is of BETTER quality, than the worn-out SHIT that they still use (and continue to buy cheap and useless replacements for) and endanger their won (and possibly their loved ones’) lives with.  (Oh, she unfortunately died in the accident, but the brakes were ORIGINAL!)

Oh yes, there are a few brake-shoes and other parts that I am interested in making, too, but will they ever be bought by  bunch of people that I still see coming to my workshop asking for used chains and absolutely original exhausts from the fifties, but only willing to part with pennies?

I’ll be honest with you now… If I think that the parts that I make, will be used on a bike that will never see the road, I am inclined to refuse to sell them. I am not really interested in the  parts merely being moved form ‘my box’ into ‘your box’ of bits, unless it is going to be USED. Does that make sense?? You might just as well buy the CRAP that comes from other sources, if all it is going to do is it in your bloody living-room for the rest of its days.

I make BIKE-PARTS and not some decorative embellishment to Heaps of  Scrap-Metal on private display, without function or appreciation beyond their intrinsic ‘value’

Sorry, it had to be said.

© peter gouws 2014

The post Footrest/Kickstart Rubber B60/2 first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

LOTS of Velocettes at Brooklands…

For those of you a little too far away to catch the ‘action’ at Brookands, whether at ‘home’ or abroad, here are a few pictures of the event. The pictures speak for themselves for the most part and will require little extraneous comment! The weather was beautiful spring-time stuff, with a spattering of rain and crisp sunshine, with little wind until the afternoon.

To get the full “value” of these pics taken with a phone (what else!), please click to get them shown full size…

The display in sheer quantity, diversity and quality was astounding, especially as the event was only made public at such short notice in the last Fishtail! Fabulous turnout!

One could almost believe that there were more ‘cammy’ Velos produced than all the others put together, judging by the amount of MkI and MkII KSSs and KTTs that were there!!

Enjoy the pictures and just see to it that if at all possible, that you can make it to the next ‘event’ of this kind, wherever it might be!!

Yours truly below, soon after arrival, photographed by a friendly fellow ‘Velocetter’ who I also had a great chat to! My beard not yet quite as long as some of the lively tales that I heard recounted there, either!!

Only a few of rigid MSSs (3 actually)

And the usual expected amount of RS framed bikes. Surprisingly not in the same numbers as the K-series, perhaps due to the historically ‘sporting nature’ of the venue?

I particularly liked this mod, the oil-cut-off lever being so long, that kickstarting the bike would immediately ‘draw attention to’ the fact that it was in the ‘off’ position!

There was also a spattering of MACs (iron and alloy) and a couple of MOVs (all racing bikes, not a ‘road bike’ among them, unfortunately!). The Two-strokes were also there, but not (as could be expected!) in great numbers… even a Ladies’ bike was there, dated 1925…

Some of Ivan Rhodes’ bikes were also even there, as photographed below;

A very early two-stroke was also there, but for some reason the photo seems to have disappeared!!

Well, as you can see, there was a fantastic turnout, few ‘personalities’ were also there, making the day was well worth the visit. Altogether a very pleasant trip, including pleasant words and technical tips exchanged with others with far more experience and knowledge than oneself!!

© peter gouws 2014

The post Brooklands day!! first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

Somebody please help.

I am trying to get the one or other thing produced for rigid Velocette’s and would prefer, if possible, to be able to initiate or keep (once established) the production process here in the UK, close to the market centre and close to central distribution-channels.

I am not able to manufacture anything myself in my present circumstances, my activities being restricted to pattern-making for the foundry industry, including core-boxes. I can also do a little turning, at present restricted to a throw of about seven inches, which precludes working on brakes, I’m afraid.

Well, motorcycles are not made entirely of castings and once cast properly, those finished castings still have to be machined in some way or other before they can actually be fitted and used. When I design and make patterns, I mount them on boards with separate runners, to ensure through thorough testing, an absolutely consistent result regarding dimensions, density and surface finish, also to determine the ideal material for the requirements of the job.

Here is a CAD drawing of the pattern showing the core but without the split in the pattern nor the added thickness where machining is required.

So, my main problem is finding someone not only capable of, but also willing to cast relatively short runs and together ‘putting the work in’ of initial testing and proving the integrity of the work, which is (hopefully!) only required at the outset. As any foundry-man will tell you, this can be a time-consuming process, depending on the particular expertise of the ‘shop’ doing the work. Close cooperation with the pattern-shop is also required and at the beginning a number of minor modifications to the runner-system may be required, before a casting comes out ‘just right’.

Compound to this that traditional sand-casting foundries tend to specialise in ferrous and non-ferrous castings, further broken down into a separation of iron and steel and maybe aluminium light-alloys or those containing (or NOT!) magnesium… and of course the ‘heavy metals’ like brass and bronze etc. and the story becomes potentially confusing and confusing. Even confusinger is the further splitting and specialisation in lost-wax and ‘die-casting’… which for most of our requirements is irrelevant.

Unfortunately, foundries of any kind are few and far between in the non-motor-vehicle-manufacturing environment and even there they are disappearing due to ‘environmental’ legislation (arguable) and so finding someone to do anything other than large quantities is almost impossible and has also become expensive (a secondary issue, quite frankly – compared to the cost of pattern-making, anyway)

So that is the first problem in a nutshell.

Number two is what I would quaintly call tin-bashing (sorry!). After castings the next largest group of items making up a bike are fabricated in some way from sheet material, in the old days steel and later, of course, incorporating some aluminium sheet, especially for mudguards and fuel-tanks. Specialist tank-builders and -repairers are a rare breed indeed, and those that make, don’t necessarily repair and vice-versa. Smaller parts like oil-tanks, tool-boxes, chain-guards and the like are usually not quite so bothersome to find someone to make, but mudguards present a different problem altogether. Without specialised and dedicated (and expensive, space-devouring-) machinery, the process is just so hit-and-miss and requires a disproportionate amount of time to get right and so becomes prohibitively expensive. Due to the large number of variations in cross-section, length, radius and structural supports, ribs, beading and edges, the number of configurations is sheer confusing!

Closely related to those parts above, are the plethora of different mudguard-stays and other parts made of steel tubing, which have to correspond to differing profiles and radii, too, so each by no means ‘universal’ in their application.

Wheel-building also comes under manufacture, I suppose, but there doesn’t seem to be such a great problem there, as there are many trials- and cross- bike shops that still offer this as a service. Here it is imperative to go armed with the correct offsets etc so that they can do the job properly, even perhaps having to also supply them with the parts, which are readily available from a few reliable sources.

I don’t wish at this stage to delve deeper into the field of rebuilds, as it is simply vast: the number of (necessary) splits into the various different areas of engineering and electrical items is simply immense and the bandwidth of services offered by each is from extremely narrow to vast, just to confuse matters further. Engine, fuel-system, gearbox, clutch, ignition, lighting, running-gear, tinware and finishing (‘paint’) being common demarcations, this is by no means an exhaustive list of sub-categories and specialisation that are possible…

As mentioned in earlier blogs, I am having immense problems getting ANY work done for me. I have had answers to my queries ranging from disbelief to rudeness, from vague promises to laughter, none of which  found remotely helpful. When I mention the quantities initially required, or the standard of materials or finish, THAT is when it becomes ‘sensitive’. Usually the requirement from the other side is a commitment to production runs over and above the total production figures for Velocette over 20 years, or prices in a similar range or delivery-dates  beyond my life-expectancy!

Is there a solution to this problem? Does anybody out there here my cry for help?

I am already working on some castings/patterns for some parts of the Webb heavyweight forks and other parts and am ready to ‘farm out’ some other parts that I see sadly misrepresented as exact replicas on eBay and also at retail outlets.

The trouble here, as usual, is the ‘well it’s all I can get, so you’ll have to make do’ attitude of the wholesaler and retailers alike.

I would like to start small, perhaps with a tube-bender capable of making up the stays for the front and rear mudguards on rigid models (so for the MOV/MAC, MSS/KTS, KSS MkI and II and any GTPs out there with round stays) in stainless and the headlamp-stays for Webb and Dowty forks for the 8-inch headlamp (yes, I know that the Webb ones weren’t tubular originally, but they do need to be).

Maybe 10 sets of each to ‘test’ and see how they fare in the marketplace? Each of the models DO require different stays and there is definitely NOT a one-size-fits-all solution, any more than there is with the mudguards, another ugly story that has to be retold from the start…

Then we have the famous mudguard story propagated by our fiends on the Indian sub-continent… MOV/MAC guards are DIFFERENT to the MSS/KTS guards, as are the KSS ones. They are NOT the same, and the differences are not only in where the holes are drilled! The two frames are entirely different, as is the proximity of the rear guard to the chaincase, for a start. The KSS ones are completely different, being of different width and section, NOT having a rib down the centre and of course different diameter to the other models, too! (another reason for the stays being incompatible…)

And there is NO EXCUSE for them not fitting, if they are constructed to fit on an original frame. If they fit on one, they will fit ANY of the original frames of the same model, without question, so why are they so inconsistent? (the same goes for the fit of petrol-tanks, just by the way…)

Another question… Why they should already be corroded on arrival (even the primed ones) beats me… the excuse offered on the Velocette technical forum by the manufacturer (who has been very quiet since the following comment was made…), that they “can’t get the material of the same specification and quality of the originals” is a non-starter, of course… in the meantime, there is a much wider and potentially much BETTER range of material specifications available – at a relatively LOWER price…

There are plenty of other parts that need desperately to be made readily available (some brake-shoes come to mind!) and I am open to suggestions. I cannot make them all myself, but I am glad to be the initiator of and to oversee production and distribution of ANY part, no matter how it is manufactured,

SO HERE IS THE CHALLENGE:

Is there anybody out there WILLING AND ABLE

…to co-operate in short-term, short-run manufacture of parts that will need to be produced from now until forever?

Low volume per year, but basically until the end of time?? These bikes will be around forever and even if they are ‘legislated out of existence’ for daily use, there will ALWAYS be a market, even if slow-moving.

Not forgetting that there is a huge number of un-restored or damaged bikes languishing in sheds and workshops, only because certain parts are not available to ‘get them on the road’ again… I suspect that damaged or incomplete front forks would also make up a large proportion of the figure…

Yes, I shall soon be establishing a base in the Ukraine to be closer to possible production in Poland and the Ukraine (where legislation is not quite so restrictive and the good old pattern-shops and foundries still exist en masse), nonetheless, I would still prefer to have a capability here “at home”…

Please help!

© peter gouws 2014

The post Rigid Velocette Top Yokes for WEBB forks first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

The ‘right’ saddle.

Let’s face it, if we actually use our machines, one of the things that gets a fair amount of wear and tear, is the saddle. Whichever type we have fitted, at some stage it will need re-covering. There are new covers available which are of a reasonable shape and size, but somehow they look and feel wrong… why? They might even have that ‘grainy’ look (if a trifle exaggerrated…?) of the old ones, but they are too ‘shiny’ for my taste, some of them are really smooth and the actual material used seems thinner and softer, somehow ‘sticky’ to the touch. I don’t know, maybe it’s just me, but I’m not particularly fond of them as they stand. Then again, perhaps I’m just too used to the look of the worn out ones to remember what they really looked like when they WERE new!

Even more of a problem arises when, if, you don’t have a saddle at all for your ‘project’! The pattern items that I have seen recently (which now all come from one manufacturer, it would seem!) are fine as far as they go, but not quite the type fitted at least to Velocettes, as far as I can ascertain. The size and the shape is not bad, actually and only marginally different to those fitted originally, though the paint finish on both of these ones is not pretty and I have no comments to make on the material quality as yet. I am still not quite sure whether the frame I have actually is original, it is, however, very much closer to original spec than the other one. It doesn’t matter at all, the main thing is that it illustrates the difference between those that are readily available on eBay and the jumbles and what has to be done to make them look ‘right’ and, thankfully, actually fit!

Here what I used to think was an original saddle frame: Having looked at the workmanship and finish, I am now dubious as to its origininality.

Here the simple rivet fixing for the cross-strap, that makes the difference for Velocette use.

The saddle-frame itself of made of a similar thickness of material, but there is one major difference which needs to be addressed, after which it is difficult to pick from the original! There is a strip which has to be added to the back of the frame, where the springs on a Velo (and probably other makes, too!) are fitted. The one that I had was supplied with some angle brackets (loose) which were supposed to do the same job and could be fitted, theoretically at least, the right distance apart to the rear of the frame for that purpose. A little makeshift and possible not as strong as the original setup, it also is a dead give-away that the ‘wrong’ saddle is fitted. The bump in the middle is, of course, to clear the mudguard when the springs are compressed over a bump in the road and is mirrored on the saddle-cover of the original.

Here the newish pattern (Might also be a few years old…) showing that the rear strap is missing for this particular application:

In the end, I suppose, who cares? Well, I do happen to know that there are those out there that DO care, and while I’m not always a stickler for absolute originality, it IS nice to get it at least looking right, even if not an ‘actual’ original part! Here are the two that I have showing the differences. As there have probably been many different suppliers over the years of these saddles, it is difficult to make absolute measurements and comparisons, but a look at the photos will give an idea of the differences that have to be addressed, in a ‘generic’ way. Thus, armed with a piece of paper and a pencil and a little ‘artistic license’, a template for the rear ‘strap’ can be quickly made up and either  cut at home in the workshop or given to someone else to cut… it is quite thick material and most of us will not have the kit to cut something even as simple as this in a reasonable time. Bending, on the other hand, should be done at home to ensure a good fit and shouldn’t present a problem if you have a decent sized vice!

You will notice that the front portion on the pattern saddle is a little different to the original, which section is ‘better’ is purely a matter of taste. The front mountings will have to be manufactured to fit the particular bike that the saddle is intended for, so I have left them out.

Here the nose of the one with the cross-strap:

And the ‘nose’ of the other one:

The covers themselves pose a slightly different  problem. Allow me a personal note here, as I have definite preferences in this department! I know that many decry the use of dead cow for the covering, the reason given usually being susceptibility to moisture and rain. Hm. Actually I agree, BUT (no pun intended) when riding, my rear-end is usually planted firmly in the saddle and so it doesn’t get wet from the sky above anyway! After getting off, I always have a plastic bag handy to place over it (like the cycle-riders) if it should be raining, which it only does for 25% of the year anyway. How many owners of machines fitted with these types of saddle go for runs in the rain anyway, I ask? There aren’t that many, so I really don’t understand why the voices are so loud. Any old hair-net will do, actually, but if you have had the dexterity to sew the saddle in the first place, a suitable rain-cover shouldn’t be an insurmountable problem!

(The older US manufacturers use metal seat-pans that are merely ‘faced’ with leather, and so they have completely different set of rules to follow when considering replacement)

Here is a very good copy, if not an original cover. This one fits the base properly and will be anyway only used to copy for my ‘proper’ leather one.

Here from the underside…

… And I have made patterns from this one for anyone interested in having a go themselves, which I will post to you if requested. I suppose that I could also scan them or draw it up in a CAD program, but then the problem is printing them out… Perhaps in two halves? If you have a modern pattern saddle to re-cover, you will have, of course, to use the cover that came with it to make the pattern for the replacement, if you are going to go to the trouble of making one yourself, rather than just buying one ‘off the shelf’.

On the other hand, I do love leather as a covering for one particular reason (apart from the ‘optics’): Have you ever ridden a long distance on a plastic saddle (of any kind – even a modern bike?). The sticky, sweaty bum (and other bits) syndrome is undeniably present in any climate and if riding is continued over a few days, can lead to the famous jungle crotch-rot, which is most unpleasant, including to those in the immediate vicinity…

We should all wear leather or some sort of protective clothing (Modern hi-tech textiles are fantastic! Light and offering better ‘breathing’, despite being far more waterproof…). And so there we have it: BREATHING! Why bother with a seat on your pants that breathes, if the saddle provides an impervious barrier to the expulsion of (in the summer at least) rapidly accumulating body-fluids originally designed to cool the skin by evaporation, in the resultant hot-spots. Very counter-productive and actually counter-intuitive. Plastics were only chosen by virtue of cheapness and availability (= convenience). The plastics chosen being impervious to fluids, also collect bacteria very nicely and, of course, hinder any evaporation while seated in contact with them, all very much in the best possible taste, I know, but these things are sent to try us (and sometimes out partnerships…). These (bacteria and fluids, not the partnerships!) then have nowhere else to reside or go and therefore collect in whatever material is between the plastic saddle surface and your skin. How savoury!

SO LEATHER, on the other hand, allows the soaking and ‘wicking off’, and therefore evaporation from the ‘under-surface’ of the saddle where there is some considerable airflow, of any perspiration and so provides a very comfortable seat base over extended distances. This situation is ONLY present if there is not an impervious sponge rubber underneath, which then causes the fluid to accumulate in the leather covering (and fester there, instead of ‘in yer trousers’,) which is not really much better, as it soon returns from whence it came as the moisture accumulates over a certain level.

Leather, then, is only good if there is sufficient flow of air around it (usually on the underside, as we are sitting on the top!), which brings us to the next point: The padding! If the seat cover is plastic, it matters not if there is sponge rubber under it, BUT, if the cover is leather, it needs a breathable padding that gives sufficient hindrance to the springs digging into one’s posterior, whilst not hindering the airflow and wicking action. Unfortunately, the wonderful horsehair matting that was used on the underside of original (although plastic covered!) saddles is unfortunately no longer available (as far as I can see, and I have tried, believe me) and so an alternative has to be found, even if you are going to re-cover with plastic.

The nearest I could find (and PLEASE, if you have a better alternative, let me know!) is the coconut-matting found at garden-centres for lining hanging-baskets! It is the right thickness and firmness and is of the right ‘consistency’: The only trouble with this is that it produces so much ‘dust’ if the underside is left open. I also assume that due to this, that it probably eventually thins out, too. There are even plastic-coated versions (I can’t remember what for) which wouldn’t do that, which I would not use for obvious reasons. So with the coconut-matting, it has to be covered with something on the ‘outside’ with some other material open enough to aerate, but woven closely enough to stop the coconut ‘hairs’ dropping everywhere…

Here just roughly sewn together, as the stitching to the cover keep it all in one piece once done!

That coconut fibre is really a little too messy for my taste (see below, after a good shake over the leather… just imagine what a nice shiny black mudguard would look like!

The BEST and the most efficient (and ‘authentic’) padding comes from old VW Beetles and Vans at the breakers-yards… which used to have the very same padding over the springs as Lycette or Terry did! BINGO! One of the only remaining sources, but not always readily available in a suitable condition, quantity or price!

And so to the topside:

If  it is to be made of some kind of leather, chrome-tanned leather is imperative for this kind of sprung seat, as veg-tanned leather will sag dramatically after the first ride and will look dreadful, no matter how thick or thin. For sewing the type of saddle that we generally use, Wallaby or Kangaroo is the best for maximum resilience and weather-resistance. It is thin and extremely tough, elastic (so it keeps its shape well) and easy to sew. The surface is suitably ‘grained’ or is at least matte and so non-reflective. It is not available everywhere, but is well worth the search, if leather is what you decide on. All the ‘Conolly’ type hides tend to be too thick and a bugger to sew and deteriorate rapidly in the sunlight if not meticulously kept. So yes, I agree, leather can be a pain in general, but if you get the right sort… If necessary, I can possibly get access to Wallaby hides in limited quantity from Australia, but I have no idea of the price, to which postage would have to be added. The last ones that I bought in AUS were about a tenner each, but I have no idea if my then source has ANY more left, let alone at that price.

Here some nice little Wallaby skins:

And here a leather saddle-top marked on the inside in white pencil for final cut of the triangular ‘inserts’ and sewing.

Topside, showing minimal, but pleasant, natural grain. (not ‘printed’)

And something I ‘scored’ from an upholsterer, which I was going to use to ‘seal’ the ‘precipitation’ from the coconut fibre with…

For simulated leather or ‘leatherette’ tops, there are plenty available in all sorts of ‘grain’ finishes from most retailers dealing in fabrics, the choice is broad and they are very reasonably priced. The difference in quality and price will depend on thickness, UV resistance and the cloth backing. Buy the best quality that you can afford and choose the surface finish that you desire! They are all cloth backed and half a meter is enough for a couple of saddles. More important than with the leather, keep an eye on which way it stretches: If across the frame, it will ‘sag’ in between the springs quicker than if the stretch is longitudinal, but this will have no effect on the actual function of the saddle, only the way it looks. Here the important thing to watch as with any saddle, is the firmness of the ‘stuffing’ between the top and the springs, that is what makes the difference in the comfort, especially if you have a bony backside.

As ever, I would be appreciative of any helpful comments or additions to the opinions stated here, which are only based on personal experiences!

At this point I must shamefully admit that the saddle-covers that I have previously made have wandered into private hands in Australia and therefore that I have nothing that I have made to show you here! As you can see, there is one in the making, which shall be followed up on once finished, but I have a few weeks of concentration on other things in the meantime… Perhaps I will fit it in, though. I would still rather  source a VW seat, before I commit myself to going to the trouble of sewing another one for myself…

© peter gouws 2014

The post Lycett type saddles etc. first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

  

The the old year is gone

… and can be done and dusted. A strange mix for me, towards the end more and more challenging. The time of year when I should be doing my own bike and helping others do theirs, ‘God willing’, has left me with a logistically difficult re-location which has taken all my time up, for one reason and another! SO the bike has been delivered to the storage unit in Camberley ( a half-hour from here) and there is still no-where to get my kit set up (yet!). Very frustrating, especially in view of the fact that I had hoped to start getting the bike finished for a run in the spring to the Ukraine! Well, it looks like that will have to be postponed at least until mid-summer. Still a lot to do on the bike, so we’ll just have to see how that goes!

Other news is that I SHALL be going to Vinnitsya (Вінниця) in the Ukraine from the 9th to the fifteenth of January, just after the Orthodox Christmas break and despite the tense internal political situation revolving around the ‘Europe’ issue… I will report on that when I return! Whatever happens, it should be an interesting trip, and I hope to be able to gain some contacts there and might even move there for a few years to set up a  decent relationship with the ‘industry’ there… Dnipropetrovsk is the centre of the Russian space-research, developement and production and their power-units are also used in the European space program. Their technology is second-to none in Europe and so I am hoping to take advantage of that for the making of my humble parts, in order to ensure best-possible quality of production and materials technology, whilst maintaining a healthy cost-effectiveness ratio. This should please everyone, I hope!

Moving on from here, there are a few more minor parts that will be coming off the production line within a few  months, which will be followed by Webb fork castings. I’m looking for a reliable tin-basher/roller that can make proper reproduction guards in the four sizes necessary (KSS, rigid MSS/KTS/, MAC/MOV and possibly GTP) along with the plethora of stays for them (each set different in detail!), to be available in complete sets together with the guards, or guards and sets of stays separately. The stays will be of 304 Stainless, 1.5mm thick and built to last, as are my headlamp stays, which are at the moment sold out (and I am looking for someone to make them in the UK for me). I will get the tubes bent and pressed, the fittings I will turn and TIG to the stays, using Jigs made on original guards and frames for the relevant bikes.

So much for the immediate plans! First I need a workshop-space to setup in, but before that, I have to know where I will be living (I mean in which country or county!). Still a way to go, but this has to be set up properly. The difficulty in the UK is getting a foundry close enough for me to keep an eye on the casting process and to develop personal relations for an understanding of what I need. Short of moving to Birmingham (not an option at present), I see difficulties there! Since I need both ferrous and non-ferrous (brass, bronze, alumimium and elektron), it will take some time to set up, I suspect. Prerequisite to that is to get some decent patterns made!

Cast front hubs, authentic rear stands and a few other goodies are lined up for the lovers of rigid bikes, not just in the interest of correctness for the period, but offering definite safety and performance advantages. Some Miller electrical switchgear and bits and pieces, too, in proper Bakelite, not Nylon. Keep an eye out for detail stuff that has not been available for decades to enhance your experience and all built exactly to original specs if not better, but retaining absolutely original looks and fitting properly, without fettling. Proper assembly diagrams and caveats to check before fitting, too, will be included as well as minimal packaging.

Parts that have been inaccurately made or just plain wrong and then incorrectly sold for years, leading to the belief that they ARE the same as the originals, will at last be able to be replaced with correct items. My pledge is to dispel the myth that we just have to put up with what is there, because it is ‘all that is available’. It may be a long, slow haul and I don’t expect to get rich by doing so, but I am convinced that if we all contribute the small bit that we can, eventually sanity will return to the Classic Bike world, bit by bit.

There are also a few projects afoot apart from my own bike: another ‘import’ from Australia which will be judiciously restored with restraint by it’s owner, which I hope to be able to lend a hand with. Here are the pictures that he sent me by email, and I went to see the bike a week later.  Some parts are missing and broken, some of which I just ‘happen to have’ and I’m sure that it will be a fun experience, especially since he has never had a Velocette before! Unusual are both hubs and brakes, especially that the front hub drives the speedo, but not off the brake-plate, but like a later rear-wheel-drive from a gearbox on the opposite side of the brake-plate (which incidentally looks like a ‘Webb’ item instead of the usual ‘Bluemels’ job). The rear could even be rather special, we’ll have to wait for a closer look! The original owner used to do some racing in cars in AUS, so this has been modified to look a bit like a ‘flat-tracker’ with ‘bobbed’ guards. Bit of a mix, really! Every bike tells a story about its owners, isn’t that true!

© peter gouws 2014

The post Saved rigid MSS from Australia first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

Space-Poor play-room…

Well, I’ve been here in the UK 5 weeks now and not all has gone smoothly, not least of all the merry-go-round with the banks/licenses/ID etc. Since I have been out of the country since 1981 (!), there have been a few changes to things like Anti-Terrorism- and Anti-Money-Laundering-Legislation and -Requirements which have not made the return logistically a pleasant one. On top of that, my belongings and workshop etc. are still ‘all at sea’, and so I cannot actually ‘DO’ anything constructive… much! Some issues with a decently constant Internet connection and other small problems have also contributed to the general chaos!

I DID have (or made) the opportunity to pop over to see the Overseas Secretary of the VOC (Velocette), Wayne Coulthard, for a GREAT weekend, meet his lovely wife and have a ‘play’ in his garage – my fingers were veritably ‘itching’ to get my hands on a bike! – and enjoy a glass or two of red, fermented grape juice in the best of company! He is a ‘space poor’-sufferer at present and has his challenges when working on bikes in the winter, since he has to wheel things around to get at them, as can be seen in the pictures (kindly permitted to be made public!).

Wayne and a nice 1958 MAC! There were six built with the chrome tank and when Wayne bought it in 1970, it had been painted over; since he has had it, he has put the twin-leader on the front and the appropriate rear hub, the tacho and a TT carb… WERRY nice!!

Rigid 1946 MAC imported from Canada, a bitsa: Engine and gearbox from Toronto and frame from Michigan. Spot the (wrong) timing cover, while the real one is being modified!!

An interesting 1967 ‘bitsa’, built in an originally blue and new venom frame, this one originally built as a fast sidecar rig with rear-sets, ace bars and a tuned MSS engine (though original gearbox ratios). It has been beckwards and forwards to Ralph Seymour’s, who blueprinted the engine for Wayne in 1990. Built as a fast tourer with the original big tank with Velocette script transfer correct for the year… Tasty! Nice clean lower-CR ‘Clubmans-MSS’

A ‘fully’ original MSS in preparation… This time a 1947, from Ontario! Just about to get the (original, of course!) rear-mudguard fitted, YAY!

…and a good bitch!

Wayne has a number of ‘projects’ nearing completion above with the unfortunately now common and very niggling issues that we never had 20, 30 years ago… I wonder what happened to going to yer friendly-neighbourhood, even generic, bike shop for a brake or carburettor cable (and if it just happened to be Ted Bloomfield’s place in Leytonstone -God rest his soul!-, for a few lewd insults thrown in for free!), take it home and just fit it!

Ask almost ANYONE now, and none of them can guarantee that it actually fits! NONE of them! Most can’t even begin to give an answer. Why is it that then, whether it was a Velocette, BSA, Enfield, Matchless or Triumph ‘dealer’, the OEM or Wassel or whatever cable fit any bike with that carbie or whatever? Wassel and AMAL and some of the others are still there in NAME, but what happened to the cables? Surely they haven’t had to change in all those years? Wasn’t that one of the attractions of the British bikes of the era? For more than 20 years at a time, each marque or model-range all shared the same bits mostly from top to bottom, which could be obtained anywhere, which would fit first time and were relatively inexpensive.

So what happened? Have AMAL now changed the carburettors (retrospectively as well! – THAT’s clever!) all to have individual measurements for their throttle and choke cables?? It would seem so… I don’t think that I am the only one that has to buy five cables to make one fit, then take it off again and modify all the others to work, so that a proper spare can be carried with confidence in the spares-pocket/wrap or toolbox?? The prospect of replacing a broken cable in the middle of nowhere at night in the rain, with one that needs an hour and special tools to fit is sheer madness!

This process has to be carried out for 90% of ALL spare parts or replacements these days. WHY? Why did they fit THEN, and almost definitely do not NOW? Have the bikes changed? Grown up, for example? An interesting thought!

No, I think that the problem lies elsewhere and to an extent with the ‘users’, or sadly what most have become the ‘collectors’ of bikes that have been ‘restored to death’ with nary an intention to ever run them ever again, and if so, only on a trailer to the next meet, fire it up once and then trailer it back home again into the safety of the heated underground garage or mantlepiece in the lounge!

Yes, I have recently avidly read and taken advice from “How to Make Friends and Influence People”.

Problem number one probably started many years ago when tin-ware, as an example, began being made for general consumption by ‘other than original manufacturers’ for specific models of specific marques. Generic mudguards and such had always been around, and all the dealers and distributors stocked them a s sporty and otherwise less expensive alternatives to original tin, that was often discarded for the lighter ‘pattern’ or generic items. Of course it was understood that these would have to be individually fitted. So, holes had to be drilled IN THE PATTERN PARTS and brackets (if supplied) or had to be made as well. The real problem starts to creep in when years down the track, replacements (or a return to the original are sought and the bike itself or mountings have, unbeknown to the present owner, been modified by the past owner… then ‘diversity sets in and ostensibly ‘original’ parts, then have to be modified to fit the now ‘unoriginal’ bike… Chaos soon reigns as almost every bike then takes on its own character and is modified with each ‘new’ addition.

After a while, of course, everyone has so become used to having to modify everything to fit, that nobody (least of all the manufacturers of new replacements, ahas any idea what is original anymore… or even cares! Then we have BIG problem number three: ‘WE’ order a part from “Earwig’s Vintage Parts Emporium” and it sits on a shelf for two years before even being attempted to fit to the bike (or car or whatever), by which time, when we complain that it doesn’t fit, either Earwig’s has gone broke, changed their name, been bought up by some multinational concern, or has changed suppliers and, you know what? Couldn’t give a damn, either! And why should they anymore??

There are, of course, quite other problems that have crept in… How many parts out there that are nothing like their originals, but are now just marketed as replacements, because in the meantime, no-one is around that actually is quite sure that they are NOT? (at least not anyone with a loud enough voice!)

Even worse are the parts that have been made to repair or replace and fit the PATTERN parts that in the meantime have been fitted, and no longer will fit the ORIGINAL parts!! I had this question to face when I made the ‘Star’ insert! I could make it to fit the ‘available’ pattern Miller lights, but they might well have not fitted the originals…. A ‘no-brainer’ in modern English, as I would rather have to have them being modified to fit the pattern parts, than to find that there was no way to fit them to the originals, savvy?

So we put up with buying a cable and having to modify it to fit (which the dealer never finds out about and can’t (even if they DID even want to) pass the information on to their supplier, who will not bother to do anything either, because idiots like us will continue to buy their incorrect crap for eternity anyway! The dealer can’t change supplier anyway, because they know that there is only one manufacturer anyway, where X, Y and Z all buy from!

Well, what has to be done or indeed CAN be done about it? Are YOU prepared to buy whatever is there, just because you are led to believe that it is all that is available, or that there is nothing that YOU can do about it? WHY, for example, can mudguard not be made that fit and have holes in the right place? The FRAMES were all the same for a Rigid MSS (or even a MkII KSS), the same goes for the MAC/MOV bikes, for example… OK, so Tanks can be a bit of a problem on the swingarm bikes where lugs get chopped off and relocated by their owners to fit larger or smaller items, but even then, there were only a few different possibilities (for the frames, anyway – quite a different story is the diversity of tanks, for example! Wayne is the tank-fetishist, He can tell you how many different tanks were produced for each mode…I have lost count! Since I only really know my way about the Rigid MSS/KSS/KTS stuff in that respect, I have restricted myself to a small number to cope with!

So, what goes into a bike actually? It can’t be THAT difficult to make the ‘right’ stuff, can it?

Despite many years of manufacture, 3rd-Party products were limited mostly to carburetion, lighting and associated electrical items like switches, some ignition parts and things like twist-grips, levers and some tools – and tyres and rims, of course!

Veloce produced all their tinware in house, frames, engines and gearboxes. Where engine-plates came from is immaterial as they were easy enough to get right for each model. OK, Bluemels made brakes, Webb & Dowty made earlier forks and Veloce made their own after around 1950. There is a certain confusion that can be had for free regarding various differences in clutch parts, but most of the rest was not difficult, as the parts all came from known sources, distributed exclusively by the factory!

Over the entire time after the war, there were only four types of carburettor ever fitted to 99% of British bikes over 250cc: The 276, monoblock, TT and concentric (I don’t think that GP were ever fitted as an option to road-bikes? OK, so different choke-sizes and sometimes float-chamber setups, but what the heck, the throttle-cables and choke-cables were all the same for each type, or not? One for single carbie and single-pull throttles, one for twin-pull throttle setups and twin carbies and one for single-pull throttle and junction-box for multiple carbs. EASY! ALL throttle and twist-grips had the same dimensions for cable ends (well, 90% did…) and the only exception is probably the Veloce push-me-pull-you setup designed before the war for the use on hand-change bikes…

I don’t understand why they can’t be made to fit! For each required LENGTH of cable overall (and there can’t be TOO many differences there, either) the ‘free ends’ must surely always be the same, whether there is an adjustor in the middle or not, or am I missing something here?

Clutch and brake-cables are another story, of course, and have to be matched to brake hub levers and handlebar levers with and without fitted adjusters etc. individually… but even here, a 1969 Bonnie or a 1955 MSS would have had the same cables fitted for that model, probably for years on end. Given a known front-brake and handlebar combination of a given make and model of bike, a cable should here also be ‘standard’ or at least possible to ascertain easily.

Admittedly, if you want to put a Brembo four-leader on your LE, you will have to make your own cables and most of the rest of the bike, too!

How many Speedometer-cable-end dimensions were there at the drive end? WHY are some too THICK to push into the drive? Come on guys, it’s not THAT hard, is it? And how does this stuff get into the marketplace?

Because WE are too apathetic to DO anything about it and the dealers couldn’t give a toss and can’t be bothered to try anything out (against what?), even if they DO know that they don’t fit: most of them won’t even send them back, either ,and they just get replaced into stock for the next tosser to buy! YAY!!

If we are clever, we mark the parts before we send them back (with flourescent marker, for example…). When was the last time that YOU received the original part that you returned again, after three other returns of the same part that didn’t fit from the same dealer? Would you know if that happened? I would and it has happened, believe me!

I rest my case…

I wonder where he got that nice-looking star from on the rear light??

© peter gouws 2013

The post Visit to Wayne… and a grumble first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

Well, I can only say that a ‘helluva lot’ has been going on in the last few weeks, not least of which is the fact that I will be relocating – with the business – to the UK on the 19th October, so in 9 days.

The reasons are many, one of the stronger points being to move back closer to my children, all of whom are in Germany! While there is plenty going on here in South Australia regarding Veteran and Vintage bikes, and Velocettes in particular, there is a larger client-base in Europe and the UK in particular. I am not going to leave Australia completely and will maintain a presence here through various people and institutions, however it is important for me to establish connections with foundries and other services in the UK or Germany to set up production in Europe, thus facilitating postage and getting around long transit times and import duties for the ‘locals’. Australia is a LONG way away and as such is, admittedly, not so convenient. Once established in the UK (or wherever), I can then come back here and carry on where I left off, perhaps also taking the time to look at setting up some kind of operations in the USA or Canada, too in the mid-term future.

I don’t expect to get rich from all this, but I hope that at least my children will be able to have a little pocket-money coming in fairly regularly in the longer term.

The whole workshop has actually been at a standstill since nearly a year ago, due to the necessity to move away to the hills to look after ailing and aging parents (86 and 90) and so nothing much has actually happened at all, in fact. Apart from the ‘Star’, which I (and apparently all of my clients!) have been very pleased with, nothing new has been done for a very long time. I do have drawings and CAD/CAM prepared for a number of projects, one of which being an accurate and ‘proper’ kickstart/gearshift rubber (B60/2) with an open end for nearly all the models built between 1935 and 1948, and some after and before those dates.

One of the first steel castings to come ‘off the line’ will be a rear stand for the rigid models post Mk I KSS (so without the spring holding it up!), but complete with bracing, cross-tube and slotted ‘ears’ for the mudguard-clamping arrangement, closely followed by Heavyweight WEBB top and bottom ‘yokes’… (By special request!)

In the between-time, it may also have come to your attention that I have changed my plans regarding the ENGINE that I will be using on my ‘daily’ and touring bike. The engine, chosen for it’s simplicity (for ‘field repair’) over the undoubted smoothness and comfort over a KSS lump, is, of course, the iron MSS unit.

This is what it looked like when I picked it up, not unusual at all, but for CUSTOMS…

Had all to be cleaned up, as below…

The inlet cover below, has the usual crack, which will need to be ‘TIGged’

The cylinder-head BEFORE cleaning up…

Whoops, I believe that a new oil-pump is in order…

A little work needed here, too!

All nice and clean

Not a very popular unit it would seem, but very hard-working and reliable if built properly, I was lucky enough to get one of the last units built to fit in my one of the last frames built… so a 1947-’48 bottom-end with the engine number 8010. The last one built was, according to my publications, 8340 and since the frame is KDD 9266, probably late 1947, these are close enough to be compatible to my mind. The nice thing about this engine is that it has the taper-roller main-bearings and a few other things that make it a little more desirable for a long-distance runner.

I am already putting thoughts together regarding all the mods necessary to the oiling of cams and oil-return from the rocker cups and so the whole thing begins to take shape. I have a complete engine apart from a few nuts and bolts and acquired it all for a 1990s price, so am altogether a very happy chappy.

All in a rather sorry-looking state, everything had to be dismantled, the cases split etc. for cleaning,m or the UK customs and quarantine would have played havoc with me, so all has been done and is all packed away, ready for shipping from Melbourne on the 19th, too!

The pictures above are in no particular order, , some already cleaned up, some not (noticeably the cylinder-head!) just showing in general what makes up such an engine. There are stripped threads, ‘gasket’ surfaces that will definitely NOT seal etc, all things that happen over the years, but ALL of which can be addressed with a little judicious welding, lapping, filing etc to make an ‘oil-tight’ (hahaha!) engine that runs reliably over a longer period and longer distances.

The first LONG trip, after being ‘trialed’ at home for a while, is initially a run over to Germany to see the ‘kids’ and rom there to the other end of the Ukraine, possibly from there up to St Petersburg and back. We will see. The trip to Dnepropetrovsk or Artemivs’k is less than from here to Darwin, so not really a problem. Should be manageable in 5-6 days riding. I don’t do more than about 600km a day these days, depending on the condition of the roads, the mount of drunkards on them (particularly after 17:00 in the ex-UDSSR-States) and the weather.

All will be reported here, as I will take the trusted Apple MacBookPro with me, of course, on all trips, not to mention the 1952 Leica for the ‘wet-film’ shots!!

© peter gouws 2013

The post Relocation to the UK first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

Ode to a Motorsickle…

Well, long promised and never seen the light of day before, here are the pictures Pud took of the GTP when he first got it back in 1968. Not in a sorry state, but 30 years old already and ‘well used’, and not exactly with a very high mileage, about 10.000. Not bad for £16! About the same time in England (actually 1972), I bought my first bike for a ‘tenner’, a much later Tiger Cub, with a blown gearbox. A few weeks later I bought a complete rear wheel with good tyre and sprocket and a complete set of gearbox internals for another £3… after placing an ad in the window of the local newsagents…

Please be patient, these pictures are large and many. Feel free to copy and use as ‘desktop’ background pictures!

Enjoy the pictures!! Only one comment: The older man in the photos sitting on the bike is the original dealer who imported and sold the bike!

The man in the last three pictures above is L.A Borgelt, the dealer who originally sold the bike over 30 years before these pictures were taken!

These photos that follow are before and after shots of a rather nice magneto-ignition GTP from Victoria! You might also spot a couple interspersed with the black-and-white photos above!

© peter gouws 2013

The post GTP ‘Before and After’ Album first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

I had promised that I would describe a quick ‘field-strip’ of a gearbox, in this case the one on the GTP, which is similar to all other pre-swingarm models. Actually the swingarm models are very similar and only differ in detail from this procedure.

First to come off are the footrest and gear-change pedals as previously described, both because they are in the way! You might also have to remove the exhaust-pipe, depending on how it runs. So that’s about three to four nuts. It might be an idea to let the oil out of the box in a controlled fashion at some stage, now is as good a time as any, while we are undoing things.

If stuck really out in the middle of nowhere, the problem arises of refilling with the old oil after replacing everything else, so it’s a good idea to scout around for a suitable container, before opening the ‘tap’. I generally have some kind of plastic water bottle for the trip anyway, but a coke or lemonade bottle will do the job just fine (I just don’t happen to drink those!!). Even dirty oil is better that none and there is usually some rubbish plastic bottle or something similar within a hundred yards or so if you don’t have your own, discarded by some thoughtful car-driver… which can be cut open on one side to accept the oil as it pours out and can be used as a funnel to pour it back in.

Now we go to the drive side, because opening up the cover would allow the unnecessary ingress of dirt and dust carried by any wind, that makes a nice grinding-paste…. The obvious thing that has to come off now is the final-drive chainguard. To do this, disturbing the minimum, the chain first has to be ‘opened’ and secured from the ingress of dirt. Leave as much on the bike as possible, pushing it down in the middle to hang as shown and nothing (hopefully!) will trail on the ground to pick up any crud there.

Then the three bolts holding the chainguard are undone and best put in a pocket or plastic bag (always have some small ones with me on a trip for rubbish…). Then, without disturbing the two parts that are inserted into one another (possibly well stuck together and or greasy/filthy and causing paint-chip etc) the long bit has to be ‘weedled’ out of the front. If they separate easily, then it’s not a problem , the front out the front and the rear out of the rear. Otherwise, there is a simple trick to do it without separating or damaging anything!

Look at the following pictures, it’s a lot easier to do than to describe: The first bit that gets in the way of easy removal is the bracket on the long section,,so the whole lot is fed over to the left and the bracket has to go OVER the frame like this.

Once past the frame, the rest has to come further over untile the TOP bracket at the rear of the guard approaches the vertical ‘skirt’ of the rear mudguard. Dammit, no space to get this thropugh without damage to paint ans some force…

SO, what is needed here is a rotation about the long axis in an anti-clockwise direction, the bracket free to move in an arc between the spokes, leaving the open end of the guard now pointing upwards!

Then, following the curve of the rear portion, it is simply rotated out! Easy!! Just like baby-shampoo, no tears!!

Now we can go around the other side, undo the bolts/screws holding the ‘lid’ on (not forgetting the pins and the mainshaft cover and bolt, and all can be revealed.

Once the mainshaft has been freed at the cover end,

… it can also be removed (since the chainguard is already off!) from the other side, giving access to the gear-change mechanism after the gears have been taken out with the selectors , which is presumably the reason for stripping a box whilst underway in the Simpson Desert at three in the morning by torch-light, with the dingos and kangaroos watching attentively! Well, in reality, I would probably just carry on if there was a shifting-problem, as long as I wasn’t stuck in FIRST gear, which would probably persuade me to strip the box or just ‘plonk’ for the night… depending on where I was, of course!

Replacement is obviously the reverse. This does not HAVE to be in the Simpson Desert, it is also possible to utilize this quick-strip in the comfort of your own garage or workshop… REALLY!

Next up, Pud came and picked up the bike, and brought his picture album with him, with the before and after photos of the bike as he received it in 1970 after paying £20 for it… I shall be showing those in the next few days, too!

© peter gouws 2013

The post Rigid Velocette gearbox ‘field-strip’ first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

Once the kickstart has been put back together…

The rest is actually a doddle. The kickstart disassembly was only really an excuse to demonstrate how it goes back together (spot the deliberate mistake) but shows how the manufacturers actually thought about the tasks of the assembly and service during the design process, as much as the actual usability of the parts in service as a complete machine.

So, the kickstart is ready to re-fit to the cover, which is already on the bike. There is one small problem on this box, as the oil-filler-‘gutter’ is placed so closely to the nut on the top right that holds the quadrant on, that a little ingenuity or some modified tools are required to get the nut done up tight. The long bottom one and the one on the left are not a problem at all. I used a 7/16″ size long-reach 3/8″-drive socket, as my Whitworth sockets are short, fat 1/2″-drive jobs. NO CHANCE! An appropriate tube-spanner with carefully ground or ‘bashed’ down ‘corners’ on one half will also do the job. There’s always one, isn’t there!! On the MSS, its one of the Magneto fitting screws which requires the special skills of a Gynaecologist to remove unless the barrel is off!

One thing that I forgot to mention, in relation to this issue is the importance (assuming that you are actually working on a functioning and correctly assembled machine) of noting which screws/nuts/bolts came from where. Velocette and other makers seem to have a thrown a veil of secrecy over some procedures to entrap the non-initiated into making mistakes, so that they eventually, in frustration and grief, bring their machine to a dealer to get what was previous to some innocuous repair functioning correctly again!

In this case, I tend to use a bit of cardboard scrap with hole punched in the pattern of the part the screws or bolts came off. This also stops things getting lost or rolling of inadvertently into secret hiding-places that the universe opens up, only to be discovered ten years later when you mop up an oil spill or something…

VERY IMPORTANT if you haven’t worked on Velo box before. There is NO black art to gearbox-rebuilding, but there are a few things to watch out for. The GTP gearbox and some other Velocette items, have a plethora of bolts which seem to have been randomly chosen. This is NOT the case and it is IMPERATIVE that in a gearbox that was formerly working, that the bolts go in exactly the spot that they came out of, WITH their respective and CORRECT washers. This cannot be emphasised enough. In the case of the GTP, the critical one is on the right, over the gearchange-camplate inside the box. IF a bolt that is too long (only needs to be 1/32″ too long) goes in here by mistake, you will LOCK UP THE GEARBOX.

You may get 1st and neutral, but nothing else after reassembly. IF the gearbox is mysteriously locked up after replacing any of the nuts for whatever reason, or having had the cover off, THIS IS THE FIRST THING TO CHECK!

I usually mark that one well and note the washers under it very carefully.

Often there is a double coil ‘Thackery’ washer at this position (above) .

If the box still locks up after trying all the bolts, take the shortest on that you have and place another flat washer under the spring washer already there or grind the end off of the bolt enough to let the box work again. The same goes for the MAC/MOV gearbox, but thankfully not the -5 or above. (MSS/KSS/Swingarm)

I digress…OK, so the K/S is back on, now the mainshaft-cover-thingy can be screwed on using the appropriate spanner borrowed from a truckie… A one inch socket would also work if the K/S-spring retaining-pin-nut on the top of the boss were not in the way…

Having done that, a quick wire-brush over the nut and it can be re-painted once everything is properly done up, like the rest of the bolts and nuts damaged by the spanners.

So firstly the gear-change is replaced (easier if the kickstart is moved back a bit to slide the pivot into the hole) and the nut and large washer can be done up on the back to retain it in the bush.

Then the exhaust goes back on, not forgetting the tube behind the exhaust mount that goes over the square footrest-bolt and the little ring-gasket inside the exhaust at the engine end…

and the nut on the drop-out for the rear mounting…

and last of all the footrest itself over the top of the remaining distance tube and the large nut done up tight with a bit of red Loctite on the dry thread.

All that remains is to fill up the gearbox with an appropriate transmission oil and then have a good walk-around the machine to inspect and check that nothing is left over (!), wipe off any extraneous grease or gasket-goo, refit the battery, check the coil-connections and any other things that may have been knocked or taken off during dismantling and she’s good to go!

Job done! (new haircut, too!)

© peter gouws 2013

The post GTP all back together first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

The timing side is really not that difficult anymore, apart from the stupid (duh) mistake that I made with the kickstart… The bane of my life. Why can’t I just leave well alone?? Ah well, better get on with it then. Always a struggle for me, the kickstart quadrant remained a mystery for some time and I wondered how I seemed to need three hands and all my teeth to get one of these fitted satisfactorily UNTIL one day, nearly exasperated, I sat down with one of these in one hand, a glass of ‘works’ lubricant (red) in the other and wallowed in my sorrow! By some stroke of luck, the lighting was such that it showed up something that I had probably seen many times before but not previously ‘perceived’ for what it was. Two small holes in the face of the ratchet gear, usually all gummed up with sh*t and not really that obvious. The curtain before my eyes dropped and now I understood how this was so simple that I had never noticed it before! (BIG ‘duh’)…

This is what it looks like when properly cleaned up. The holes in the face are usually pretty much invisible when caked up with gunge.

OK, so here’s the plan. The idea is to be able to hold the quadrant housing in one hand and be able to turn it while the gear inside remains in the same position (or the other way round – but that needs three hands again…), to enable the milled slot to line up with the hole in the kickstart lever/pedal so that the cotter-pin can be dropped in place…

In this case I use my lens-ring-removal-tool-thingy held in a ‘Workmate’, as my workbench as such is far away and I don’t have a proper vice up here… BUT, you could use two sturdy nails with their heads ground off and held in a vice at the right distance apart (or even make up a special tool for the job) Actually, a kickstart spring is one of the things that goes in my my long-distance spares bag and with my versatile lens tool, is something that can easily be swapped out, should the damned thing break… Here this is a picture of the GTP parts, which are remarkably clean (yes, I did give it a wipe first, I must concede)

So, the ‘pins’ go in the holes (! I bet you never thought of that!)…

and it then looks like this. The position of the slot for the cotter is facing towards us running SW to NE on the shaft and will not change in the next pic, as the pins are holding that bit from the back, remember?

(Oops, I turned the camera angle a bit…) Rotate my hand about 45˚ in a clockwise direction and what HAS changed, if you look carefully, is the position of Smaug’s mountain on the quadrant in relation to the ‘slot’ in the shaft. The ramp has now moved ‘out of the way’…

… allowing the kickstart lever and cotter pin to be popped on with the other hand without any cuts, bruises, swearing or chipped teeth! EASY! (sorry about the blurry photo)

Next up, the finishing off the bike and then a demonstration of a gearbox complete ‘field-strip’ (about ten minutes) and the trick with the chainguard…

© peter gouws 2013

The post Velocette Kickstart reassembly first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

With just a small job to do on the gearbox, to stop the mainshaft falling out! Basically, the lid has to be put on the gearbox: so to start with, first gear is stuck, lubricated, on the end of the shaft:

The gasket face is then cleaned up with alcohol and a smear of Hylomar applied all around.

The revolting mess on the kickstart pawl is the ‘Assembly Lube’ that I use, which comes in an aerosol and exudes from a thin tube like those supplied with WD40. It comes out like that expanding foam used in the building trade for filling gaps… and then settles to a nice sticky cross between oil and grease. Wonderful stuff! Nice to protect bits and in case I forget to lubricate later, it penetrates nicely when warm, too.

The cleaned up gasket will be re-used and just gets stuck on the goo as above.

On goes the lid (with Hylomar also on the inside face) and all the bolts are tightened and the nut put on the end of the mainshaft, the actual reason for reassembling this side and putting the lid on in the first place. The kickstart boss had to come off as I had stupidly taken the cotter-pin out of the kickstart lever before this all started… Something that I will never do again unless I have to, especially with the GTP. The top right of the three screws is even less accessible that on the later and larger ‘boxes, God help me! I’ve no idea how I’ll ever get it tight afterwards!! A good wipe around the joint with a rag soaked in Meths to remove any traces of ‘blue’ and the job can now wait until tomorrow to finish off.

Having replaced the box, it is now necessary to tighten the mountings and re-tighten the primary chain by moving the gearbox back to where it was before (I had to move it forward to wangle the crankshaft-pulley and sprocket on, remember?). Check tension through the hole in the PCC regularly when those big nuts are done up on the top of the gearbox-mount and use the adjuster just to keep tension as you tighten! They can exert considerable force and ruin the whole setup if the chain is over-tight! Once close to correct, a slight loosening of the big ones and tensioning through the adjuster and nip them up nice and tight, not forgetting to check again… Make sure that the tensioner is pulling up against the face of the frame to the rear; if not, despite the tightness of the large bolts, the primary chain could loosen again due to the pull on the top run of chain caused by the blinding acceleration of this powerful little engine! Joking aside, this is important on any bike!

Now to the other side, where the PCC and flywheel have already been reassembled. Now the rear chainguard has to be replaced. The rear chain is first fed over the rear sprocket and the loose end pulled to the front of the bike and placed on the drive-sprocket on the gearbox, returning it about halfway to the rear wheel. Thus, the chain link can be attached, when necessary, on the lower run of the chain. The guard (or should I say both of them – the two pieces have not been disturbed, as the paintwork would surely split and crack) cannot be fitted with the chain ‘done up’, so ithe top run is purposely pushed down into whatever recesses are naturally there, so that it is out of the way, but still on both sprockets. THEN, the rear of the chainguard is fed into the space between the frame and wheel, UPSIDE DOWN, and once clear of the diagonal frame member, can be uprighted by revolving it along it’s length clockwise, with a slight turning of the wheel, taking advantage of the space between the spokes. sounds strange, but works and no paint damaged, either. Saves a whole lot of dismantling going on! The chain link can now be fitted, with the round end facing to the back, as it is on the bottom run…

Now in place, the nuts and bolts at front and rear and holding it onto the mudguard can be put back with spring-washers and tightened.

Here is the assembly all done up and the primary chain visible through it’s peek-hole in the casing!

Next comes the tube spacer on the square footrest-bolt, if not already fitted, then the exhaust can be attached. The one mounting goes on the bolt now, the front and back as before in the head and on the bolt on the rear drop-out casting.

After that, the footrest itself, facing backwards (it doesn’t fit any other way without interfering with the brake-lever!), then the bent flat plate which acts as a stop for the brake-lever, the folded edge vertically on the RIGHT (as can be seen above), then the brake-lever itself (after putting the rod through the rear brake actuating lever-thingy) and the washer which doubles as a bush, liberally greased and placed through and on the gear lever hole, then the washer and nut on the end

Here it can be seen that the brake-pedal actually ‘resides’ higher than the footrest, which I am nor particularly fond of… If it were my bike, I’d have to find a way to either raise the footpeg a bit or lower the angle of the pedal to be comfortable with it. All a question of what one is used to, I suppose!

Voila! Drive-side done! Just a few bits of paint to touch up and that was it. Next, the kickstart assembly and footrest etc on the timing-side and all is done, apart from refitting the battery! What a shame! After tomorrow Pud will be able to come and pick it up! I would have loved to have kept the bike for a bit longer… maybe a test-drive… for a week or two, just to make sure everything is OK, you know, for safety’s sake… Have to have a chat with Pud about that!

© peter gouws 2013

The post GTP Drive-side completion first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

Now the real fun starts!

Let’s put this jigsaw back together!

Please be patient, there are a lot of hi-res pictures to load on this one!! There are a couple of points to watch that, being a Velocette, it has in common with most of the other models (regarding the clutch at any rate) and a few that are unique to this model, like the re-mounting of the outside flywheel…

Today I want to cover the replacement of the primary chain case and all that this procedure entails… A little different to the average four-stroke Velocette that we all love and know (perhaps intimately).

To start off with, the primary chain case is a but different to the later models. In this one, It also incorporates the dynamo drive in a unique to this model configuration, between the clutch and crankshaft, as opposed to forward of it. I was loth to disturb the assembly of the primary-drive sprocket on the end of the crankshaft from the dynamo-pulley, and so the following procedure was followed: First of all the inside casing had to be affixed to the clutch end of the gearbox on the drive side. The cork Gasket there was examined and found to be good, the surface of that in contact with the gearbox was smeared with blue ‘Hylomar’, non-hardening “aerograde”, which is my favourite since about 30 years for this sort of thing (used to be called something different then). After pressing the cork back on to the gearbox, the FRONT face of the cork has to be smeared with a liberal coating of high-melting-point grease…

Please notice that clutch thrust bearing has also been replaced in this shot, with a ‘new old stock’ item, whose one face was a bit blemished, so the best side goes inwards to the face the balls in the cage (You may remember that the old one was ‘shot’…)

Just as a reminder what the race looks like, here with some ‘assembly lube’ sprayed on… before the outboard-facing plain ring goes on.

The reason for the grease is easy to explain: The inside casing has to fit over the the ring around the crankshaft that is on the crank-case and the back end has to be up against the gearbox. The gearbox, however, has to be free to move forwards and backwards to adjust chain tension in the primary chain… SO, after that, the inner PCC can be attached with the 4 screws to the gearbox and wired up, so that they just pinch and a quarter turn back. I used galvanised fencing-wire… The front of the inner PCC is placed over the ring on the crank-case and it should all fit, with the dynamo sticking also through a hole, as well as the square brake-pedal and foot-pedal bolt…

Here it is, showing the clean inboard side of the Primary Chain Case, which goes up against the greasy gearbox.

Here it is fitted and nicely wired up, the wires nice and stiff and out of the way of the clutch pusher-offer.

Here a bit closer.

That’s the easy bit! Next comes whole of the front side of the PCC and the drive off the crankshaft. In this case, I didn’t want to split any more than was necessary, so the drive-sprocket off the end of the crank was still attached THROUGH the outer PCC to the pulley for the dynamo, onto which the actual crank-shaft-flywheel attaches ( just a bit different to the four-strokes!).

To put his on, I first made a new gasket for the Primary Chain Case as shown here:

The outer shape is easy and is simply traced with a pencil around the perimeter.

While the case is sitting on there, the holes can also be penciled onto the gasket-paper through the holes in the casing, remembering to keep the pencil vertical and sharp!

Cut out, best done with scissors: Don’t forget, in this particular case, that the outside of the chain-case is not the same as the outside of the gasket! Turn it over and you will see that the gasket has to fit INSIDE an edge that has been turned over, and so must be at least 1.5 mm smaller all around…

Cut his first and then measure with a compass (borrowed from one of the children/grandchildren) the width of the gasket required at the face of the inner Primary Chain Case…

… and transfer appropriately to the paper all around the edge

… and then cut the inside out, preferably with a scalpel or other VERY sharp knife, or failing that, it can also be done with scissors.

The holes can be punched using various tools (there are all sorts of hole-punches available. Even one of those leather-punch-pliers will do the job well.

The inside face of the outer PCC suitably spread with gasket compound and the gasket pressed into place in the outside chaincase.Here it is easy to see the turned-down edge that the gasket fits inside, which is why it had to be trimmed around the perimeter before marking out for the inside cut.

The clutch can then be placed on the gearbox end of the sleeve-gear

… NOT forgetting first to check that all THREE pins are still present in the clutch assembly…like I did! When I placed the clutch on the table, the one pin dropped out and I didn’t notice until I had fitted the outer… another 15 minutes undoing all the screws and then taking the clutch off, put the pin back in and re-assemble… Happens every few years or so… No one else has EVER done that before, though, I suppose!

The clutch nut is then screwed on so that it all doesn’t fall off (using here a tool actually designed to remove lens-rings on cameras!)

The primary chain is then rotated onto the clutch and readied to be put on the sprocket on the inside of the outer chainguard.

Now comes a tricky bit… The perimeter of the inner chain-guard then has gasket goo applied, the front sprocket is brought closer and has the chain rotated onto it and the sprocket/ pulley is pushed over the crankshaft end (assuming that the gearbox has been previously positioned so far forward to allow this!!)

OK, after this, assembly of the PCC is simple enough, the screws are replaced in their appropriate holes and all is good.

Now the ‘cotton-reel’ is replaced on the front of the PCC/Engine mount

The dynamo pulley and belt can now be replaced. Put the belt on the crankshaft pulley and the other end in the dynamo pulley and slip the pulley over the shaft with the belt on, unless you want to undo everything and do the rotate-to tighten procedure all over again. It’s no good putting the pulley on first, obviously, as the belt WON’T won’t fit over the lip – believe me!

Tighten the nut on the pulley, of course, before putting the cover on over the top.

… and the large nut that holds the pulley on the crankshaft can now be put on and tightened. Clean the threads meticulously and screw the nut on tight.

At the first attempt, I found that the nut turned the crankshaft before tightening on the pulley, so the pulley needed to be driven onto the taper of the shaft to affix it first, to avoid premature rotation of the engine, which slightly hinders the tightening of the nut…

For this, a large, deep socket was used and cautiously but firmly whacked to seat the the pulley onto the taper, so that it did not rotate…

Eventually it worked, the nut was tight and the flywheel could then be attached by the six nuts.

The washers under the nuts were cleaned up

… and the nuts done up opposite to one another, to pull the flywheel evenly into the recess.

Once pulled in and checked for egocentricity (hic!), the nuts were removed again and a spot of Loctite applied, the nuts now done up for real, ready for painting!

Well, that was about it for now, the mainshaft is then dutifully replaced in the gearbox and tomorrow, the rest of the assembly will be updated!!

Enjoy!!

© peter gouws 2013

The post GTP Primary Chain Case re-assembly first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

Well, blow me down. Four days and nights I have been beating myself up about not stripping the ‘box while it was out of the frame and at four this morning, it finally got me.

So I decided that, between everything else going on here (including storms, blocked drains, trees falling all over the place fetchin’ an’ totin’ for the parents, that I’d finally ‘do’ it. The box had been sitting there looking at me reproachfully every time I went past it (about 40 times a day) and so I grabbed it had another look. There was a sort of light-browny sludge and bubbles of water sitting in it and oozing out of one of the corners and that finally tipped me over the edge. All had to come out, if only to clean it all properly, and with that much water-ingress, there was bound to be more to discover inside.

The only successful way to get this apart is first to extract the two pins from the selectors, AFTER making sure that the gearbox is in neutral (this makes it a lot easier, believe me!). To remove the pins, they are pushed/punched out from the clutch-side of the box, NOT pulled out with Mole-Grips or any other Neanderthal method… once out, and having pulled out the mainshaft (if not already done), the first gear BK9/4 will now be sitting loosely on the top, or already have fallen on your foot… the other two gears formerly on the mainshaft can now come out, with some clever tilting and skewing of the selector and if necessary a few expletives as lubricant (works very well and always good to have close at hand!).

The layshaft and selectors are a bit of a bind to get out, even if practised, due to the lack of space in this rather small casting, but a method is soon found to disengage the selector and twist it all out. Don’t try taking the sleeve-gear out first, it doesn’t work. Strangely enough, reassembly is always a lot easier than dismantling, even if you’ve never done it before!

Now I remove the swivel pin (remember the actual culprit in the story) and remove the selector plate, being careful not to let things go ‘ping’ inside and fly about the place. For the less confident, a tea-towell over the opening stops any errant bits (usually the click-stop pawl and the ‘biro’ spring) from becoming ballistic and subsequently losing the spring (I’ve never done that before, of course!).

Once that is all done, the whole lot can be cleaned and inspected:

I start with mineral turpentine and then use thinners for nasty grime and then wash it down with methylated spirits, but I suppose everyone has their own favourites. For reassembly a smear of sewing-machine oil suffices to keep things lubed.

So this is the inside of the box after wiping out and cleaning, the camplate still engaged but the pin already unscrewed, which is why it is a bit ‘skew’.

Outside cleaned of all the crud that was on it.

and the clutch end, without disturbing the cork, which is all intact.

OK, here is the camplate properly, so that you can see it! The pivot is obviously missing from the centre and the selector-pawl is notched in the ‘neutral’ position.

The plate removed and showing what lurks behind it, which is all OK. The ‘Biro’ spring (vertical) will also be ordered for later… the pivot bolt (with Loctite!) is seen here already screwed back in from the outside… tightened up and then repainted black again!

The plate replaced, making sure that ‘neutral’ detent is engaged with the pawl (neutral is always the shallowest indentation, and is the second one from one of the ends (depending which plate you have… WD and postwar ones were generally for all models the other way round for the gearchange ‘one-up, three down’).

This one shows the detent for first gear ‘occupied’ by the pawl… see how the one for neutral (2nd notch) is smaller?

Obvious damage to layshaft gears from sitting in watery oil for decades…

… and the same on the mainshaft gears. This means that in the long run, a new set of gears (identical, by the way to the MAC/MOV cluster) will be sourced for replacement at a later date. These will run fine for a long time yet, even if they aren’t pretty.

Having checked all the bearings, it’s time for reassembly!

First the sleeve-gear is replaced (shown here, the gearbox is upside-down)

Then the layshaft gears and selector (which looks very home-made!) can be twiddled into place (easy if it’s in neutral, remember!!)

Then the second and third for the mainshaft are lain in place atop the sleeve-gear, also slipping the selector in the slot (you will have to lift it a tad to position it right, you’ll see!) and, as shown here, the pins also then need positioning (shown here not yet all the way in) pretty darn quick to keep everything in position, as the lid can’t go on yet, until the Primary Chaincase is in position… Don’t want it all falling out again, do we!?

Now the ‘right’ way up, with first gear on the mainshaft, just for the picture, and with the distance-ring on the layshaft end, ‘inside’ the kickstart ratchet:

That’s the one I meant!

having replaced (and painted) the so-called ‘striking-lever’, the whole lot can now be hung back on the frame,

the adjuster slipped into place and the two large bolts done up enough to hold it all together.

Now the clutch cable can be replaced in the doodad inside the box, but first gear has to come out for this, so that a ‘digit’ can be used to lift the end of the lever far enough out to slip the nipple of the cable through the slot into the hole…

Don’t forget to put the tower on the cable (as seen in the pictures above) before slotting it in (already in the slot here), or the clutch doesn’t really work that well and you might have to dismantle things later if you didn’t notice the ‘nutty slack’…

Here the cable in place, the lever back inside the gearbox ans the tower ready to screw back on. This invariably damages the paint on the tower -sorry, ‘cable-stop-holder’ (as there aren’t any flats on this one), so once tight, it is also rubbed over with emery and repainted black to stop corrosion.

More tomorrow!!

© peter gouws 2013

The post GTP full gearbox strip-down first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

NEVER ASSUME!

This should be the first thing drummed into us at school from the very first day onwards and for every day after that. If we were to learn only that, it would save us more time, money and stress than anything else in our education – in fact, probably more everything else put together (if we haven’t grasped that one concept)!!

What am I babbling on about, you might well ask? Ah yes, we’ve all heard the ‘stories’, the ‘old chestnuts’ and wisdom of ages passed down from generation of ‘Veloist’ to the next, like “90% of gearbox problems are clutch problems” etc, well, here’s a new one! What happened here, I have never seen happen before, but I must admit, is the result of a stroke of genius by the designers of these gearboxes, for whom we should be ever grateful.

Let’s start at the very beginning: Pud came to me a few weeks ago and said that he’d like me to look at his GTP. The gearbox wasn’t right (he’d seen the job I did on one of mine and knew that I wouldn’t butcher it). It was ‘stiff’ were his words, and on further inquiry, the word ‘tight’ was also mentioned. Oops! Not good.

These two words conjure up uncomfortable feelings at three in the morning on the M6 in January at minus whatever on the way from Birmingham back home, with a long way yet to go, with the bike getting progressively slower, despite the road being level and the ‘tap’ turned on at the same opening. Uncomfortable, because it meant either that the engine was about to seize, or the gearbox. Dammit, put the choke on a bit (to help cool combustion) and ease the throttle about a third and gain some time to think… I would prefer that it is the engine, out here in the dark in the middle of nowhere, if I’m honest, as it’s easier to fix. Only one way to find out! Close the throttle, pull the clutch. If the bike lurches to a halt and the engine is still spinning, it’s the gearbox… and if the bike decelerates at a ‘normal’ rate and the engine falters or stalls, it’s the piston stopped going up and down or very tight.

I have wandered off again, sorry… Back to the gearbox in question and my ‘assumption’, based also on the assumption that we both spoke a common language, this is what I understood by ‘tight’, based on some various experiences in my shady past. And so I thanked him for his trust and graciously took on the job to discover which naughty bearing was causing the problem…

The story so far I hope that you have enjoyed having recorded here on the last two blogs and is ‘history’, so to speak.

With the box on the bench, I could now go about taking the thing apart to see what is wrong. The Sleeve-gear bearing can, technically, be removed from the clutch end in situ and to be honest, this was my main suspicion for the problem. I have a couple of L35N Hoffmans and sundry other bearings here, so not a problem, but it IS easier to take out once all is removed. Before the gears can all come out, the ‘striking lever’ BK65/3 has to be removed along with the camplate pivot, BK64/2. Having done that, I thought, just pull out the ‘pins’ and the rest can be pulled out… I had already removed the nut on the striking lever (almost) while still in the frame, but it was all a bit close, which I why I took the box out. Makes it all a lot easier, SO, a few twists and it came off and then…

Wait a minute! What’s this?!

I hadn’t actually seen this while it was all in situ in the frame, but now… Elementary, my dear Watson! (and the sharp-eyed amongst you would have spotted it yesterday on one the photos already – but I didn’t want to spoil a perfectly good new blog for today by mentioning it!). Could this be the reason that he was having ‘difficulty’ with the box? Indeed, but very different to what I had erroneously ‘understood’ (assumed), the stiffness was not so much IN the box, as outside, and actually was a difficulty in SELECTING gear, not in the operation of the transmission as such! OMG!

So simple, and yet would make the bike very difficult to ride. In fact, IF I HAD BEEN ACTUALLY LOOKING FOR IT, I could have seen it before, BUT, on the other hand, it would have been nigh on impossible to remedy with the gearbox in the frame anyway… C’est la vie! The geniality of the whole design, is that the it is MEANT to be so, as the striking lever prevents the pivot from falling out in the road somewhere between here and Novgorod in the middle of the night. Also very nice is, that it is not permitted to unscrew enough to cause the camplate do ‘disengage’ with not only disastrous, but expensive consequences, quite apart from a suddenly heightened awareness and skill required to overcome a locked up back wheel at speed. (Even worse if the chain brakes under the strain, catapulting you forward freestyle for a second, until it wraps itself around the wheel, locking it up again!) What fun. You don’t have to ask how I know, do you?? (Don’t worry, it wasn’t on a Velocette!)

So, the mystery is solved and here are a few shots to show what happened in more detail. SO don’t forget to light a candle for those long-gone designers of these boxes, who went to such lengths to protect us from the evils of gravel-rash, at least until the gearbox casing design was changed for the swinging arm models! At this point, it might be worth noting that next time your Venom/Viper/Whatever gearbox is out, it might be worth wiring or ‘Loctiting’ this particular part in place, just in case!

Having said that, I have NEVER seen this happen before, but it only has to drop out once, to spoil your whole day!

This is how it ‘should’ look, as far as the distance between the parts is concerned, anyway. I still haven’t taken off the lever and cleaned it yet, only screwed the offending ‘nut’ back in…

The offended striking lever from the inside, showing some road crud and the removed paint and metal filings due to the contact with the face of the pivot…

This is what it looked like after a clean-up. Quite obvious rub-marks and some wear on the finish.

The offendING pivot nut, which I am assured used to be painted black…

To effect a cure, it was agreed that I unscrew the nut as far as possible without disengaging it all inside, clean and dry the thread and apply some blue ‘Loctite’, before doing it up tight again. *Note the shim/washer under the nut, which serves 2 purposes: to prevent the nut damaging the alloy of the casing and to correctly space the cam-plate inside on the shoulder of the pivot, lining everything up nicely inside, which greatly assist the smooth function of the box. The wrong shim, or none at all, could certainly have a negative influence on it all, something to bear in mind on these early gearboxes!

The bearings in the box Pud assured me had only done seven or so thousand miles and despite some water ingress through the clutch cable tower, would not require changing. The gearbox was quiet and smooth and unlike a bigger bike, the box has a relatively easy life. When he bought it 35 years ago, it was already 35 years old and had done COSIDERABLY more mileage and the original bearings were still fitted and working fine… So no reason to dismantle or disturb anything any further, after the “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it” principle, which I thoroughly agree with! Anyway, if it does play up at some time in the future, I am hoping that I might have a further opportunity to work on the bike again, which I would greatly look forward to!

Always nice to have and to use the right tools for the job: Above, the massive spanner for the nut!

So everything will get a good wipe-over and clean, the gearbox will be re-assembled and mounted in the frame, the nuts as necessary re-coated with an oil-based black paint after assembly. Tomorrow the clutch and chaincase re-assembly are the subject of the final episode on the repair of this wonderful little machine. I WANT one!

*********************************

Oh, and here, just by way of anecdote, have a look at the registration / tax document of the GTP; Notice anything slightly unusual??

What is it registered as (since new)? A Velo-Solex?? Isn’t that a French bicycle with an engine balanced on the front wheel, that runs on garlic-cloves and a bread-stick?? Just goes to show that the officials then, as now, had absolutely no idea what do with a name like Velocette! And that in 1939!

Dr. Peter saying toodle-pip for now!

© peter gouws 2013

The post GTP Gearbox cure… first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

It is certainly not every day that anyone gets the chance to have a look at and dismantle a Velocette single-plate clutch, as fitted to the pre-war MOVs and the GTP series of bikes, so I thought that while I’m at it, I could take a few pictures and document what it looks like and how it goes together… one never knows when it might be of use to someone. It is often said that most Velocette gearbox problems are actually clutch problems, but looking at this, there is actually very little to cause any problems at all. Altogether a wonderful setup, and the sturdiest little clutch I’ve ever had the pleasure to work on or with. Talk about robust! No plates to warp here, that’s for sure. The simplicity of the design is genial and it is no wonder that Veloce continued with this setup right until the end – albeit with a few changes along the way, as a result of what I believe is called ‘progress’.

Above is the bare clutch, with the mainshaft about to be removed…

… as shown above with it already out, from the ‘other end’ of the gearbox.

The spring-ring is undone with A61/2, a peg-spanner, which you either have or have to improvise. Do NOT hammer it undone with a screwdriver in one of the holes, PLEASE! Here it is shown almost about to fall off

and here is the ring of sixteen springs hidden behind it, which do all the work (Thruxtons have 20 springs)! Unlike the later restrictions in the availability of larger-diameter spring-wire after the war, which led to designs like the Vincent’s clutch on the series B etc, this was actually designed like this ‘on purpose’ a LONG, long time before WWII… I wonder where Uncle Phil got his idea from…?

So here on the left is the solid front plate removed With the collar and springs still attached and on the right, the plate behind it with the cork friction-material, the bearing-ring and the three actuating pins in the depression around the central boss.

This is what they look like from the ‘other side’. The working of the clutch itself is probably the most talked aspect of Velocettes the world over… and I see no need for further dis-assembly at this stage. Maybe later?

Now that the clutch is off, the screws mounting the chainguard and the clutch actuating ‘ring’ are revealed On the left of the protruding gear (also wired on) is the fulcrum of the ring.When the clutch lever is pulled, this end of the ring is pushed off the flat back towards us (as in ‘outboard’) from behind the tab on the right, basically ‘skewing’ it and therefore separating the driven and driven plate(s) from contact with one another…. The chaincase retaining-screws have been wired to stop them inadvertently rotating and undoing, a somewhat embarrassing and expensive, if not dangerous experience, I could imagine…

Just for reference, the ‘business end’ of the dynamo, without the pulley, which on the GTP sits IN-side the Primary Chaincase

Here just a view of the whole plot with the chaincase removed, showing just how minimalistic everything is. Veloce went to great lengths do devise a very stiff and light setup to the whole machine.

Looky-looky through the hole left by the shaft and showing the gear on the other side which has toppled to the right. Obvious here is also the road-grunge and dirt that this machine accumulates. Not a bike that sits languishing in a posh living-room on a stand, believe me! This machine does some serious touring, with dents on the mudguard at the front where the Webb forks bottom out over railway-lines at speed… (unintentional, but nevertheless there…)

Interesting. these are the four screws and the fencing wire and an extra nut off the chaincase inner (the nut held the pillar that the dynamo-pulley-guard screws on to on the perimeter of the chaincase. I hadn’t noticed at first until it fell, but while looking and preparing to take a photo, a movement caught my eye… something had fallen off! And here it is with the other bits: A ‘hobby’ razor-blade… I’ll have to ask Pud about that, it might just have been the right thickness to stop something rattling… Who knows!!

Well, now the guard is off the other side, I can ‘drift’ the pins out that hold the selector-mechanism in place, for ‘ease’ of further dismantling. Those are them on the right of the picture, sticking out of the innards, not yet completely removed.

And a shot of the clutch actuating cable, having removed it from the lever in the box (in the ‘ole), after unscrewing the tower (the black tube lying on the top of the box) it normally hides in. This is actually the only weakness with all the Velo boxes of this era, as the tube offers an opportunity for water to enter the gearbox at this point. Water drips down the cable when riding in the wet and goes in through this hole. The remedy is the type of grommet-thingy also found on handlebar-levers and the tops of carburettors. This one’s grommet was dried and cracked and probably the reason for the small amount of whitish-goo in the gearbox. More of that on further inspection!!

Just for reference, this is the way that the gearbox mounts on two rails on the frame, the screw is used to adjusts the chain-tension and fits on an appropriately shaped part of the frame just forward of the rear mudguard.

The clamp on the top of the ‘box…

…and here the gear-change leverage on the outside (front-facing) part of the gearbox, very difficult to get at and impossible to remove in situ, which is why I took the trouble to take it all out in the first place!

Before going any further, I just want to secure the thrust bearing inboard of the clutch before removing the sleeve-gear and everything else… here it just looking out of the gearbox casting and below, removed and place in safety somewhere that I can keep it clean and find it later for re-assembly (yes, the inside ring is still not out, I know… that’s still sitting on the sleeve-gear!

Well, that’s it for for Doctor Peter’s clinic today, folks! Hope you enjoyed today’s episode! More coming soon on the same channel, stay tuned!!

© peter gouws 2013

The post GTP and pre-War MOV single-plate clutch first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

Anyone out there ever worked on a GTP that really ran well?? I haven’t and in fact have never had one of these ‘go through my hands’, so it is something completely new to me altogether! Apparently the problem with this one is a ‘tight’ gearbox, which has to be looked at, since Pud uses this on a regular basis; he just does not have the time or the room to work on this at present, due to ‘other priorities’. I don’t know if he is actually only being kind in giving me an opportunity to learn something new (- At my age! Happens every day, but not like this!) or really hasn’t the space: Whatever the reason, here it is and I am very grateful – thanks, Pud!!

And, as you saw in the last hastily assembled blog and the photographs, it is plain to see what a fine example of the marque and model in question.

So to the gearbox problem. Nothing can be gained by stripping the box in the frame (if indeed it is possible, it only makes re-assembly more difficult!), so the process of removing it and dismantling it has to be started somewhere! First of all, the exhaust and all the other parts that are ‘in the way’ on the timing-side have to come off. The exhaust is held on with a mounting onto the ‘drop-out’ of the frame at its rear end and the threaded ring on the exhaust-port on the engine end (with a copper ring-gasket inside), with a bracket hanging from inboard of the foot-peg in the middle, which has to be removed along with the distance tube, before the pipe itself will come off, of course. The pipe does not have to separated from the silencer to remove it, have a look at the picture and you will see how it works!

The gear-change linkage is removed for easier access and storage of the bits, by unscrewing the nut off the linkage from the actuating lever on the front of the gearbox

… and the screw and washer that hold the lever mechanism on behind the big bush on the top of the gearbox (as illustrated below, replaced for clarity in the photo!).

Now with that it out of the way, I removed the cotter-pin from the kickstart (not actually necessary, but means that the lever can be swung out of the way. The disadvantage is that it is a fiddle-faddle to get it back in later). Now all the bolts can be removed from the front cover, not forgetting to remove the large nut (B3) from the cover, to get at the nut on the end of the mainshaft (B5/4) which might make removal of the cover difficult, otherwise! Note also, by the way, the CORRECT B60/2 kick-start and foot-change-rubber with the OPEN end… different to that so often marketed with a closed end: One of my future projects, soon to be revealed!

(The picture directly above shows the B3 removed and the cover taken off, with the gear-change-pedal replaced for orientation of the parts, and with the kick-start swung out of the way!)

OK, that has sorted the timing-side, now round to the drive side, where there is a bit more to do, starting with the footrest and brake-pedal, Exhaust and then the various bits of tinware like the chainguard , which is a pain to remove!! Nut and bolt at front and rear and not forgetting the one holding it in the middle to the mudguard skirt. The whole thing is a bit easier if you take the final drive chain off before you attempt to get the guard out in one piece, if that’s what you want to do (which I do…). Splitting the two while on the bike is fine if they are a sliding fit, but beware of chipped paint and skinned knuckles if they are tight. (How I know?) So as with many before it, this one is removed in one piece, the trick being to twist it around at the right moment so that it is upside-down as the last part is extracted carefully from all the sharp bits just waiting to leave their mark on someone else’s paintwork…

Phew! That’s done without blessures and now it allows the removal of the main-shaft and sprocket from this side of the plot, to be put somewhere safe. Next is the flywheel and chain-guard. (this picture before removal of the chain-guard, which can be seen on the right!)

Flywheel first, as the chain-guard is behind it as well as the cover for the dynamo drive-belt (KA93/7), another piece of ‘tinware’ that is unique to the two-strokes – of which there are many! I was a bit wary of the flywheel, but not seeing any other impediment to its removal apart from the six nuts on the centre of the boss, these were dutifully removed. Still sat very tight… Oh well, giving it a gentle bash with a nylon mallet from the back didn’t help, so I started undoing the large nut at the centre and in ‘unwinding’ it so the flywheel was pushed off the shaft by the inside of the flange on the nut and came off relatively easily, as did the aforementioned cover which is held on with two nuts, the dynamo pulley with the usual central nut.

The flywheel removed, showing the flanged nut that was on the INSIDE, which when unscrewed (normal right-hand-thread, by the way) pushes the wheel off the shaft: Clever!

Now the larger-than-the-hole-in-the-primary-chain-case boss had to be removed, before the chain-case itself could come off (duh). This, according to the parts list, is held on a taper on the shaft, so will require a puller. The problem seems to me to be, how is the sprocket attached and how to separate them. No ideas from the parts book either. The front of the flywheel-mounting-boss/ belt-drive-pulley is shown with six radial holes as is the sprocket. Convenient would be if the sprocket was held on the inside of the chain-case to the ‘back’ of the boss with bolts that ran through the boss to the front, where the flywheel would then be fixed with nuts on the front. That would make sense, because then, once the flywheel was removed, the boss would still have to be pulled off the shaft, but the sprocket and chain would remain inside the chain-case; HOWEVER: We have a problem here!

The front of the boss had six studs coming out of the front… I think,

(This is it AFTER removal!)… that show no sign of movement or being a sliding or loose fit in the holes and the sprocket (unseen on the IN side) seems to be ‘well attached’ to the flywheel boss still. Oops! I shall have to be VERY careful removing the pulley from the shaft, for fear of doing any damage to the chain-case or sprocket. Ah well, you only live once (and Pud can only kill me once, even if very slowly), so the puller was set and the boss pulled off the shaft with a ‘crack!’ As I thought, the chain and sprocket were still attached, but no damage done. Breathe in, breathe out!

So, what now?? The chain still being attached made it all a bit more difficult to separate the halves of the chain-case, even after removing the 16 screws and one pillar from the perimeter. Oh, and another ‘oddity’: Mounded on the engine plate at the front of the chain-case is a strange-looking ‘cotton-reel’ fitting. Imagine a turned ring of about an inch in diameter and half an inch thick, with a slot turned in it, the width of the two chain-case halves around the outside edge… and deep enough to act as a stop, when the chain-case edge is inserted into the gap. So, have I lost you? Take a look at this (unfortunately taken with flash): The button is clearly visible on the left hand side (front edge) of the chain-case, central in this shot:

This also doesn’t help when trying to split the front of the chain-case from the back, if you can follow me because it effectively pinches the front of the cases together, and so also has to be removed before I can go a step further.

Well, I managed it. I had to go around the other side and loosen the gearbox mounting and screw the gearbox closer to the engine to slacken the chain and then fiddle the now looser chain off the front sprocket by the old ‘divert and rotate’ trick, which is all that was possible in the confined space, despite removal of the ‘cotton-reel’.

So this is it, with the main-shaft replaced (actually the safest place for it while all this stuff is ‘lying around’)

This is the INSIDE of the cover, showing that the sprocket is NOT held captive by through-bolts, but definitely by the short studs as illustrated in the parts-book…

And here the single-plate clutch arrangement on all the pre-war two-strokes and the MOV, still assembled. More of that in the next episode! (Please note that this is NOT the normal position for the gearbox-mainshaft…)

Hope you enjoyed that, I did. This is certainly not a bike that everyone has the chance to work on and so it is a great pleasure and treasure to be able to do so! And so, until the next time, Doctor Peter signing off for today…

© peter gouws 2013

The post GTP Gearbox-strip #1 first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

This coming week looks like being an interesting one!! ‘Pud’ has decided to let me have a go at the gearbox on his early 1939 GTP, which is a bit different for me, as I’ve never actually worked on one of these bikes, or one of these gearboxes, either (the same internals, though as the MAC and MOV of the same era! A whole new ball-game! The project will also allow me to take and post some archival photographs, which might be interesting for those looking for an example to emulate when restoring their own bikes, should anyone have one out there. It’s a bit strange, Pud’s GTP is the only one I have EVER seen that actually runs!! All the ones I have seen up to now ‘still had problems’ that had to be sorted out, before they could be called ‘runners’ – probably due to the plethora of changes made during production and different parts ‘available’; getting a proper set of bits that actually work together is, apparently, a major challenge!! Pud’s bike is the xception to prove the rule! His has been meticulously kept in original condition and so is a very good yardstick for those seeking something unadulterated by previous owners or tens of years rotting somewhere and being used as a donor, or just sheer pilfered off!! All the handlebar controls, including the push-me-pull-you throttle is intact and working, the ‘perches’ for the switches etc are all there.

Altogether a pleasure to have in my (improvised) workshop at the parent’s place. Here anyway, are the first pictures, before I start stripping the box. Afterwards, I will do some ‘proper’ archival shots for the ‘album’ for would-be restorers and ‘comparers’. This really is a very nice, original example. Pud has had the bike about 35 years and has restored it conservatively, as is his wont. You only have to see his K-model (also on this site in the photos section) to see the standard of his work. He keeps all he can and repairs everything possible, but only restores what is necessary! How many times have I heard that someone has replaced everything possible with new parts and then maintain that their bike is absolutely ‘original’!!

You would be hard-pushed to find anything on the bike (apart from tyres/chains/oil etc.) that was not made about the time that the bike left the factory or very soon after. In Australia, we have one distinct advantage in regard to the ‘pre-war’ era bikes: most of the parts were shipped here prior to the war by Veloce, to avoid it being ‘commandeered’ by the government for the war-effort. Very far-sighted of the family and certainly very useful down here! Before I came here 8 years ago, I had no idea of the situation and it has certainly been an eye-opener. There are a great many bikes and enthusiasts ‘down under’, more than in the UK even, for the pre-war stuff, and a wealth of expertise in the racing department, too! There are probably more KTTs down here (and regularly raced!) than the rest of the world put together! Whatever, here are the first shots of Pud’s excellent GTP, for those interested… Lots of photos, so please be patient regarding loading.. it takes time, these are all full resolution photos!

My excellent work-stand, a shipping-crate on its side (so that I can use it for storage under the bench!) with a door screwed to the top… Very hi-tech and a just a bit cheaper than the rather more expensive hydraulic versions available…

a nice shot of the engine and gearbox.

Toolbox…

Exhaust and general arrangement at the rear end (the black insulation tape visible on the stays is to retain the wiring to the rear light)

Rear Number-plate…

Front 3/4 view of engine from the ‘drive’ side:

Just some random shots with little comment for the moment…

Original ‘pimply’ battery-housing

Carb and Voltage-Regulator

Brake-pedal arrangement

‘underslung’ pillion footrest mounts on earlier models

Drive-side rear brake and wheel-spindle arrangement.

Miller Voltage Regulator cover

Original ‘John Bull’ kneegrips…

Nice switchgear

Original dealer water-slide transfer (‘decal’)…

Also on the top of the toolbox

Oil Tank cap

Gearbox general view

Gearbox mounting and clutch cable.

Miller Genny…

Points cover and engine number

Push-me-pull-you Carbie set-up

…and relevant throttle arrangement…

Single-sided damper arrangement for ’38-’39

Perch horn-button

Mudguard ‘skirt at the front…

Interesting valve-cap!

© peter gouws 2013

The post Anyone for GTP? first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

Early MSS ‘Map of Africa”

Well, while the blog as such hasn’t been moving forward in the sense of regular postings, there indeed has been a lot going on in all sorts of ways in the background.

There have been a couple of new ‘events’ and some changes in emphasis, as well as a very much consolidated idea about the bike that I’m restoring and the use that it will be put to!

Let’s start off with the bike, shall we! Since I intend to put in some serious mileage with the bike – more of that later – there are some conditions that have to be met. It is arguable that the British made the best bikes of the period in question, as is what is the ideal size and capacity for a motorcycle. These questions are not merely a matter of taste (though that has to weigh very heavily for the extremely personal choice that a motorcycle is or becomes), but a question of practicality and what the bike is going to be used for. It is often quoted that the 350cc size is the best compromise between power, weight and ‘nimbleness’, which would hint at them being the best ‘all rounder’. In General, I would broadly agree with this statement and have done many a happy mile on 350s – not least of which my 1938 Ariel, which started life as a 500 and was then ‘promoted’ to 350 for ease of use and tractability, especially in a succession of -20˚C winters in Germany. The original idea was to use the 500 in the summer for the longer trips and the 350 engine just swapped out for the winter for the local daily trips to work in snow and ice… Once the 350 was in there, I never needed to change it back, as I only ever rode ‘solo’ with the bike, anyway!

Ah the good old days in Germany! Well, further it has also been claimed that Velocette produced the best 350s… Arguable again, BUT undeniable is the fact that Velocette MAC and K-series bikes are probably the best 350s that I have ever had the pleasure to ride (I’ve never owned a ‘sprung-framed’ 350, only two 500cc MSSs, a ’55 with 250,000 MILES on the clock and a ’56 which I restored from a box of bits). The K-series being the most technologically advanced of the two, does not at all detract from the sheer ease of use, lightness and nimble handling of the MAC, and it’s ease of maintenance and reliability, especially the rigid ones!! Once they shared the sprung frame they became heavier, and so despite improvements in the ‘alloy’ version of the engine put in the later frames, the whole size of the plot increased and made them altogether larger AND heavier. Whatever. MAC? Great ‘little’ bike…

The KSS is altogether different, starting long before in the mid 20s and maturing through the thirties and directly profiting from the KTT racing variants in all sorts of ways… and also, inevitably, gaining in weight as time went on, and more specifically at the change from ‘Mk.I’ (which was never called that while it was in production, of course!) to Mk.II in 1936. Being an overhead-cam design, and a well-developed one at that, meant that for a 350, the bike had ‘spritely’ performance and was very smooth (due to a close-enough to square configuration) . All things being equal, a very comfortable fast tourer (NOT a particularly ‘sporting’ bike, though) capable of eating up the miles with a certain amount of grace and comfort! I always found any Velocette that I have owned almost effortless to ride, I must admit, anyway and the KSS is no exception. My first was one of the last ones made in 1947 with ‘Dowty’ forks (ahem, which was bored and stroked to 490cc…don’t tell anyone!). Of the Dowtys , I can only make the comment that I put them on a par with the Vincent ‘Girdraulics’, which take joint place at the top of the ‘best-forks-I-have-ever-used’ category. No other forks, before or after, handle like they do!! (on British bikes certainly not!)

HOWEVER: the design of the KSS does make it difficult to repair or set up accurately at all without special tools and expertise, which is not always available everywhere and definitely not ‘in the field’. Bush-mechanics have little chance of a ‘get-me-home’ fix if something untoward happens on the road, miles from ‘nowhere’ in particular.

Enter the MSS engine, stage left, to the rescue!!

Same frame, as-good-as-dammit same running gear, but now powered by a pushrod 500. Similar power, but different characteristics entirely. Much longer-legged, loping sort of power-delivery and a much more ‘agricultural’ and very solid design, making repair in the field a lot more feasible and possible.

SO, the bike now looks like this: Both bikes have the same frame and fuel-tank postwar for the Dowtys…

… which I am going to fit (eventually), despite the ‘doom’ cries I hear about losing air just when I don’t need it etc. If well maintained, they are fabulous forks and reliable: Upside-down, air-sprung and oil damped in both directions: Come on, get real! (OK, OK, a set of Girdraulics would be ‘interesting’, but I just don’t happen to have the four to six Grand that would be necessary to obtain a pair! – donations or swaps/buys at reasonable price WILL be considered!!). I might have to settle for Veloce forks off the later bikes for two reasons: Firstly I have to rebuild and then test the Dowtys over a long distance regarding air loss etc and secondly the later forks are perhaps not quite as good, but are more available and don’t have any other reliability issues, being sprung traditionally. I shall be aiming for 18″ rear and 21″ front wheels for tireless long-distance straight ahead work and good low-speed handling as well as reasonable availability of replacement rubber – VERY important. For long-distance off-road work, I’ll need Trials tyres and they don’t make them in a 19″ rear, unfortunately! However, the INITIAL setup will be with Webb forks and the 19″ shouldered ally rim laced on to the 1947 rear hub (without the speedo-drive). Once I swap the forks, I’ll be needing a rear-driven speedo and so will need to change that hub, too, so might as well go for the 18″ rim then… The oil-tank will remain as the froth-towered KSS variant (with an automotive oil-filter) and otherwise I do like the look of narrow guards, but might go the for the wide variants and make up a 21″ front for the sh*tty weather… We’ll see. 8″ headlamp of course, with HID lighting, naturally, a 12Volt rewound dynamo and electronic regulator, gel Battery , BTH manual racing Magneto and off we go! Not much else to it, really ! Oh, a gearbox and clutch will also ‘come in handy’ of course and perhaps a seat…!

Main thing is to get the bike on the road and start getting everything ‘settled and fettled’ to work trouble-free and without lubrication problems etc. The bike will have to be able to work at considerable minus-temperatures as well, since trips are definitely not limited to the Australian continent!

So the bike will initially look very much like this, except for the 21″ wheel instead of the 19″ front that is fitted here!! The Later addition of telescopic forks will make a ‘subtle’ difference, but this is how it will first go on the road! – Just wondering what the 21″ will look like on the Dowtys and if I will have to make any other changes in concept as a result of potential handling issues… Anyone had any experience of that setup?? Maybe that is a question for the technical forum!

Anyone else have any ideas on general configuration? Would be glad of any comments and tips, experiences and offers of straight-jackets appreciated!

Here, in contrast, the KSS-engined bike, with a bigger front-wheel (21″) and slightly upswept-exhaust (non-standard) but which improves ground-clearance slightly for right-hand-corners. I don’t fancy dismounting and pushing around bends, like the riders of some other makes would seem to have to do…

I can’t remember where I found the last two pictures, but the MSS ones were from:

My thanks!!

© peter gouws 2013

The post Slight Change Of Plans! first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

Please just click on the picture to see the Flash-animation…right-click to stop at any time, click to re-start

Crank-Big4.1

Yes, I know, could do with a bit more overlap and hotter inlet cam…but then it would go too fast for the animation!! Hahaha!

© peter gouws 2013

The post Four-stroke cycle? Nearly! first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

How time flies!!

I am still stuck up here at my parent’s place, camping on an air-mattress that decided to deflate twice last night (No, not the subject of another blog, sorry!) and am sitting right now at what has, for the last eight months, been my ‘workshop’. So much for excuses/explanations why things are going so slow!

HOWEVER, I have acquired a few small bits and pieces along the way, some good and some disappointing.

Another question I have to which I can find no logical answer: Why on earth is it, that the Miller Rectifier casing that fits on top of the dynamo is so rare (and ∴ expensive)?? I do realise that most running rigid bikes will still have one fitted (now with an electronic regulator in it??), but that goes for all the other spare parts offered on eBay on a daily basis. Unlike the ‘other’ parts, these covers only ever come up once in a blue moon and fetch sometimes staggering prices, even when ’empty’ (since most people will throw the probably trashed regulator away anyway!).

Well, believe it or not, this was one of the parts that I was missing and when I first got the bike way back when in early 2012, I was tempted by a local offering for a replacement. Blow me down if it looked nothing like the original! The size was fine and it was at least twice the weight of the Miller item, but optically?? The angle of the shots in the ad didn’t make the ‘sharpness’ obvious at first glance and I was in a rush so just bought it. Having received it, I was of two minds to send it back, but on second thoughts, I adopted the ‘Parts Retailer’ mentality and concluded that well, if that was all I could get, I’d better make do with it… AND, I could always write few lines in a blog in the future, when material is a bit thin! Like today!!

Here are a couple of photos to start you off: My newly acquired original has been polished and clear-laquered over, but that can be changed… and will be!

No prizes for guessing that this is the original cover.

This is the ‘pattern’ replacement. Look, to be fair, it will do the job all right, but it’s not what I would call a reproduction, would you?? It’s very solidly made (the sides welded or brazed on to the centre strip) and with the correct cut-outs and stuff. Technically well-made, I must say. Optically? Falls short of the mark, I’m afraid.

Although only a year old and never been used, rust is unfortunately also showing under the paint (at the top on the picture), so it has not been properly prepared. After making all that effort and such a skilled job, what a shame!

Here are the bases together. A great effort has been made to make this part almost identical to the original. Both tops are interchangeable, though the pattern one is a real tight squeeze on the original base (the cover is a bit narrower, but for that, a little longer)

Nice detail on the original item: No-one would bother these days, that job would be done with a sticker, if at all!

And here we have my next gripe.

Marketed the world over as ‘original’ ‘Doherty’ and ‘made in England’ (which I’m afraid that I can only doubt), the general standard of finish on these is acceptable, if not good. Look at the finish around the screw-holes and you will see what I mean. For the price not bad. What IS in a name, though? Marketed as the originals? Does the fact that someone bought the name, make the new parts the originals? Is everything made by Matt, and now David Holder, original Velocette parts? (David, I know, has made and makes loads of good stuff, this is not pointed at him, he was just a convenient example of the owner of a ‘name’ or trademark). I seem to remember that there have been quite a few ‘entrepreneurs’ over the years, who have bought up famous names and make trash, cashing in on the good name of the original manufacturers. Many ‘new owners of old businesses’ never did and still don’t necessarily have all their parts made in the UK, either… They didn’t 20 years ago, so why should that suddenly change? Just because the script on the original Miller dipswitch or ammeter states ‘made in England’, do we actually have to take that for the truth? No, of course not! No self-respecting Veloist or Vincent owner would put a replacement/replica Miller ammeter on his machine if ‘MADE IN INDIA’ or ‘MADE IN CHINA” substituted the original script, would they? I don’t have all my stuff actually made here in Australia, but I don’t advertise that, unless it is the case, either. To put ‘MADE IN ENGLAND’ on the newly printed packaging that the let’s-cal-it-pattern part comes in (just because it was on the original packaging), however, I find a serious misrepresentation of the facts. Maybe I’m wrong and would gladly hear and be corrected to the contrary.

I do not ignore the fact that there have been many shining examples of take-overs and the buying up of old businesses that have not been successful, and turned them into the backbone of our presently sadly dwindling parts and service suppliers in the country… Chris Williams, for example (maybe not the most popular of choices, but he does what he does, and without him, a lot would have simply not been available for years!) originally of Moxley, now in Dudley, with Alpha and the various other companies he has under his wing, or Jake Robbins who made such a massive personal effort to learn what he does now so well after suddenly ‘inheriting’ the business from Colin at Elk Engineering. The list is long, and I by no means would like to offend by exclusion, so I will merely state that and stop right here.

I Digress. These look OK, as I said, but on closer inspection are not up to the job of the originals, apart from merely opening and closing the throttle…

‘Doherty’ twistgrip. What’s in a name??

Absolutely shoddy twist-grip ‘friction’ screw

BUT, I hear you cry, is that not what a twist-grip does? Of course it does! But it should also do MORE! There is an extra screw under the hole where the throttle-cable goes in, and this serves another purpose apart from mere decoration! Imagine! On my old ‘genuine’ Doherty or AMAL twist-grips, this screw altered the friction on the grip, to make the return to idle from any position not quite so ‘snappy’. Why?? For example very useful when giving hand-signals. ‘Everybody’ has indicators today, so we don’t need them anymore.. is that true?? On a prewar bike with girders?? Very funny!

Just take look at the inside of this dangerous apology for a friction screw!! I suppose you could use it to jam the throttle wide open on an unsuspecting ‘mate’s’ bike after he had parked up somewhere, but that’s about it. That rather nasty strip of mild with a screw butchered through it used to be thin spring steel, doubled back over itself to meet in the middle, so that the screw never came to bear on the rotating throttle ring with the cable spooled up in it. The folded over pair (effectively) of flat springs exerted a measurable and constant pressure on the ‘spool’ (being carefully both folded back with a trailing edge to the middle meant that neither end ‘grabbed’ as the throttle was turned in either direction), depending on the amount that screw was ‘done up’ (AND LOCKED, please!) reducing it’s tendency to return due to the pressure from the spring in the carburettor, which is successively compressed above the slide as the throttle is opened. Simple and effective, and mine was generally ‘set’ for use at ‘town and about’ speeds, since I didn’t usually take either hand off the handlebars at cruising speed or above… unless absolutely unavoidable… (amazing what lessons you can learn from a humble pot-hole!). If well greased, this only needed attention at most about once every six months… or never!!

So rant ended, but I hope that my point was made. This part is absolutely dangerous to attempt to use. ‘Period’, as they say in the good old US of A!

Not sure what this is off…

But I’ll sure as hell find a use for it…on one of my projects!!??

© peter gouws 2013

The post Miller Regulator Cover and More! first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

My humble thanks!

To start on a really positive note, I have had some fantastic feedback about the Star, my proudly first ‘product’!

I humbly accept their praise and encouragement, as a good deal of work (and money) gets sunk into such projects. This sort of praise makes it all worthwhile, when you know that you can help others out!.

Here some comments from those who have bought my star either from eBay or direct from me through the VOC technical forum or this website:

+ Excellent service in all respects, thank you!

+ great service and delivery,AAA

+ Very well made quality item ..delighted !

+ Thank you so much……. couldn’t be happier

+ Well made, quick delivery, fair price. Thank you. A+++++

+ Highly recommended and commended for communication.

+ Super fast shipping, great communication, nice seller, nice recommended seller!

+ First class item and super helpful seller.

+ I am very pleased. This well made star is difficult to find here in UK. Thanks.

+ Guilt edge deal. Thank you.

+ Peter Gouws has sold me 3 of the inserts he has made, and I can report that they are absolutely first class. Fitted all three of them this afternoon. All of them fit right in with no modification. There is a bit of variation between each of the lights, 1 being original, and 2 being aftermarket, but they all fit in quickly. I had previously bought a couple of the ones from India, and they are a bit crude by comparison. I pulled those out to fit the ones from peter.

+ Yes, I absolutely agree with John about the “star” inserts. Peter sent me replacements for my pattern “stop” lights as well as my old LE which had an original lamp but a missing insert. They took 4 days to come from Oz to UK !! It’s good to see someone taking this kind of trouble to produce the right stuff for us.


+ John xxxxx’s recommendation was gold. Keep up the good work!

While I must concede that things appear to be very slow at the moment, I must admit that this is merely an illusion!
AT present looking after aging parents and far away from the workshop, I have the opportunity to get on with things that I would never do (unless forced to!)… like completely revamp the website and blog.

Enough of the pats on the back… to another subject!

While iWeb has to be just the easiest web-design software to use in the world, since it is completely drag-and-drop, allows picture overlays, complete freedom of placement, absolute WYSIWYG, seamless integration with Aperture and other picture archival programs, simple and intuitive integration of all sorts of video-formats (the list goes on)… The fact remains, that it is no longer ‘supported’. That means in real terms, no more updates, no more development and ultimately, strangulation to death. With each new Operating-system upgrade, there is a risk that it just simple won’t work anymore.

If that were to become the case, I would be ‘stuffed’.

I cannot afford to take that risk, so I have to change my plan. What are the alternatives? Too many to mention, but it would seem that whichever way I look, I cannot overlook Word Press. Impossible! SO… guess what!? I’m at present porting all my website into WP running on a virtual server – (thus preserving the original, while I’m working on the ‘other’ one)

Tedious and boring as batshit, I’m afraid, though it does give me the chance to review the past blogs, it remains very unexiting, and will probably take up at least another couple of weeks, before I can ‘go live’ with the new site. Cross your fingers for me, and I might get it done sooner. I certainly hope so!

My Migration Law studies start in a week or so again, and this semester promises to be pretty full-on…

©peter gouws 2013

The post Miller ‘Star’ Testimonials first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

What is a copy? What is a replica?

Aaaah! The language thing again! Copy, let me see: According to the ‘normal’, current usage of the word, a copy is something that, looks like, and if something functional, actually functions like, something else, that this ‘copy’ proposes to replace or replicate. Hmm. Another word! : Replica!

So, to take the issue a little further, there is actually virtually no limit to things that you can copy or replicate. Let’s take a motorcycle, for example. Motorcycle. Made up of lots of parts. To COPY one from scratch, would be very time-consuming, so no one actually makes a copy of one, just pinches a few ideas here and there: some styling, some function, some ergonomics or feel and the overall impression given by a particular bike.

Having gone that far, depending on what you start off with, you might be able to make something look and function identically to another bike which was based on what you have. A BSA Gold-Star, for example, when what you started out with was a B33 or B31. Some very handsome look-alikes out there, I can tell you! Another case would be the Velocette ‘Thruxton’, which has been much copied in its time (I have heard that there are twice as many purporting to be Thruxtons than were ever made by Veloce!)

Such bike will be copied down to the last nut and bolt, indiscernible to the uninitiated and initiated alike – except for the numbers on the frame and crankcases. So a copy might look and not necessarily have to perform the same as the ‘original’ item, whereas a replica is intended to be an ‘exact copy’ of the original in every way possible.

It is said that the best form of flattery is to be copied… So a copy is generally only considered a copy, if it could pass , at the very least by the casual observer, as the ‘real thing’…

So when is a copy just… well, NOT a copy? (or shouldn’t be called one or marketed as one?) where does dis-similarity remove the ‘right’ to call something a ‘copy’ or a ‘replica’?

When is a Cobra body kit just NOT a Cobra replica? (well, actually, never…)

No offense meant to the makers of this Mazda Miata (or MX5 in some countries) body-kit, but it never will fool anyone into thinking that it is a Shelby 427 Cobra. At least I don’t think so. It might approximate looking like one from certain angles, but it will never BE one (or, I suspect, sound or perform like one), despite the emotive words on the maker’s website:

“With the installation of the Monster Miata ‘427’ body conversion kit, you’ll transform your stock (or body-damaged) Miata into a unique version of a 427 roadster. For a small fraction of the effort and the cost, you can present the illusion that you spent years restoring an original of this rendition of “The bad news in Ferrari’s rearview mirror.”

This one here is MGB-based and looks more like a Triumph ‘spitfire’-copy than the Cobra it’s supposed to look like…

No prizes for guessing that this California-based company is no longer trading…

Great little car, I’m sure and a whole lotta fun, but NOT a Cobra, and should not really be marketed as even a copy of one, in my opinion.

I did have the pleasure and honour of living next to the owner of with one of the last 7 289 Mk III AC Cobras (not a Shelby) ever built in 1967, who was a very successful contender in Club racing with it (until the gout made him have to stop), and which I drove on occasion. One day I’ll post pictures, when I find them again…

Oh, there are plenty of facsimilies, copies, reproductions and replicas around, one of the most propagated is the Breitling Navitimer… ‘someone’ once maintained that 90% of the Breitlings available on the web are forgeries (copies etc.)! I suspect that it was Breitling themselves that did that, to get their own sales going again in the ‘90s!

Now, enough of that. So this blog is about, copies, replicas and reproductions, I believe. The only difference between the last three and a forgery, is that the forgery purports to be the actual original itself.

Case in point: There is a plethora of modern so-called reproductions of all sorts of items in the automotive world out there, that bear little more than a cursory resemblance to the original, that they ‘pretend’ to replicate. In this particular case, I’m going to take the ‘replica Miller 43E Stop Switch’ that is available ‘everywhere’ on eBay at present. It is only one of many ‘glaring examples’ of pure eye-wash, manufactured at minimum cost to replace in the memories of those that once would have known the difference, and to implant in the ‘knowledge bank’ of those who never saw an original, that this is a (if not the) replica.

This picture below is almost twice life-size…

What the other one is supposed to be ‘replica’ of

The ‘Real Mcoy’, actually upside-down: For those of you that can’t really be bothered to look, there are a lot of differences, but I will start with the similarities.

They are both brake switches, which are mechanically operated by pulling on a metal part (normally held ‘out of contact’ by an internal spring) that closes the elctrical connection between two contacts, to allow the current to flow from the battery to the back-light , in order to illuminate the stop-light bulb. When the lever is released, it returns to the ‘off’-position (i.e. the connection is again ‘broken’)

There is a spring on the outside, connected to the push-me-pull-you thingy. This should be attached/clamped to the brake-rod, in the direction of ‘pull’, when someone steps on the brake lever (alternatively it could conceivably be attached to the lever-arm of the actual pedal. This would have to be the modus operandi when adapting it for use on a cable-operated brake, but that is not what it was designed for).

There are two electrical connections, which are isolated from ‘common earth’ (the frame!)

Both are shaped loosely as a dome, with a push/pull rod going through the length of it.

That is pretty much where the similarity ends. OK, a fair few similarities. However, that in itself, is not enough to justify the ‘replica’ tag – or not?

I cannot deny that both would perform the same function (for a while, anyway) Like the MGB and the Cobra, they both are capable of performing similar tasks, but that does not make one a replica of the other, or vice-versa.

Here they are next to one another: Here it is easier to spot the similarities and differences. Alone the sheer size and ‘robustness’ of the original materials and the proper fixing for the brake-rod, is plain to see in comparison to the weedy ‘replica’…which, being in the foreground, is also ‘perspectively’ at a size advantage…and leaves the fixing to the brake-rod entirely up to your imagination!

There is a considerable difference between the spring that is mounted on the brake-rod, and there is no fitting at all on the end of the replica. Noir does the replica offer any means to mount it onto the frame. That you will have to invent for yourself. Compare the original mounting, which would clamp onto the bottom frame member that the rear wheel is attached to:

Simple idea, sturdily constructed, unlike the thin and bendu flange on the back of the ‘replica’, which will probably need something like the handlebar-clip used for a replica horn-button (made, incidentally, and far more authentically, by the same ‘crew’ as well!)

While we are looking straight at it, here we also see the electrical connection. There were three types offered by Miller, ranging from the pre-war arrangement ssimilar to the riller rear light, with the sprung push-over cap with the hole through it…

to the actual arrangement shown on the replica, with the screw-fitting, soon after the war… to the push-on ‘Lucar’-type connections on this ‘fifties’ model of the 43E shown above.

Just check out the thickness of the mounting bracket, while you can get a good look! This is actually the TOP of the switch as it is intended to be mounted, and the Lucar strips and rivets would have simply replaced the more-expensive-to-produce screw-on fittings that were on there for the previous years. The most expensive to produce, would have been the ones on the black dome, and also used on the Miller 36E rear light, with the deep-pressed cover fitted over the turned connection, held under tension with a spring and retained by a bent-in tab on each side, in the hole where the cable passes through.

The actual Miller item is a great deal deeper than the ‘replica’, and the material is much thicker. The underside of the dome has a rear-facing ‘louver’ pressed into it, to allow drainage of any moisture that might otherwise accumulate in it, hence the connections have to be on top when mounted. The brakes on the British bikes this switch is meant for were at this time rod-operated and the foot-lever was mounted on the left-hand-side, and so most models of the time would have had drum brakes, also on the left, usually conveniently in combination somehow with the drive-sprocket for the rear wheel. The Switch also fits nicely with this, for when the mounting faces away from me, when standing on the left of the bike, the switch is mounted on the outside of the frame – for convenience of access. The electrical connections are then on the top-side (where they can be ‘got at’ and be readily inspected for damage – and be protected by the switch body itself from thrown-up road-debris) and the coiled spring leads out to the front of the bike, in the direction of pull, when the brake-pedal is depressed. The drainage louver is also conveniently on the underside, facing away from the direction of travel.

Altogether, rather well thought out and not just thrown together.

I probably don’t need to elaborate on the differences in the internal construction and the choice of materials for the actuating mechanism; suffice to say that the one is very flimsy and prone to condensation, due to the lack also of any proper ventilation and drainage, the dimensions of the switchgear are proportionate to the size of the push-me-pull-you arrangement and the depth of the body on both is very different.

Perhaps I’m just too fernickety, but there is no way, that I could bring myself to offer the one as a ‘replica’ of the other, just because it has a vague outward similarity and performs the same function (for however long) .

Brake switch is brake-switch, no doubt about it, but ‘Replica Miller 34E’ would, in my book at least, look a bit more like the original, have proper mountings for brake-arm and body of the switch and being made with modern materials, last a lot longer, and not fall apart after one year (if not less) of ‘normal use’.

There we have it again: WE are not expected to actually USE it, coz it’s for an old bike that is too VALUABLE to DARE to use! And so, being so valuable, we will pay loads of money to buy this apology of a brake-switch. It is, after all the only one even approximating the original, isn’t it, so we just have to put up with the dross the supplier has on stock, or go ‘hungry’.

Hmmph!

©peter gouws 2013

The post When is a Switch worth a Swap? first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

Don’t we all love it?

At the moment there seems to be a slight hiccup with the post, due to Easter, this time…

Nevertheless, I can expect delivery sometime within a week, and then I can get on with the packing! The artwork is all finished for the packing slip, just have to print those out (takes a few hours advance notice and then I get those all nicely cut and ready to put in with the star. The header for the packaging is also done, and I have the poly-bags here, too!

The picture above is, by the way, an original star on the Indian light , with the the broken lens – hence the Sellotape® on the lens, if you look closely!). All other bits are being evaluated and tested by my tool-makers, so had nothing else left here…

Here are some of them just before despatch: Looking Goood!The reason for them being sent away is, that I shall not stop at the star, as I think I might have mentioned already!

Next item is probably the lens itself, as most originals are now in a sorry state and hardly fit for use.

ALL the original lenses that I have seen have, by now, ‘conformed’ to the shape of the star fencing them in, and they all have also shrunk due also to heat and age to an alarmingly small size.

The colour has not paled, but darkened, so the scratched and deformed lens is now a deep bloot-clot red, where the metal of the star wasn’t protecting it from the rays of the sun.

Shrunk so small that it is now falling into the body, bringing it even closer to the source of heat, which now has to be on all the time in most countries, making it also hotter for longer, which makes is deform and shrink even more and so the spiral goes on…

If it weren’t for the star, mine is so small, the clip doesn’t even try to keep it from falling out!

I am looking for (and think that I have found) someone who can do borosilicate glass for me, which would have the appropriate deep red, one that doesn’t go pink when the brake-light is on.

OK, something else I have been looking into. The pattern rear lights made for Vincents are identical to the version originally made by Miller. Dividing wall and all! I never took any notice of this when I was riding them and went past my memory like a ship in the fog/night.

This still does not explain away the reasoning behind this non-sensical construction. The wall, though very convenient for mounting those bulbs on, gets in the way of the available area of the light that projects rearwards. A small that that didn’t produce enough light to be seen at a safe distance in ideal conditions, just lost half of the area, and that for over 90% of the time it is on!

Modern twin-filament bulbs and those ghastly-looking LEDs just don’t fit, so the most compelling argument is for the torpedo- shaped bulbs, which can also be conveniently mounted with enough distance from the lens to reduce heating AND doesn’t need a division to cut the lit area in half!

WIN-WIN!

AAAAND, the original Vincent items didn’t have the Miller ‘lighthouse’ button on all of them, either! My research has not been able to find out when the cut-off point was, but I have definitely seen absolutely original ones without.

The drawings are done for the body (and the clip and lens), along with the appropriate CAD/CAM files, so only a matter of timing, when those are turned into real-live articles, available probably both with or without lighthouse.

The brass lighthouse can be used on other items like horn-buttons and stop-switch housings, too, but I shan’t be making bulb-horns, cycle-bells and Tax-Disc-holders!

Perusal through the part-lists and instruction-books has drawn my attention to another little item that I have never actually seen in the flesh… only on contemporary photographs.

Any idea what I might be talking about? The first person to guess, will get one free! (hint:it is a part attached to the front end of the bike, and has something to do with a ‘control’ item…)

Enjoy!

©peter gouws 2013

The post The Waiting Game first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

Star for Miller 36E Rear Lamp

Well, it should have sort of sifted through by now…

… I’m not only restoring a Velocette blah,blah, blah, but I’m also setting myself up as a sort of modern-day Don Qixote, Jousting with windmills etc. in my efforts to redress the balance and make parts that FIT, DO THE JOB they were intended for and that SAFELY and WITHOUT THE NEED FOR FURTHER MODIFICATION.

A lot of text today, but it has to be said…

One particular windmill in this instance being the continued hyping of prices by speculative sellers and manufacturers of parts for Veteran/Vintage/Classic bikes and bike parts.

So I decided to make a few myself (an ever-increasing list of bits and pieces for all sorts of bikes).

The first offerings, despite ‘challenging’ circumstances, caused by a minor family disaster/upset, are now being produced and will be available in a week or so for ‘general consumption’. The particular part being offered by Miller and employed by Veloce between 1939 and 1955 for various models. It was also utilised by a number of other motorcycle manufacturers, including Rudge, for their tail-lights.

We have all seen the ‘STOP’ variety which has been available from one or the other supplier without a break since it’s inception (probably due to the assumption that the Vincent, the bike for which it was principally used, is owned by people who can always afford to buy such trinkets). The Star-type has unfortunately not been targeted by the repro-makers, presumably because it was considered ‘not worth it’.

That has now, thankfully, changed. My parts will be available as of the end of the month at what I consider to be a reasonable price, and for the highest quality that I could offer. 305 stainless steel, this can stay on the shelf for ever, and will last a lifetime fitted to a bike, despite proximity to exhaust gases, road dirt, moisture and salt…

And so, in the same vein, there will be many other parts, some generic, some ‘marque-specific’ and some really ‘niche’ bits that I will be making or have made (there are limitations to both my expertise and equipment). Everything I do is unavailable elsewhere at a reasonable cost, if at all, and will represent the very best of materials, research and fidelity to the original parts that you will be able to find, at a very reasonable cost.

I am starting with some Miller electrical products which, unlike Lucas, were not as widespread, but are now just as ‘needed’ by restorers and riders alike, to replace worn out or defunct original items, which, due to their vulnerability and rarity, command absolutely ridiculous prices for even unrestored items.

The Star above is one of these items.

Important for me is the recognition for all buyers, where the product comes from and who is responsible for any questions of warranty etc. that may arise. I am proud of what I have and am prepared to stand up for it and be ‘counted’, so to speak.

Important is also absolute clarity as to what my parts represent and where they fit in the scheme of things, and so, with every product, I include a pictorial representation of exactly where they belong and in which years these parts were generally fitted. I shall not illustrate them here, as I must put off the theft of my IP, which will be done anyway, for as long as is possible.

There have already been Website domains registered in India, for example, with the name ‘classicbikenut’, so I can only assume that the ‘word’, so to speak, is out, and that it is only a matter of time, before plagiarism becomes rife.

As such it is all the more important to me, and my clients, that all my articles are positively identifiable as coming from me. To this end, every single piece will be hand marked to avoid ‘confusion’ at a later date, when guarantee and other questions might raise their ‘ugly’ head. This adds cost to a product, but is a necessary safeguard against non-legitimate litigation etc. in the future, with the associated disastrous results. I am, of course fully insured, but that doesn’t mean that I will gladly pay for other manufacturer’s mistakes and cutting of qualitative corners…

Packaging is also an important area for me. This has a number of functions to perform, protection of the item, information and recognition of the use and application as well as notification of the origin being primary, marketing and responsible minimal use of resources is definitely not far behind. To this end, I strive to make my packaging as minimal, protective and space-saving as possible, with the maximum of information about the product, where it fits, where it comes from and who to contact for more information, should that be necessary. Important is also that all the materials used are readily disposed off with the minimum of fuss and damage to the environment.
Such is the price for ‘globalisation’!

©peter gouws 2013

The post First Production Looming first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

Hah! Really looks the racing-part!

This came with my KSS parts from NSW and the now unresponsive Bob. Ishall actually be selling this, as I have no use for it at all. My bike will be anything but a racer and will probably end up being ‘de-tuned’ mildly, to allow some long-distance cool running with a minimum of maintenance.

This tank is home-made, but really does look the part for a Velocette racer, from all angles. It even fits!

Front right 3/4 view:

The tapes, of course, won’t be getting in the way, as they are only there to make sure that the frame doesn’t fall off the stand, as I don’t have the wheels on yet… Only the back wheel in, no tyre and the forks still awaiting ‘montage’.

There’s a story in itself! Interestingly, if you wish to fit taper bearings in the steering-head (from Timken or whoever), the size is critical on the rigid frames. My head-races as ‘supplied’ by the mysterious Bob (who races old Nortons and has a beautiful CS1 (see below, ©BobLyons)

… were correct for the bottom, but the top ‘race’ was running directly in the frame and much larger balls. I can only imagine that it never was actually run like that…

SO, I happened to get a set of bearings for the steering head, but of a smaller OD than would normally ‘fit’ the casting. The reason for this is that the casting itself is VERY THIN, IF the area for the bearing is taken out ‘square’ into the corner, to allow the outside race to fit. There is, therefore, a choice. Either fit the ‘correct’ diameter bearings and GRIND a radius or chamfer on the ‘bottom’ corner to fit deep in the ‘ole’, OR fit bearings out of a Venom etc and turn up a nice tight ring to fit in the casting, that holds the bearing nice and squeezy and lets it drop to the bottom without having to remove metal from the frame. Six of one and half-a dozen of the other!

… a couple more pictures of the oil-tank:

©peter gouws 2013

The post ‘Racing’ Oil Tank Anyone?? first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

It finally looks as if I actually might have (after 5 months of research) found someone capable and willing to make borosilicate glass mouldings for me for the Miller 36E rear light in less than quantities upwards of 10,000 a Month! The main question is, who will buy them? All the ‘originality’ fetishists will steer a mile around them and I suspect that others will just not be bothered to spend money on something that ‘only’ contributes to road safety, and not to the ‘value’ of their precious bike. No one really cares if they can be seen (or anyone else riding the bike!) Go ahead, send your son, daughter wife or friend out on your bike with inadequate brakes, pre-historic tyres, poor lighting etc and if they get killed or endanger themselves in the process, at least the bike was like that when they built them! Not my fault!

These will not be cheap (tooling costs for me, too!), as the moulds have to be made of specific materials if to last and achieve a high standard of finish, and borosilicate glass needs the heat to reduce after moulding at a controlled rate, very slowly, while on it’s slow way down to cooling to room temperature in order to stop it shattering. The end result is an annealed glass that is very tough, resilient and heat resistant, but at a price. When it does break, it is into large pieces and so the risk of injury is reduced.

Other reasons for GLASS as a rear lens are, or should be, obvious. The glass will, in this case, be red glass. Not coloured on one side, but red through and through. The thickness of the glass will distribute an even light, and remain red, even when the brake-light is on, without going pink or orange. The inside will be stippled, giving a better refraction of the light available, while not being discernible from outside, unless the light is on, in which case it will only seem brighter than clear glass.

The glass will not deform through heat generated by the bulb(s), discolour or go ‘blind’ though age or cleaning. That, for me, is the clincher.

If this supplier can deliver the goods, I have other, pressing problems to attack! When did you last see a genuine Miller headlamp lens for a n 8” headlamp with the correct pattern? All the copies I have seen are not anything like the originals and have a Lucas Cat’s-eye. I have original spinnings of the 8-inch reflectors for both Lucas and Miller headlamps, and will look forward to being able to offer the correct lenses with them (fully compatible with the old switchgear and bulb-fittings if wanted) and upgradeable to Halogen or even low-wattage HID as standard.

The time has come for sense to return to the market. Why pay in excess of £300 for an original (and unrestored!) rear-light, handlebar-switch or brake-switch, when an absolutely authentic-looking, not-to-be-picked from the original part is available for a fraction of the cost? Most of my parts will be in stainless-steel where practical and otherwise will be made of the original materials. A pre-war Miller horn-button, for example, will be made, as they were then, out of brass and be painted black, with the same stamped Miller lighthouse on the nickel-plated, brass push-button. But not for £200…

© peter gouws 2013

The post Real Glass Miller Rear Lens? first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

Yep, the day has arrived,

when I can see the results of my first ‘remote’ job being completed. As an industrial pattern-maker, my main line is making ‘wooden’ patterns for castings (not always really wooden and these days I’m working hard on some CAD to get stuff CNC’d).

Due to a change in family circumstances, I find myself ‘elsewhere’ and away from the workshop, so my modus operandi has had to change in emphasis for the moment: Where I would have started with physical patterns made by hand for the first parts and then made (or rather had parts made) other parts to fill the gaps. Now my hand has been forced and I find myself doing drawings and letting others make the parts that I couldn’t possibly make in my workshop, so pressings and the like. This means paying (fairly heftily, I might add!) up front for press-tooling etc (where I would originally have supplied the ‘tooling’ in the form of patterns at my own ‘cost’) and continue my designing and drawing in the meantime.

Well, the wait is over! My first press-tool items are ready for appraisal and I’ll have them in a day or two. So far looking very good, judge for yourselves!

These have not yet been polished, they are as they were pressed.

From the inside:

These, I hope, will soon embellish the rear lamp of many a Velocette and Rudge, I suspect, whose needs have been hopelessly under-nourished over the last 50 years! At last affordable again, no-one will have to wait for months or years and then have to buy a complete bike (I wonder how many Velocette LEs there are out there without a rear lamp anymore!?) or pay even sillier prices (£300+ !) for an original Miller taillight on eBay or at their local swap-meet!!

The end is nigh (the rear-end, as it ‘appens) and all I’m waiting for now is for the packaging to turn up! As soon as the articles are actually here, I’ll post them with pictures of the actual items on my ‘Parts’ page and the fun can start!

They are priced at £15 each, as they have to be hand-polished and are of solid stainless-steel, so they’ll never rot like the old ones did, despite being right at the back and subject to exhaust gases, acids and road dirt and salt residues.

Where did I have them made, you may well ask?

I am a bit of a traditionalist and this means at least two things:

① I seek to find local suppliers wherever possible, to generate local jobs/cash/interest and for the satisfaction of national pride…

② I expect a decent quality for myself and even higher standards for anything that I am going to pass on to clients+ a decent lead time, followed by a sensible price.

Unfortunately, these two principles were, for this project at least, not to be united under one ‘roof’.

Local businesses (yes, plural) (I later found out) had given me horrendous lead times (because they were also going to get the tooling and parts from ‘elsewhere’ and just sell the product on to me at a profit!). Not only that, their pricing and warranties were uninteresting on volumes under 10.000 pieces (i.e. they didn’t want the work and priced accordingly to scare me off)

This left only one option open: Production overseas. To be honest, I was very wary of this and the ‘position’ it would place me in as a ‘local’ supplier, who wants largely to make as far as possible myself, and then finish-machine and supply (and have a reputation for) from high-quality local sources…

So, inevitably, my search took me to mainland China, with all the connotations associated with it.

I can only strongly and highly recommend the standard of service, equipment and understanding of the staff and their determination and willingness to do all that they can to satisfy me, the customer, and deliver a top-quality product, on time, at a reasonable cost (despite my paltry numbers). Of course my unit cost would have been less, if I ordered 5000 or more pieces (per month!!), BUT, they were willing to take on the job anyway and listen to my story and fulfil my requirements.

No-one here could even be bothered to make a quote here without a ridiculously high commitment of numbers. One potential supplier even actually said that he couldn’t be bothered ‘dicking about’ with my small stuff. Not encouraging.

So my star stampings (and some other parts that I cannot make in my workshop) are being made in China by a company called YC Mold & Plastic Manufacture LTD. Visit them on the internet!!!

These people have given me top service and are friendly, respectful, sensitive to my wishes, fast and efficient.

Keep an eye out for new products related to these lamps (and other parts) that will begin to appear soon, as my ‘operation’ starts to come to life.

More soon!

© peter gouws 2013

The post First Stampings of the ‘Star’ first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

Yes, that’s right!

Just a quicky! Well, today was a good day… I picked up the initial batch of Headlamp-Brackets (or stays as some will still insist on calling them!) for the WEBB forks and Miller 8″ headlamp, so good for Velocette, Norton, Triumph and other manufacturers also on their pre-war Girders. NOT, I might add, for the Velocette telescopic DOWTY-forks, they are different (and in the making, of course!)

Only 10 sets for a start, so that I can sort out any discrepancies before the launch ‘proper’. They are great, apart from a few radii that need sorting – a minor job, but still would be a nuisance if I had to do it for 100! BETTER TO GET IT RIGHT, so that’s what I’m aiming at!

These are made of Ø1/2” (12.5mm), 305 Stainless tubing, 1/16” (1.5mm) thick. No skimping here! Extremely stabkle and will stay on yer bike (or the shelf) nearly forever without deteriorating. Useful if you remember that (not only) the English weather can be quite damp! Even in Queensland, the humidity is way up there for a good part of the year, so also useful even here!

I do realise that they are not actually “original”, – no, the originals were pressed steel in a half-round, which flexes and tires, leading to cracking of paint and the inevitable rust and subsequent weakness, vibration and ugliness. These will never rust, droop or otherwise compromise your beast!. Sent out in raw stainless, it’s up to the new owner to paint or powder-coat to their spec, black, WD-green or even polish for the next ‘chrome-wars’! No brewer’s droop either, though I might have to double-check and make a slight adjustment for those with 19” front wheels (actually, there is not much difference between the 21” and 19” in overall diameter, due to the different aspect ratios of the tyres available) I shall try them on both and report accordingly!

This week also finalising the details of the Miller Star insert and should have those available to the public very soon!

Here some pictures of the initial fit-up:

Not too bad for a first try, eh!? And all done by Mark at BRF Engineering in Wingfield, South Australia. Thanks, Mark!

Today we had 38˚C, so not exactly cold… the last few days were also 37˚C, but tomorrow should be cooler! I hope!!

Here are pictures of the actual Items:

© peter gouws 2013

The post New 8″ Headlamp Brackets first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

The Koalas in our garden are still sleeping, though!

Down here in South Australia, it has been difficult to get anything done (by anyone else, that is!) since about the end of October…all the run up to Christmas was a chore, everyone is ‘flat out like a lizard drinking’ to get all the orders out of the door (i.e.paid for) by Christmas, and so nobody was taking on any new work. Very frustrating, as I have good deal of new patterns (some already distributed to those who promised to do them for me beFORE Christmas) and still no ‘land in sight’.

Only in the last week, did the industry start, sluggishly and reluctantly (“nothing ever happens until March anyway”) to wake up again, and is now, even more reluctantly, having to catch up with all those annoying emails and messages left on the phone to answer. Ah well! And they wonder why the economy is suffering, when a whole financial quarter-year goes down the gutter.

Yes, we also had a few days over 40˚C here, but on the whole, it’s been OK, and now everyone is bitching because of the rain that we’ve been waiting for since three months, has finally come. My God, it’s been below 30˚C for nearly a whole WEEK now! When is on earth is this going to END?

Well, just as Australia comes back online after a virtual, if not actual, absence of three months… the Chinese are going to take their yearly break for their New Year, for a hard-and-heavy TWO WEEKS. Yep, a WHOLE two weeks. All at once!

Food for thought, perhaps, or are we all just a little bit too complacent about the health of the Australian Economy?

I have been busy, in the meantime (no complacency or finger-pointing intended – ). Of necessity, I have not been able to work from my workshop, but have been in a more ‘sterile’ environment, up in the hills behind Adelaide; in Hahndorf, to be precise.

Changes in family fortunes and situation have dictated that I be here to keep an eye on a few things, and so I have been relegated to the computer and telephone to conduct business with and plan or finalise plans, drawings and production of sorts. This has meant that items that would have come later as ‘supporting acts’ have temporarily swapped positions with other ongoing projects to become ‘leading rôles’.

And so, the ‘Star’ pressing for the Miller rear light has taken on the pole position for this month! (there follows an unashamed ‘plug’ of the product I am making, using what I believe is termed ‘comparative’ advertising:)

All the more interesting when sometime at the middle of this month, I saw this item being offered on eBay from another foreign country, entitled:
VELOCETTE LE LUCAS MILLER TAIL LIGHT LAMP BEZEL REPRODUCTION CHROME RARE

Very interesting!

Even more interesting is that, over the last few months, the incidence of ‘hits’ on this website and blog from said foreign land have been increasing, and they have obviously taken ‘some note’ of what had been reported, especially in my blog midway through November, as some of you may remember.

Surprising is that the complete ‘STOP’ lamp, as presently made there and shipped to Vincent owners (and presumably Velocette owners, too) goes for a ‘street price’ of around £15, and for this sole item, the asking price at present is an unbelievably ‘speculative’ £28, PLUS a whopping £18 postage and packing. That’s even more than the complete EMGO, product alternative on the market!

A closer look at the inside shot of the product makes me wonder if this is a steel pressing, or moulded in some ‘rust-proof’ (synthetic) material. Perhaps someone could comment, if they have already been tempted to buy one already? I would be interested to know for sure. I also must concede that this might possibly be a shot of a rapid-prototype of the as-yet (at the time the photograph was taken) unavailable ‘retail’ item.

The parts which I shall have ready at the end of February are being stamped from 0.6mm 305 Stainless Steel sheet and then polished to a mirror-finish. This has, for me, the advantage that I can send them anywhere in the world without fear of breakage or corrosion, and that they can be ‘stored’ almost indefinitely without any noteworthy deterioration. Any slight dulling of the polish after even years of storage can be removed with a buffing-wheel or metal-polish in minutes, if not seconds.

For the end-user, the safe knowledge that it doesn’t have to handled with kid gloves must also be a bonus!

How anything like this can be listed as ‘rare’, when it’s a new item, that they presumably have thousands of in stock, is also a mystery to me, but there you have it!

If you are interested in purchasing one of the ones I make, please go to my classicbikenut.com/shop, sometime in the ides of March!

© peter gouws 2013

The post Slow Wake-Up after Christmas first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

35˚C yesterday and into 40˚C today

… and not even January yet! Pretty warm for the time of year, even down here, where everything is moving at snails-pace (except for last minute Christmas shopping!)

Christmas down here is, of course, the main summer-holiday season, so everything stops from about a week ago until somewhere at the beginning-to-middle of February, depending on what business you are trying to get hold of!

This means that I also am waiting on parts from suppliers, post (that has almost totally stopped!) and almost all communication, apart from (mostly automated) Christmas greetings of one sort or another. I have been busy making batches of soap and my ‘Christmas Special’ Cherry, Chili and Chocolate jam, which get distributed amongst friends and family at this time (I do so prefer making things for presents, rather than joining the squeeze and push of the shopping-ma(u)ls in town…quite apart from the commercial pressure!)

And so another year is drawing to a close and I am still drawing parts, ready for production in the new year! There is plenty going on in the background in preparation for when the foundries and others crank up again for 2013, and negotiations in place for overseas production of a few small parts that are uneconomical to have made here (as there are massive price- and minimum-order- differences, unfortunately) I am still awaiting samples and will decide whether to go ahead with that in small batches on closer inspection of said parts!

Stacked up for the beginning of the year are stainless headlamp-brackets, stainless rear-mudguard-stays (for KSS initially), top links for Webb forks for all years of MAC, MSS and KSS, top and bottom yokes for Webb heavyweight girders from about ’36 to ’47, the rear stand for all Rigid Velocette models after ’36, rear lamp ‘star’ pressings in stainless and real glass for the same… that should take me up until somewhere near Easter!

In the meantime, probably until after Christmas (a whole two days away??), I’ll be wishing everyone a restful break from the day-to-day goings-on in their lives.

Have a heart for all those who soldier on regardless during the ‘holidays’, like paramedics, doctors, nurses, police, fire and other emergency- and necessary-services, and spare a thought also for all those working in retail, who have to put up with all those bad-tempered customers in such a hurry at Christmas!

I shall be drawing and fiddling in the workshop (as far as ‘family’ duties allow!), assuming that we don’t have much more than 40˚…

Enjoy!

© peter gouws 2012

The post Summer Doldrums first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

How good are the copies?

Well, I have the undoubted pleasure of owning an original Miller lamp shell, with an original ammeter and switch, (the ammeter pictured above is a cheap pattern which doesn’t fit…) although the switch is a later, three-position job, as available now ‘everywhere’ in pattern form; where from I don’t know…probably a couple of versions floating around (and never fitted to Velocettes?).

Up until a few months ago, the only 8-inch pattern shell available was from our friends EMGO in Taiwan, (marketed principally by the excellent ‘Domi_Racer’ – eBay member- in the States) who produced an absolutely excellent replica, with brass mountings, riveted on properly etc. Holes the right size, round and of the correct shape and orientation. The material has a good solid thickness and quality of mild steel.

Recently, however, there have been some poor copies emerging (on eBay), jumping on the band-wagon; from the Indian continent, of very different material quality and fit/shape

Be aware that they try to ‘upgrade’ their offerings with the addition of EITHER a shell with a rim/lamp OR the shell with a pattern switch and ammeter, but NOT the complete lamp…WHY? Quite simply because EITHER the lamp OR the ammeter fit, but NOT BOTH!

BEWARE! The Emgo shells are suffering the same evil, only that the correct and slimmer ammeter are available (I believe also from EMGO, at around £44 from the Vincent Owner’s Club, but also from others…ASK about the depth, and if it’s much cheaper, it WON”T be the right one).

The pattern switch is an unknown for me, as I have one off an LE or something, which is 3-position, so maybe off a later single, not sure, but genuine Miller, anyway. Works well and has a very solid ‘click’ to it. The dimensions don’t seem to be different (I have had one in my hand! It’s a bit glossier than the original (‘plastic’ or fibreglass, not Bakelite – also strictly a plastic, I know…), a combination of different black material and the fact that it was new, and not fifty-odd years old!)

So now we come to the headlamps and rims:

The first rim I bought in September, I believe, and was of the pre-war, stepped, design, as there wasn’t anything else available when I was looking. This was located at Domi_Racer’s on eBay and was bought at the same time as a very crisp-looking 8-inch headlamp unit (one of the subjects of my earlier blogs on HID conversions)

As mentioned earlier, I think, the rim needed a bit of tweaking to fit the housing and the lamp also needed a bit of persuasion to fit through the back. At the time, I thought it might be a one-off, but last week, I received another lamp from them, this time with a more period-looking glass (on the photo, I couldn’t see the cat’s eye centre) and the postwar-shape, smooth rim, similar to the LUCAS-type. The Lucas one is, by the way, much shorter front-to-back, with a more pronounced curve to it, whereas the MILLER item is almost straight-sided until the curve at the end and is much deeper, about a 1/4 of an inch deeper, in fact – this was, in effect, also to stop the ammeter fouling on the reflector!!

Problem: The INSIDE diameter of the rim at the back, where it fits on the shell, is too small and the front return of the rim is also a bit ‘close’. The material of the newly-acquired rim is much thicker than the stepped one, where the fix was an easy job with a hammer-handle or similar hardwood object being used to flatten the return on the back until it fit the shell by pressing it around the back edge…

This is how much it ‘wouldn’t fit’ and so I estimated that the internal diameter had to be increased by about 1/4 of an inch, which was well within the limits of the available material without damaging the exterior or having to cut-and shut, which would have caused other problems… like having to get everything re-chromed!

The new one needed real persuasion, and so a piece of hardwood (in this case very old Jarrah floor-boarding!) was sawn to the correct profile (i.e. 8-inches diameter, using the rim as a guide for marking), leaving enough to hold in a vice. This was done like this, because if you attempt to hammer the inside lip on a flat surface, you will distort the rim and leave ‘flats’ all over it…not good! This job definitely called for my fibre hammer, also given a roughly-8-inch Diameter-treatment, to make the job smoother.

*Please don’t use a metal hammer, as the chrome is very likely to get damaged and split off…

So gently, and all around the inside perimeter, the lip had to be turned back, to enable everything to fit.

Look, in the end, after the ‘tool’ was made, probably no more than ten minute’s work. But, Hey, should I be doing this?? Does everyone else have the materials and tools lying around to make this modification, so that something new fits?? I think that ‘Domi-Racer’ do a great job, but they are also in a position to let the supplier know that their parts need a bit of tweaking to fit! The light-unit even slipped in easily after the mod, surprise, surprise!

AH YES, the light unit! I said before, two different light-units, same supplier. VERY different light-units! I may have fluked here, but the one I received this week looks to be a lot older… Compare the glass and the crispness of the moulding. Even the colour of the glass is different and the reflector bowl was definitely not as highly-polished as the unit I received in September. Count the flutes, too, the latest one has far fewer flutes, much more like the original and the ‘cat’s eye’ is almost un-noticeable (YAY!).

Also interesting is that it is much deeper in the glass (more convex) than the other one! Last, but not least, the ‘new’ one (top/left) does not have a pilot-light hole!

I think that I may have bid on a lucky one-off, only time will tell if history will repeat itself for others… I am very happy with my purchase ($79?), as the glass is far more in ‘keeping’ with my ’47 model, looks far less like a LUCAS AND has the correct rim shape. I sincerely hope that this is NOT a one-off and that this is a new line, to complement the other one already on offer!

I am now working on a pressing to convert the HID bulbs to fit without modifying the original reflector! I have 25W, 35W and 50W HIDs to try…

Now I can take my other Miller reflector and mate it with a flat glass to go with the pre-war rim!

Oh, and while I was at it yesterday, I thought that I’d re-organise the ‘backdrop’ on my workbench, which up until now was merely an open frame, thought of to put up drawings… That has changed, drawings belong somewhere else and now I have place for the most used hammers and mallets for wood, leather, tin-bashing and metalwork, as well as somewhere to hang all the pliers and pincers I most use. The Files, screw-drivers and rasps have always resided in the back of the workbench, but there have been a few unusual additions which needed extra consideration.

Now I can use the bench as a bench, and can still have the tools to hand, without them having to take up space on the work-surface of the bench while I’m working!

Hooray!

(Don’t mention the hammer-fetish… or the files, or the saws!)

© peter gouws 2012

The post 8-inch Miller Headlamp first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

Old car-bumper stickers are the hit! (Again?)

Remember the photos of the Altette I bought a while back? Just to jog your memory, that’s it in the picture above.

This is what it looks like now!!

Quite a transformation, considering. I disassembled it as far as I could go (the main body was left intact, as I was too scared to take it apart any further for fear of damaging the electrics. So, the domed nut and the nut behind, as well as the disk it is holding on came apart. The six screws around the perimeter also were removed, allowing the alloy ring/rim with the script to come off and the bracket, too.

The bracket and the disk were taken to Marshall’s for powder-coating and I sprayed the body as well I could with yer spray-can (not the best paint, I’m afraid, but an undercoat of zinc followed by a black gloss coat should be enough to protect it from the elements, even if not up to everyone’s cosmetic standard! The screws were simply wire-brushed and will be chemically blacked. (They should be domed nuts, I believe…)

Chrome bits:

The Alloy ring and the two nuts were taken to my chrome-plater and polisher, ‘Reflections’ in Kilkenny for a spruce-up. I had taken quite a few odd bits and pieces there a while ago and they were ready to be picked up yesterday, so off I trotted and got everything. Great job, too, I must say. They de-chrome, polish and copper-nickel-chrome everything. They even offer a genuine matt-chrome, which is unusual…most get around that by wire-brushing the nickel before the final chrome goes on, giving a matted ‘topcoat’, but unfortunately leaving stripes everywhere, visible in sunny reflections.

This is the real McCoy, as can be seen in my pictures??

The oil-filler-nut off the gearbox should also have been dull chrome, but I have another one, so that will be done accordingly. These are most of the bits and pieces, altogether coming to $200 for the lot, which I consider fair, when you take into account all the fiddly work involved!

Unfortunately, there aren’t too many workshops willing to take on jobs like this anymore, as the clients are always whinging about the prices and the finish (trying to reduce the price, of course) and generally leaving a bad impression. If the owners ‘got real’ and grew up, and started to realise that tradesmen don’t charge 1974 prices anymore… there might be a few more still doing the work!

One of the most important assets in a restorer’s hand is a list of good tradesmen and services with relationships based on mutual understanding, respect and trust that the job will be done properly and for a fair price, in a reasonable time. If any of these factors is out of whack, then it’s time to keep an eye out for alternative sources for those much-needed services, which have to be relied upon.

What’s the use of the best widget-return-spring-maker in the world, if you can never get hold of him and you have to wait three years for your bits to get done (after which he’s lost or forgotten half of them anyway)??

I rest my case!

©peter gouws 2012

The post Lucas Altette? (+ some Chrome) first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

A Much Better Rear Light – From Taiwan

Not that anyone would (not) notice the difference in the quality of these two parts, without me saying anything about them, but here goes anyway!! Unless you see them side-by-side, how would you know?

The one on the right, needless to say, is the one of Indian ‘manufacture’ and the one on the left, from Taiwan, made by the EMGO consortium, bought on eBay from brit_am_nos13 in Australia, who has a selection of parts for British motorcycles in general.

To the parts themselves… the EMGO part is much heavier (beware, you racers!), being of heavier gauge metal throughout. Still with the strange (but as on the ‘Vincent’ original) dividing wall between ‘Stop’ and tail light – this might have been or still be the practice with Automobiles of late, but with Classic British bikes? As far as I remember, any of the bikes that I have serviced or owned, if they had a brake light at all, had twin-filament bulbs with a 6W/21W setup (or similar). Can’t think of ONE that had separate ‘chambers’ for each bulb… Someone please correct me. I can only assume that the twin-filament bulbs were not as available then (if at all!) and that the lamp would have had to be ‘deeper’ to accommodate one can be seen from the pictures.

Nonetheless, the quality of the material and finish is obvious even at a cursory glance, and the workmanship difference stands out a mile! You really do get what you pay for in this instance, so it might be advisable to ask for this product by name, before investing hard-earned pennies in a piece of cr*p.

Look at the difference of finish on the two dividers…one is already rusty through the galv. and the other has a consistent, even finish. Look also at the shape of the bulb-holders:

The inside finish is plain to see, the EMGO one is powder-coated. The ‘other’ one had been done out of a spray can and the paint is coming off all over the place…

Only subtle differences in the working of the metal over the tool, too, the EMGO being a lot crisper at the ‘glass’ end and altogether cleaner and smoother.

No prizes for guessing which one I would fit to my machine.. EMGO’s real metal one or the plastic… While the difference may not be quite as obvious at first glance in the photo from the ‘front’, so to speak, however, the inside view is certainly more obvious:

The lens is similar, but not so easy to show on photos…The lens is much more glass-like (i.e. more transparent) on the EMGO, so actually transmits more light to the following traffic, presumably a plus for visibility (even if it is only out of half the lens…) Interestingly enough, the bulbs supplied with the EMGO are both 10W, so ‘only’ 10 + 10, instead of 6 +21 when the brake is on… Roundabouts and swings, as the running light is brighter than the dual filament and with the brake on not so bright. Since I drive with the brake OFF most of the time… HOWEVER, I don’t really want anyone driving up my ‘exhaust pipe’ when I do apply the brakes coz they didn’t notice…

One other comment about the EMGO lens: It comes with what looks like an E4 certification, but the numbers don’t add up, so I doubt if it is actually ‘real’, since why would anyone go to the trouble of getting the certification, and then ‘misprint’ the data on their tooling for the lens…?? All made up just to look good. The raised writing of the ‘certification’ has /LED at the end, so is presumably, if at all, only valid in that configuration.

The size of the bulbs is restricted inside the housing (as seen on my first blog regarding the lamps)… which is why I’ll be converting to the ‘festoon’ type of bulb anyway, when I get back to my lathe. This will give me more choice, as the 21W would definitely be too close to the lens for my liking, as is the 10W running light, not forgetting that the ambient temperature here in the summer is well up in the late twenties and more, up to nearly 40˚, if you are a mad dog or Englishman… and go out in the noonday sun! This will also mean that I can get rid of the silly wall between the bulbs (which was only a hasty expedience at the time, to give something to mount the two bulbs on, when originally only one was fitted in the middle of the light). Incidentally, for those rivet-counters with sharp eyes, the original Miller items for the Vincent can be spotted easily even without the lens etc, even if they don’t have the Miller ‘lighthouse’ (post ’55?)! The pattern ones have the copper-coloured spring going from side-to-side, unlike the up/down-pointing ones seen in the repros as above!! Also note that on the originals, the dividing wall was nearly always horizontal, which the repros definitely are not! (check out the second picture above closely and you will notice it…)

The electrical-connecting buttons on the back of Indian item (removed in this picture) were already rusted and the chrome was coming off…I threw them away before I thought of photographing them, but here the difference in the paint-finish is quite obvious.

So much for that!

For anyone interested, I am having the tooling done to make the Velocette ‘Star’ pressing in stainless-steel, which will then be polished to a mirror-sheen, since these have not been available for a long time.

© peter gouws 2012

The post Miller Rear Light Update first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

I can’t afford to buy rubbish!

I wonder what it is (apart from sheer profiteering) that makes people continue to produce absolute trash and why others will fall for it, time and again?? Where does the cycle end? Surely there is a limit reached (à la 100 monkeys), where the charlatans and their dirty dealings become common knowledge?

One would think so, but there are obviously enough of us idiots out there, prepared to exchange our hard cash for even harder lessons…and just put up with it?

NOT ME!

I’ve had enough! Case in point? A wonderful illustration (and there are a few, believe me!) are the ‘MILLER’ reproduction rear lights with the ‘STOP’ script on them.

They are everywhere, ranging in price from the mid 20s to the late 50s in AUS Dollars. I even saw someone at one of the local bike-meets here in the Adelaide hills asking $60 for the same CRAP that everyone else is selling…

So? Why are they so bad? Let me explain:They are REALLY badly made, they require fettling to fit, they are often damaged as new and delivered. When, if, you manage to fit them to your beloved bike (I hope to God that you didn’t throw the rusty, bent original away, if you ever had one!), you will find that it lasts around half an hour, before the ‘lens’ begins to melt – that’s with the 5W sidelight glowing on its own. Even more fun is, when it has melted itself to the bulb (they call them ‘globes’ down under), and then you cant get anything apart without destroying everything and risking cutting your fingers badly (don’t ask how I know).

OK, I’ll start at the very beginning: I bought mine in a plain white cardboard box for $34?? $43?? Something like that. The seller was packing up and I was also in a hurry to get home, so didn’t bother looking in the box…more’s the pity. When I did get home and opened the box, the lens was broken in half. (see the top picture)

Exactly in half! Must be a reason for that, so I had a closer look. First, try one of the halves in the fitting to see what had done the damage. Well, that was pretty obvious!

Having discovered what the culprit was, I disassembled it to make the repair ( and photos) easier. Pretty easy to see, eh! The (already rusty) bulb-fitting and dividing wall was obviously hastily hand-cut on a grinding-wheel – after galvanising! -, incidentally leaving a razor-sharp edge all around. The ‘dome’ at the top protruded well above the rim and so when ‘assembled’, the raised part pressed into the lens, breaking it perhaps even before it was put in the box…

So, to alleviate the immediate problem, the ‘wall’ was marked and relieved as shown, and the edges ground to avoid any pending injury. The person who sold it to me was very apologetic and sent me a replacement lens on the same day, so at least that was good (he did ask for the broken item to be returned, so that he could claim it from his supplier).

The other thing that was immediately apparent was the quality, or lack thereof, of the STOP script. First off, its PLASTIC, badly chromed, the flash was not removed before chroming and the die is terrible: The script is awful and the vertical bar is neither in the middle nor straight (perpendicular) and it was also broken: See for yourselves.

Inside and out this is a shoddy bit of work, broken, wonky, badly conceived and finished, this is the most appalling workmanship with no attempt made to conceal it. Look at all the adverts on eBay and other medium, and the pictures are all perfect, no holes in the chrome, all the flash removed cleanly and I suspect even an original script and sometimes lens photographed.

The inside was also painted black, which would help the luminance of the light-output no end, so that got a quick spray of matt white. I unfortunately forgot to photograph the mis-fitting holes and the dividing plate all being wonky, the adjustment of the bulb-holders, so that the tops of the glass didn’t twist off when you tried to fit them etc., etc., which took up a good hour to get right. Then I started thinking… (dangerous!)

Why have a dividing wall between side- and brake-light anyway? Was the original split? Of course not, you Wally, there was only one single-filament bulb in the middle anyway! So why go to all that trouble? Just because there is a convenient horizontal split, doesn’t mean that you have to halve the area of light showing to the rear as a running-light?? Why on earth was the single-filament-bulb not simply replaced by a dual side/stop 5W/21W bulb, like in so many other bikes and cars?? Defeats me!

For whatever reason, this is the construction seen on ALL replica rear lights of this type. A useless idea, carried out absolutely hopelessly. I don’t think I even had bulbs in the purchase, as I remember? I could be wrong, of course, but it wouldn’t surprise me, and I’ll show you why: What bulbs would YOU fit?? (The real question is, which bulbs will fit at all under the rear lens, which you remember, comes to just above touching the modified division shown below…

This picture also shows the superb workmanship in the cutting of the number-plate-light window, which was also done with some kind or rotary slitting/grinding wheel, turning over the edge inside, a razor-sharp (and rather wonky) trap for fingers. Reason for the pic? To show the depth of just over 40mm from the base inside to the bottom of the lens. Now for the available replacement bulbs:

This one?

Or perhaps this one?

Anyone for the added output and longevity of LED?

Oh dear! Nothing seems to fit! Find one that does (I couldn’t), and it would literally sit right up against the lens, which melts PDQ, as the material is also sh*t, and is not even red! No, its clear plastic, dipped in some red ‘paint’, as can be seen here: notice the streaks! (at 45˚ from bottom left to top right)

Oh dear! You found me out! I was never going to use that STOP script anyway! Only the Vincents used to fit those, never actually fitted on a Velocette originally!

Yes, I know, you can’t get those anymore though, so what’s there to do??

Make them!

And a RED, real GLASS lens. Should be ready for Christmas! Won’t solve the proximity problem, but will stop the lens from melting! AND, now proper Velocetty items will at last be available! YAY!

The proximity problem…Hmmm, what about using those torpedo-shaped bulbs, then? They could be set much lower and have the advantage that they are also available not only in 5W and 21W, but also in 10W, for a brighter positioning light! Sold!

So off I trundled to my friendly local Car-Accessory store in Hahndorf, where David could sell me a truck/trailer stop/tail combination light with said festoon double-bulb-setup. Great!

Dismembered that to make my prototype and fitted all the bits, if a bit Heath-Robinson, inside the housing with bags of space to spare. Cut a bit of Ally sheet to give a slightly better reflection-index, and this is what I ended up with. Please bear in mind that this is only a ‘prototype’, made on my mum’s kitchen table (I’m living up in Hahndorf, looking after mum and dad for a while)…

Same wonky housing, BUT, rather more space between bulbs and lens, I would say! The bulbs are about half way between base and lens, actually, which is ideal!

As I said, a bit ‘home-brewed’, but works fine and would actually last as it is. The ally reflector is a bit small, but will be improved upon in the production models. The hole was made as a cross-slit in the alloy, which was pushed through and turned over the other side to hold it in place… has the advantage that the edges of the hole are now round and soft, so that wires don’t get chafed. Clever, huh!?

*******************************************************

Couldn’t resist showing how wonky again… Sorry!

The cover-plates in comparison. (I shall definitely make the star…)

Here the replacement plastic lens showing the wound left even by my modified division, while it lasted…

And here showing the streaks in the colouring of the lens as well as possible (cheating a bit by bringing the colour-temperature of the image right down to clarify the difference)

Very difficult to photograph in daylight rendering correct colour, this is as close as I got… just the taillight (10W): don’t forget, DAYLIGHT!

‘Slight’ difference with the brake on… (10+21=31W) Pretty good, eh!?

Speaks for itself I think. Put in a real, through-coloured red glass lens and the red will not bleach as much and the whole effect will be better and safer for following traffic as well as for ‘yours truly’ on the bike. I’m negotiating with various suppliers to bring this project to fruition and hope to have the first units coming off the line around Christmas (yes, THIS year!). When they do come, they will FIT, they will WORK and they will LAST, as well as doing justice to your beloved machine and the effort you have put into making what it is… a machine to RIDE, I hope!!

©peter gouws 2012

The post Going (not so) cheap first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

Untruth #1: Only a magician can true wheels!

What a load of rubbish! Could do with a bit of time: Yes, could have something to do with WANTING to true them (yourself): Yes.

Untruth #2 PATIENCE of Job* required,

No, I don’t need it and nor do you. Patience, my friend, is something you only need, when you have run out of it! So, if you are enjoying or ‘getting into’ something, patience doesn’t even enter the equation. Ever! *And I meant the biblical person, you silly, not the ‘job’ in hand…

Having settled THAT myth, let’s get on with talking about trueing. WITHOUT pictures. Pictures don’t help at all, in fact, which is why I left them out!

Actually quite simple, but can be frustrating if gone about in the wrong way. The thing to remember is that a wheel is ROUND. (You knew that? Well, that’s a good start!) What I mean is, this: If you tighten (or loosen) a spoke in one place, you are not going to solve anything just by that action alone. All the spokes surrounding it will have their tension altered, as will all the spokes diametrically opposite!

All you really have to keep in mind is that if you tighten one here, the spokes left and right will LOSE a bit of tension (the ones closest will lose most, of course, and as they become further away to the right and left a little less, obviously). On the opposite side, the tension will INCREASE and the originally ROUND (and now we come to what I meant with the first rather obvious statement) rim, will be SQUASHED (ever such a tiny bit, I hope) into an oval shape, and a bit twisted, too, as the spokes are not along the centreline, nor are the lines of pull to the hub!

Ouch, that could get complicated! And it will, if you don’t remember that extremely simple fact!

OK, so let’s take up where we left off in the last blog: The spokes are all in their proper holes and the hub is sort-of in the middle. Now it is useful to know the actual offset of the rim, that being the difference between the plane existing at the face of the dge of the rim (imagine stretching some ‘Kling-Film’ over the rim and the drum-skin stretched over it would be the first ‘face’) and the same would be true of the one side or the other of the drum. The offset gives the distance between these two faces to position the centre of the tyre when fitted, along the centreline of the bike. For centreline tyre, read centreline wheel-rim, of course.

Not exactly rocket-science so far. Given that you know the offset as specified by the manufacturer or measured off a bike that you know is right (or off the original wheel/hub before it was dismantled, and assuming that the width of the rims is the same – otherwise some simple mathematics is required). If you are lucky, you have a complete wheel, like I have in the pictures, to go by!

You could now, for example, lay the hub and wheel on its side, with one ‘face’ down on a flat surface (the bench??). The wheel-rim is on the same surface (the spokes are still loose and so the rim naturally drops onto the surface with gravity), so ‘0’ offset… but some blocks under the rim (at least three, evenly spaced) of the right measurement, and the wheel be ‘set up’ in the right position, more-or-less, already. All you have to do is get the wheel sort of in the middle and then you can just nip up the spokes all the way round on the topside first (which will hold the rim off the table-top at the right distance – near enough) and then the ‘underside’, so the spokes on the ‘bottom’ row. , so it won’t ‘flop’ when you pick it up.

OK. Keep your nerve. If it’s not perfect, and, of course it will not be anything like perfect, don’t despair. SOME of it will be almost right.

An interesting experiment is, while the spokes are all loose, to tighten just one spoke and see what an amazing difference it makes, and in which direction etc. Take notes if you will, but OBSERVE! This will stand you in good stead in the future.

Now the actual trueing starts. Place your spindle in the jig (or Hub, or however you have set it up) and rotate the wheel SLOWLY. Set up your pointer to show where the one edge of the rim should be (the hub should at least go round straight!!). You will see that some parts of the rom are ‘close’, some are far away. This goes for left-right-wobble and concentricity. I like to start with left-right.

The process is EASY and LOGICAL.

Start with the bits further away from the truth, so to speak. For the sake of argument, we have a wobble that is too far left on a portion of the rim: Forcing will achieve nothing, so I don’t try to tighten up the right-hand-side yet. No! LOOSEN the 4 or 5 of the spoke row on the LEFT of the rim first, so that the rim doesn’t go out of round, pull the rim over in the right direction with a hand and THEN, just nip up the 4 or 5 spokes on the right side of the centre that will keep it in place. If it doesn’t come enough over when pulling by hand, loosen the spokes on the left some more, until it does!,

Go Round the rim until more-or less right (within 1/4 an inch or so), the fine tuning starts in the same way, loosening first (really don’t want to distort the rim, which presumably is still round!) and then tightening. The difference here is now that the spokes left and right will be better ‘felt’ when the tension eases, it’s now more a question of working by feel, the centre spoke of the direction being loosened/tightened a bit more than the ones left and right by feel…You will get the hang of it and you just have to let the tension just go on the one side and just pull it up on the other, though it’s not that critical yet, as a start could be made with getting the wheel to go round nicely now

A word about FEEL: Not everyone is endowed with a finely-tuned sense of feel, so I have trick for this… there are those screwdriver-tips that are meant for drill-drivers with octagonal shafts (usually about 6mm across-the-flats). Get a nice wide-bladed one of these slightly longer than the one-inch version (two or three inches long is fine) and make the octagonal end to a handle by winding some masking-tape around it – more for fat fingers, less for thin – and use thsis for ‘twiddling’ the ends of the spokes to loosen and tighten: THAT WAY, you can’t overtighten, and you will feel if you have a spoke that is too tight, and will know what to do with it (loosen the spoke diametrically opposite to it, actually!)

The process is the same, turning the wheel or ‘swinging’ it, while holding it in one hand between finger and thumb, in half-turns to see where it is ‘high’ or ‘low’ compared to your pointer (Which could be screwdriver lying on the table, pointed at the edge of the rim!). This time, hold the wheel where it is high, rotate half way round and LOOSEN the spokes on the low-side, taking it back round and tightening the spokes on the high spot to bring that part of the rim closer to the centre. That’s the principle.

Sounds complicated and requiring far too much time and concentration… It’s certainly not impossible and is actually quite meditative in it’s way. Time will just fly, and you will have to stretch often to negate the tensed up shoulders, arms and the effects of that tangential, one-eyed ‘blick’ that becomes a habit, once started.

When you are nearly there, go and have a cuppa (or whatever).

This is important! Now and later, when it is actually finished and the spokes are all tensioned so that they ring (rather than give dull ‘thud’ when tapped), the rim has to ‘settle’, and going away for a few hours or a day is super important!

OK, you’ve had your break, now you can get the real fine stuff done, tuning out the wobble and the concentricity errors, if you hadn’t done so already. Now all the spokes vac be tightened a bit over hand-tight and ‘ping’ tested. Once done, give it a whirl again and be mighty pleased with yourself, take two gold stars and a glass of cleansing Ale for your efforts!

AND, don’t touch it again until tomorrow, AT LEAST… if it needs tweaking, do it TOMORROW, not now, OK!?

Now you have an idea how to do it, I’ll show what usually happens: The WELD is nearly always a bit off, you can’t do anything about that. Live with it. The wheel will still run true, as the TYRE is FLEXIBLE (well, it’s supposed to be, anyway…) Don’t fret. Within one millimetre is OK, less is better (but not always achievable first up), and don’t forget the weld: It will generally, especially with alloys, throw your best efforts out of true…

Screwdriver-reflection trueing of the side, no micrometer actually needed! The reflection doubles your distance, so the error is magnified, making it easier to locate and finer to fix! Since th screwdriver is just laying there, it can’t damage or scratch the rim, either!

If you want to be able to quote actual numbers and are paranoid and have the gear, you could set up with various different types of direct-measuring equipment, for example as above. What you use is not critical. The screwdriver method can also give just as real numbers if the screwdriver is fixed and you have a set of feeler-gauges handy…

Above all, have some fun! Click on the picture below, (you might have to wait while it loads 21MB!) to see the wheel turning! Notice that the wheel spins nicely, except where the weld is. This doesn’t make any difference on the road…

©peter gouws 2012

The post The Wheel Truth first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

Wheels within wheels…

Ever thought of spoking your own wheels up? Look at the cost of getting someone else to do it (not that difficult to find, most Bikeshops or Motocross-oriented dealers as well as some tyre-places can do it for you). Don’t forget, though, they are probably earning on the rim and spokes as well as the lacing-up job (their entitlement, after all, that’s presumably what they are in business for – and continue to be!).

You, on the other hand, may be able to source your own spokes, rims and nipples for anyway usually less than you will be charged for by your ‘spoker-upper’, but will have to come to some arrangement with SWMBO regarding where to do it. You don’t need any fancy gear, either, but you can spend up to a couple of hundred Dollars on a smart jig if you want… I went the more ‘conservative’ route.

My brother, a jeweller amongst other things, was throwing out an old workbench he had provisionally made a few years ago and asked if I could use it. My immediate response was ‘no’, but on second thoughts, I did want to build a couple of wheels, so why not ‘modify’ the bench for that! Look at the picture above and you will see that the top was removed and recycled as a back to the bench (for stability… that’s one thing your jig should be, however you make it: you don’t want anything to wobble!

It stands 900mm high, which suits me fine at six foot, so I can sit or stand to work. I then made a new top from MDF that was lying about and cut a slot in it to make space for the wheel:

Notice the extra support at the front edges, to stop it ‘drooping’. The axle supports are also a bit of scrap I found with a “V” cut into them. Important is that a wheel can be supported on its axle in between them and that they are adjustable for distance apart from one another, to suit different axle widths. I simply drew a line across the bench along which the strips are aligned. they are fixed with clamps here, but you set up a fancy arrangement with slots and screws or wood-block or metal guides and screw-down-clamps or whatever you have or can get hold of.

So, that’s the setup and this is what it looks like with a wheel resting in it:

(actually a bit fast-forward, as in this picture the wheel is actually already finished!) You get the idea: It doesn’t have to be a vertical stand, you could use a singing arm, a rigid frame on end or girder forks held in a clamp etc…let your imagination run wild and your wallet needn’t suffer overly!

Now to get on with the actual spoking! I will, for the sake of simplicity, assume that you have already bought the correct rim, spokes and nipples that fit your hub and are ready to go!. Ah yes, a wide screwdriver will come in handy and the HEAD of a screw-bit and magnetic holder for an electric drill/screwdriver – more of that later… any extra clamps you feel necessary to hold the wheel-spindle in place (if necessary) and… a bit of time! I also expect that you know the offset of the rim from the hub, so that when built into your machine, the rim/tyre run on the centre-line, tucked neatly under your mudguard! If you don’t have numbers, maybe you have a sample wheel handy to copy and measure from (like I have in the pictures)

Some things are best done in sequences which can be broken up into smaller jobs, but should not be interrupted once started. That might mean a bit of concentration for ten or so minutes at a time, not much longer, so make a cuppa or get a glass/bottle of your favourite poison and let the lesson begin (self-taught)

You will notice that the bench is big enough to lay a 21” rim on with the hub in the middle (I could even fit a 23” Honda TL rim on it!) and I subsequently drilled a hole in the top to allow the front axle to go through, so that the hub-flange was on the surface and therefore ‘stable’

I always start at the valve-hole, since it’s always there! Whether 40- or 36-hole, the pattern is very similar and you will soon get into the routine of it. The front and the back were different not only in size: the rear hub is the same size left and right and the rim is laced on the centre-line of my sample, and the hub has holes in it for each spoke. The front has different diameters left and right ( due to the brake drum being one-sided and part of the hub, unlike the rear, where it simply bolts on) and this affects the drilling angles on the rim, so watch out! The brake-drum-side had holes around the rim and the nearside has double-keyhole-slots to accommodate the spokes, which at the same time make some things easier and other things more difficult…(spokes don’t fall out of holes, once they have been laced through, but they can and will fall out of slots, if you don’t follow a few simple ‘rules’)

Get the hub and hold it in one hand. If it has holes in it, feed every other one with a spoke down through the holes and the ones in between, feed a spoke UP through the holes. If you are doing a rear wheel or one with holes on both sides, you have to this for both sides, before putting the wheel on the table. Otherwise you could put it down now, and pick it up the same way again later to do the other (top side), assuming that you started on the bottom-most ring of holes, as I always do for some reason.

The picture shows a front hub, with a single-sided brake for girders on the Velocette (this is a slightly earlier hub than 1947 for those with sharp eyes, the ’47 hub is a casting!). The rear was impossible to hold and photograph at the same time! (after this is when I drilled the hole in the bench for the axle, so that the hub sat on the surface of the table, as in the following pics)

On the right you can see the different spoke-lengths for brake and non-brake-side of the hub. So, up, down, up, down all the way round. Since the other side has slots, I don’t need to put the spokes in there yet, (if you had a hub just with holes you would) so I just lay the hub on the table and placed the rim around it and started putting spokes in:

OK, spoke 1! I said to start at the valve, this I did, taking the first hole (drilling) clockwise, that pointed at the TOPSIDE of the brake-hub and BACK. This is super-critical, to get the first spoke set. Once in the hole on the rim, get a nipple and turn it on to the spoke only a couple of turns, just enough to stop it coming off at this stage.

Now, moving clockwise ( most caucasians do – it has to to with reading and writing from left-to-right, not if you are left- or right-handed) count four holes and put the NEXT SPOKE ON THE SAME SIDE ( top or bottom, up or down) in that hole, which should also conveniently point at where it’s coming from! If not, that’s a dead give-away that things are not right. Have another look, compare etc. In this case, there is a gap of three in between, or the next hole ‘looking in the same direction’ is the fourth along:

And so it goes on, until you have all the spokes that you threaded upwards (or downwards) in their respective ‘oles.

The other spokes, go in the OTHER direction, crossing over the spokes already fitted loosely. Please compare with your pattern/drawing, but often the NEXT ONE CLOCKWISE on the hub (on the ‘IN’ side in this case) will go SIX holes BACK (anti clockwise) from the ones on the TOP. Sounds complicated, but is actually simple. Look at the photo closer and all will be revealed!

What I have actually done is to turn the hub and wheel over after putting in all the spokes on the one side and have now fitted the one row of spokes going clockwise on the now upper, nearside of the hub. Just have alook and you will see what I meant in the last paragraph.

As ever, you will hopefully find that the drillings all point in the right direction… No power-maths required here: You will find that the spokes fit in the middle of the spaces between the spokes already set, so easy to do, leaving a hole each side, foe other side when you turn the wheel over! EASY! (SEE?!)

Here is the picture panned out a bit, showing the general arrangement. One row of spokes has been put in the slots, as can be seen. Slots are a bit easier, inasmuch as the spokes don’t all to have been fed into the hub from the start. Can be a pain, though as they can ‘constantly’ fall out. You can use a trick that I use: I put the nipple on the spoke a few turns BEFORE putting it in the wheel! HEH?

You can feed it in the RIM-hole, like this:

… And THEN into the slots…

This is easier if you tip the rim towards the hub, to bring the end of the spoke to go through the hole, letting the rim then fall back with gravity, to hold the spoke in the ‘slot’ part of the hole and not fall out!

Trueing? That’s a different story, and will follow on the next installment: Don’t forget, the welded join can be a bit problematical on these type of alloy rims and is nearly always a little out of line, but this wheel is true to 0.3 of a millimetre in all directions, that’s not much more than ten thou out… not unreasonable, really…

©peter gouws 2012

The post Be-Spoke Wire-Wheel Lace-Up first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

Tired original speedo face?

Do something about it!

This is just a quickie… I received an extremely original 1938 Smiths Chronometric Speedometer from Pud, that had been completely mechanically serviced and reconditioned in 1999 and never used since then. The tripo- and odometer wheels had not been touched cosmetically, as was the case with the actual face of the instrument. The colour of the numbers on the wheels had darkened to an almost too dark (for my taste) orange-yellow for the most part and the dial itself was also rather nicely aged. The only problem was that, since it had been serviced, it had probably been face-down in a box, for the last 13 years!! Not a problem as such, of course, but in this case, it did have detrimental results:

If you know anything about, or have ever looked inside a Chronometric instrument, you will probably remember that behind the metal plate of the face, between it ant the pillars that the screws go into, there is a sort of paper ‘gasket’, I assume to dampen out vibration and reduce the chance of the screws loosening or some such reason (I’m only guessing). Unfortunately, over the years, lubricant had saturated this paper and it had seeped through the screw-holes and into the paint finish of the face, making it a) glossy and b) non-stick, so that the very least of disturbances caused it to separate from the face-plate, as shown on the top photo. Such a shame, but it was already flaking and had to come off, despite it’s very original and rather quaint appearance. So clean it I must and find some way of re-conditioning it, without it looking like something I bought new from ‘Her Majesty’s Chicken Patch’* in India last week…

The solution?? These were originally screen printed on brass, so this is the way forward, but first I need a good copy of the original: A high-resolution scan comes to the rescue and some very painstaking ‘tracing’ in Adobe Illustrator give me the results I am looking for (after nearly eight hours solid, all up!), print it out on Matt Photo Paper, after toning down the white of the letters and numbers a bit and…voila! The template is complete, mount it where it should go (in the instrument, silly!) and check for ‘authenticity’.

Doesn’t actually look bad at all, and so I can give the vector-graphic data on a stick to my friendly silk-screen-printer to make a film and then a screen from (for the white only, as the black will be sprayed on and the yellow applied afterwards over the (off-)white. The finish and look of the instrument will be absolutely as original and only a tad fresher (coz it ain’t actually seventy-year-old-paint), so not too many raised eyebrows, I hope…

Though it took a few hours to draw, I feel that the result is at least passable and certainly worth it!

Editor’s note: * ‘Royal Enfield’

© peter gouws 2012

The post Smith’s Face-Job first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.

It’s the real thing

My long absence has been due to many changes! Real change only comes about through real change, as we know, and plenty has been a-changing! I won’t bore you with the details (well, not all of them… and not yet!), suffice to say that things (and me) are on the move again.

Nuff of that… You may remember that I had landed a few parts form ‘Pud’, and now is the time to start getting on with fitting and fettling. Not forgetting that these parts are in their seventies, they are in pretty good condition for their age! Take the front brake-plate: Main thing is that it is FLAT! Actually, dead flat, no dings, no dents and no bits missing (Phew!). So to recap, the front brake-plate on these early (Pre-Dowty/Telescopic) models are not cast in aluminium alloy, but pressed steel items. More importantly, they had provision for a speedometer drive (which is,of course, on the later models, from the REAR wheel) and this , and the respective gears associated with it, are very difficult parts to get if you don’t have them! I was very fortunate in that the brake-plate was complete with all the bits. The gears for inside the hub and on the drive were new (yes, absolutely new old stock, still in their wrappers!), but the drive was a little ‘tired’. Having assembled it all and mounting the forks upside-down in my wood-vice, I noticed that, when run backwards, the hub turned silently, but forwards made an awful racket and slowed the rotation of the hub when spun considerably.

To get behind the reason I had to take the drive off, of course, which I duly did. The reason became immediately apparrent, as the shaft had worn the housing VERY oval (due to the forces imposed on it from driving the gear, and so was very much off the intended centre-line, causing it to drag. The only way to cure is to turn up a bush to return the spindle to it’s proper place. The body was bored out to clear the ovality and a bush pressed into place and then reamed out to fit the spindle. The result is here to be seen, the size of the bush indicative of the ovality!!

The next thing to clear up was the brake lever (brake actuating arm, sorry!) and whether I had the right one or not. Wayne had been so friendly as to send me a few parts, too, and so I had (among other things, more of that later) a brake lever for comparison. You may think this trivial, however, since the Velocette levers have a SQUARE fitting, this means only four ways of fitting. This may, in comparison to other makes, (which might have stars or other configurations), be a something to be aware of!

In this case, the construction is idiot-proof and much stronger to boot (assuming that you have the right part in the first place, which, if you had bought the bike when it was all in one piece and working, would be to expect!). Check out the difference below:

Actually made from ther same pressing, the only difference is the ANGLE of the square ‘ole at the end! The top one is correct for the model and year, the other one would fit any of the telescopic fork models. Just in case you were wondering, the top one one is not chromed, it looked exactly like the one below! It has been cleaned up using a ten-inch wire brush on a bench grinder, ready for powder-coating!

To emphasize the difference, I have taken a picture of both together, showing the difference rather more explicitly. To fit the wrong one would have dangerously disastrous results on the braking-power (what braking??) of the setup.

The correct angle of brake-lever to the cable stop is absolutely critical to braking performance and cannot be emphasised enough! and should look like this:

The angle between the lever pivot and the end should never be greater than 90 degrees, so should never go past the red arrow at the intersection on the drawing, or the braking-performance will reduce to almost nothing! Not very desirable, at any speed! By fitting the other brake lever, the angles would be all messed up and the brakes, quite simply, could not be made to work effectively.

After cleaning up the plate, the cable stop pin is replaced and then has to lined up with the lever, so that the cable passes through at the right angle relative to the lever end (NOT the fork legs!!). SO, the lever was put in the ‘neutral’ position – you can see here that the square sides of the hole in the lever in this case point ‘squarely’ at the front-wheel-spindle, an easy reference-point – and I screwed a long bolt into the cable-stop to get the angle right for the direction of pull on the lever. This I would normally do by ‘sight’, but for the purpose of illustration, this does show the principle rather well!

This lining up is necessary to avoid any sharp angles in the twisted wire cables as the brakes are applied at the handlebar-lever, otherwise the cables will be bent and deteriorate rapidly, eventually breaking one by one!

In the picture below, the only ‘damage’ to the plate can also be plainly seen: The cable-stop, which is simply stamped from the back to fix it into the plate, has obviously come loose at some time and someone has tried (unsuccessfully) to weld it in place. An ugly attempt, but, thankfully, not too much damage was done so as to make it irreparable.

‘Orrible mess, but, with a bit of judicious grinding with a Dremel or similar (I use a flexible drive), the welding spots can be removed almost completely, once the pin has been removed – it was still loose, anyway!

So much for that, now the pin has to be fixed in this position from the back, using a punch, as was originally done at the factory. I could, of course, have resorted to welding from the back, but what for? It probably held for 50 years before it needed ‘fixing’ in the first place, and I hope that I don’t last another 50 years… I also doubt that that the next 50 will be as vigorous as the first years of this bike’s life, so I see no reason to change it now. Not everyone has access to welding anyway, and this is just to show that it can also be repaired or fixed, even without welding!

OK, so I agree, it’s not pretty, but it WILL work for a long time yet (and if not…there’s always the welder… !)

The plate doesn’t look at all bad, but the pin still has a few electric-arc dings left by the welding-attempt, but I see no reason to fill these, after all, it’s not pretending to be a new bike. (being a belt-and-braces sort of chap, I’ll probably take the pin apart again and silver-solder it into place before painting…)

So that sums up the work on the brake-plate to get it ready for painting, so now all that remains is to plug the cable-stop and the brake-cam-spindle holes and then take to the powder-coaters with the other things! He gats a bunch of stuff, including saddle springs and a correct rear hub to blast and paint BLACK (as I am constantly reminded since my last posting, that Velocette’s are BLACK, Velocette’s are BLACK….)

I will be back soon with lots more to tell! Enjoy!

© peter gouws 2012

The post Bluemels Brake Plate first appeared on ClassicBikeNut.