PUBTALK
Winter workshop inactivity, and the Bristol Show…
Winter workshop inactivity, and the Bristol Show…
There have been some very cold days this winter (and PUB feels the cold these days), so workshop activity has been fairly minimal. The new Mikuni needles for the GS500 arrived and were installed. So far all seems to be well, although the cold starting and initial slow running do seem to be slightly affected. PUB does not have any vacuum gauges for balancing purposes (not needed for her mostly single cylindered junk), so is currently leaving well alone.
A little indoor task resulted from PUB’s brother asking whether she could thread some shortened spokes for him. Actually they were bicycle spokes (so very thin, around 14 swg (standard wire gauge). However, the process is exactly the same as for motorcycle spokes, provided that one has the appropriate ‘rolls’. Rolls, rather than dies, because spoke threads are not cut, which is what ordinary dies do, but they are squeezed into the metal using hardened and threaded rollers (actually, these days many screws are manufactured that way too).
This has a couple of interesting effects. Firstly, the squeezing process leaves the surface metal of the thread in compression, improving its fatigue strength ( just as does shot-peening of highly stressed items like con-rods). Secondly, because metal is not removed, but is shifted from thread bottoms to thread tops, the threaded section is slightly larger diameter than the body of the spoke itself, again adding to the theme of strength with lightness.
Years ago PUB bought a home workshop version of a spoke roller (from Brown Bros?) together with a selection of rolls from cycle sizes up to the fat 8swg sometimes used on motorcycles. The device is held in a vice, spoke poked in and clamped by a wing nut (which proved less than adequate so that additional restraint sometimes has to be used) then, with the correct rolls fitted to the spindle, the handle is turned. With luck the rolls produce their thread, although if end pressure does not send them on their way in the first few turns then they are capable of producing just a few parallel rings at the end! In that case it is likely that those will have to be cut off before trying again, so it pays to start with a slightly long blank even though that will mean grinding off spoke ends when the wheel is finally built up.
No more has been done seeking PUB’s carb/mag issues, since it runs fine on local runs, and it is too cold for more searching rides! However, the rear tyre has worn fairly thin, which is undesirable in wet/slippery/ snowy conditions (but why go out in wet/ slippery/snowy conditions?). So another job worth doing was to change that – preferably indoors and not in the garden using a dustbin as a suitable support, which is her usual method. There has been an issue with stickers inside Avon tyres recently, which can fairly quickly fret and puncture the inner tube (there have been examples of it happening). Representations by the BMF and VOC have resulted in Avon ceasing to use these stickers inside, and upon checking the new RoadRider it was indeed free of any such item. However, if you have any tyres in stock do check before fitting – in fact if you have recently fitted new ones you should consider removing and checking.
Sadly, PUB’s tyre fitting ability, and the deteriorated flexibility and strength of her fingers and hands have resulted in something that was done in an hour in times gone by taking two days now (one for removal, one for fitting). This was partly because she was being lazy, and also the wheel does have a security bolt to complicate the job, but in addition she noticed that the brake anchorage on one side had noticeably distorted the brakeplate. ( Vincents, of course, have brakes on both sides of their wheels). She had not thought the rear brakes were that good! Anyway that added to the job, requiring a bit of additional fettling with a large hammer (the standard brakeplates are rather insubstantial steel pressings that respond to such 1950s methods!).
An earlier part of the work on the PUB Vincent not mentioned previously was an overhaul of the front float chamber top, so it may be convenient to described it now. A woefully worn out tickler wobbled and didn’t return properly (also encouraging water ingress) – potentially a contributor to the bike’s problem. Unfortunately it proved not so, as there was no improvement after it was fixed. No doubt new parts are available, but not instantly. Alternatively a spare carb could have been robbed, but already most of her spare float chambers are devoid of tops. So, as she had a bit of time to spare in the workshop, it seemed to be a good idea to see if the old item could be repaired.
Firstly, the tickler large diameter was severely worn to a taper. This was not too hard to fix, starting by turning the tapered section down to the smaller diameter. Then a small bush was turned up, slipped on, and soft soldered into place to restore the original shape. Unfortunately, the hole in which the tickler worked was even more worn. No matter, that was easily drilled oversize (preferably not quite right through, as a little ledge provides the return spring seating). Another little brass bush was made to be tight in the hole, and loose on the tickler. Pressed in (by vice or hammer) it just needed a final clean-up, and a short length of spring, cut from one out of the random springs box, and all was finally fixed. For the first time in ages the tickler was sound again, and all for no cost. The exercise was not really worth the time, money saving, or effort, but it was satisfying to salvage an old and possibly original part.
Events of note since last month have included the Las Vegas Motorcycle auction in January, and the Bristol Classic Bike Show in February (which, of course, does not take place in Bristol, but in Shepton Mallet as is the British way). The former was a little far to go to (as in British understatement), but PUB was lucky enough to get a catalogue and has checked the results.
A whole lot of Ducatis, from early cyclemotor-based pullrod 50ccs to relatively modern big V-twins were included. However, it seems that US buyers are as unimpressed by small capacities as are UK ones. The 1954 Marianna single ohc 125cc – a seminal design by Taglioni which launched the marque into the big time – went unsold (estimate $7080,000 or around £60,000). So too did the mouth- watering 1958 125cc GP ‘Bialbero’ (double ohc), presumably because its
estimate of $100-130,000 (around £90,000) was also judged too rich. Rather appropriately a third little racer was a 1958 ‘ Trialbero’ (three camshafts, an opening shaft for each valve and a common closing shaft) estimated at $44-48,000 (around £38,000). That also failed to sell, possibly because the cylinder head was reckoned to be a non-factory item replicated by Giacomo Agostini (but not THAT Giacomo Agostini).
The various 750SS models listed mostly also failed to live up to the expectations for that famous model, with just one achieving a respectable $86,999 (£70,600). Whilst $39,100 (£31,136) for a 1975 750SS sounds good, the reason was that it was a rare square case model (in blue 900SS livery) and not the famous ‘green frame’ roundcase. Whether the 1973 Ducati ‘works endurance racer’ was a good buy at $40,250 (£32,052) against its ‘no reserve’ estimate of $100-140,000 is hard to judge. The factory replaced its original engine with a desmo 750cc roundcase when it was sent to the UK to be raced, eventually accruing an impressive list of riders, but PUB noted that there was no ‘SS’ in the engine number.
Highest price of the day went to what is believed to be the only surviving Fielbach ‘Limited’ V-twin at $195,000 (£155,285). The 10hp bike was from the last year of production, 1914, when the small company succumbed to competition from the dominant Indian-Excelsior-Harley big three. Harley-Davidson ‘Knuckleheads’ still command high prices – it took $69,000 (£54,947) to buy one.
The auction suffered a number of unsold machines due to high reserves, including a 1936 Crocker ‘hemi head’whose $500-600,000 estimate was too rich even for that most revered US marque. $250-300,000 was also too much to find a buyer for the one-and-only Indian-Vincent built (mostly Vincent), as was $130-150,000 (£10-12,000) for both Flying Merkels, one shiny and restored, the other original and patinated. Perhaps the various owners were on‘fishing trips’ to try and evaluate the worth of their various rare machines?
The Bristol show provided all of the expected interest and opportunity to bump into old friends again. In fact PUB met one of the Body brothers for perhaps the first time in decades, which provided an opportunity for a bit of reminiscence (and dreams of lost youth, or more accurately lost middle-age).
One might expect major clubs like the VOC to put on a reasonable show (actually quite a good show, with a sectioned engine, a pair of the rare pre-war twins, and the giantkilling single cylinder Mighty Mouse), but more impressive was the stand presented by the New Imperial Owners. Theirs cannot be a large club, but they filled a sizeable stand with a large variety of the firm’s wares from over the years. One can get a bit blasé about rows of shiny, restored, bikes, amongst which even a solitary unrestored job tends to look just untidy, but the New-Imp display with one shiny restoration fronting a mostly patinated display worked rather well. Not that they were the only excellent stand, just the one PUB has chosen to use as an illustration.
Passing by Goffy’s cornucopia of electrical gizmos, PUB asked the price of a new rear lightboard. Hers is an early one, and when fitting another to Mary Roberts’ AJS rebuild it appeared somewhat brighter (with more LEDs, of a later type). However Paul suggested trying his new stop/tail lightbulb replacement. As it happens, when PUB fitted her lightboard she did not remove the bulbholder (which is the usual way), so it should not be difficult to try. She hasn’t done so yet (but Goffy’s display board allows potential purchasers to see the result for themselves). She has, however, checked its consumption, which is a mere 100mA tail, and 200mA (about 0.7 watt and 1.4 watt respectively as this one is for a 6 Volt system). What has been fitted already is one of Goffy’s speedometer bulbs, which takes a mere 50mA (0.35 watt). This is a saving on the original 2.2 watt types (and 3 or 4 watt replacements that are often all that can be found). It may not sound much, but the standard old British wiring system lit up the speedo even with just the parking lights on. With one of Goffy’s 10w halogen parking light bulbs, PUB now has a light bright enough for daytime or foreign use, at a power level less than the original parking system with its feeble 3w bulb. That eases the work for the old type dynamo (and some pre-war ones are rated at only 35 watts flat out!). Alternatively, using a LED parking light bulb, a bike ought to keep the bare LED front and rear lamps alight for hours even on a nearly run down battery and a broken charging system – which is comforting in these days where people start flashing unlit vehicles by 4pm or just on cloudy days.
Now to look forward to the next press day, not because writing is such unadulterated fun, but because it will mean spring and warmer weather cannot be far away!