Men at work
We’d like to say the Bike team are successfully reaching the culminations of their winter projects in readiness for spring. We’d like to say that. However…
1948 Matchless 350
Winter project? Don’t make me laugh. This piece of history has been in bits since 2017. Front fork overhaul, led to brake overhaul, led to speedometer drive overhaul, led to speedo overhaul. Then, for want of something better to do and because black is a dull colour for motorcycles, I decided to paint the fuel tank. And, since getting a professional job would look like being too precious, I brush painted it. Old paint was sanded back with wet and dry paper. Then undercoat applied. Then sanded back again. Then more undercoat. Eventually gloss yellow tractor enamel (John Deere wheel colour, if you need a match) was applied. Repeatedly. Here’s what I learnt from this protracted process…
» Work in a warm, dust free environment.
» Use a turntable so that you stay near the paint, and the tank moves. » There’s a ‘just right’ amount of paint to have on the brush to get full coverage but no runs, but only practice will tell you what that is. » Don’t panic. If it looks like you’ve got brush marks and runs, relax. Keep going, then look again when it’s dry. It’s usually better than you feared, but if it’s bad you just sand it back and start again. I know I did. After (eventually) getting a half decent finish I sprayed it with petrol proof lacquer. Do it again? No, I should have just had it powder coated, but you live and learn. I’m now ready to show off the new paint and annoy Vintage Motor Cycle Club purists, at the Beamish Trial on 18 September. Hugo Wilson
1999 Husqvarna FE410
» Changing the oil on a new bike should be the most rudimentary of DIY operations that even a rank amateur like myself can do without all the usual fears of damaging something or undoing the wrong bit which then takes four hours to reassemble. The only issues I’ve ever had are a couple of fascinating battles with recalcitrant filters.
But the Husky is a whole new world. First thing to remember is it has two sump plugs – bit weird – but that’s fine. Despite being warm, the oil gloops out like cold potato soup and is as black as Satan’s underpants. There’s also a small heap of iron filings clinging to the one sump plug that’s magnetic. Oh well. I knew the bike had had a tough year or three. The titchy oil filter – no bigger than a shot glass – is a cinch to get to and pops out obediently when I remove its cover. So far so easy. Then I go looking for the two mesh oil screens that a mate’s workshop manual says back up the paper filter. Apparently they were, in the previous model, the only defence against metallic particles causing mayhem. The first one is roughly where the manual says it should be and is in a right state – there’s even what appears to be a bit of wood in there. I pretend I never saw that and wash it all off with petrol before going to look for the second screen. I can’t find it anywhere. I even undo the clutch-side engine cases to have a look and can’t see it there either. It’s gone. Vanished. Oh well. It can’t be that important. John Westlake
1990 Yamaha TDR250
When they revive Krypton Factor one of the challenges will be removing and refitting TDR250 exhausts. Gordon Burns will deduct points for every trapped finger or expletive – and none of the contestants will score because the tangled expansion chambers are a swine.
This is particularly annoying given the mild-steel pipes enjoy rusting. So, with new parts unavailable and JL Exhaust’s delicious replacements out of my budget, I have an annual painting party to keep corrosion at bay. And to make it easier I use BBQ paint, brushed on with the pipes in place. Sounds a bodge, but the 32-year-old pipes already have blemishes so I’m not after perfection. Rustins High Heat black paint only needs one coat, leaves a smooth matt finish and lasts 12 months before starting to flake. Which coincides neatly with waking the two-stroke for spring. The tin cost a tenner five years ago and there’s half left, despite also being used on my son Ed’s WK Scrambler.
The TDR’S only done 750 miles since I realigned the powervalves and changed the gearbox oil and plugs, so my only other pre-season prep is swapping saggy rear indicators. Pattern parts are £15 each; they’ll sag again in four years but make more sense than pricey secondhand OE bits that may arrive pre-drooped.
Coaxing the stroker into life (one cylinder starting before the other because I foolishly left it on the sidestand) reveals I may need to do more, though. There’s more exhaust smoke than expected. It’s also the wrong colour and doesn’t smell right. I think the crank seals are perished. Rebuild, anyone? Mike Armitage
‘There’s more exhaust smoke than expected. It’s also the wrong colour and doesn’t smell right’