[grumbern]

Yet some more things done.

I cleaned an assembled the forks and mounted the front wheel, to get a first impression. Looks good!






Also, I cut out two stripes of 5mm from the battery dummy. Now it fits and need to be glued together again:

[grumbern]

Today just some minor stuff. Cleaned the shop, tried out my new knurling caliper and of course made good use of it:





I think this result is amazing! With the "normal" apparatures, that only push from the side, I did not often achieve such, and they put a lot of force on the lathe. The caliper doesn't.

The shaft is for reseting the odometer, that is only short on the speedo and therefor not to be reached from outside the dashboard. As connection I just used some rubber hose pushed over the ends of both
Gruß,
Andreas

[grumbern]

And some more!
Because the sprocket locknut has a very unusual and big size it can't be worked on with standard tools. So I machined a fitting adaptor to be used with a standard 32mm socket. So it's 42.3mm hex key in the front and 32mm at the back:






The big advantage to those made from tube: It can be used with a 1/2" torque wrench without any problem:




Also made a tool for fixing the sprockt, using a piece of chain and some metal band. A thick piece of paper is used to protect against scratches. Torque is 70Nm:




At last the nut is secured by using a special washer:




So long,
Andreas

[Adrian II]

That makes me glad that the 5 speed gearbox has a flat sprocket, though the 50mm ring spanner cost a lot!

The nut hexagon size on yours corresponds with 1" Whitworth, you might find this helpful for finding odd Whitworth spanners and sockets.

http://www.baconsdozen.co.uk/tools/whitworth.htm

However, you do not seem to need much help! 

A.

[grumbern]

Well Adrian, I could definitely need some halp on the wiring question! It seems nobody ever went through the troubles of documenting an old wiring harness and it's positioning on the frame...

Now the news:

I have exhaust pipes,  but the left one won't fit:








I have a clutch cable, but it doesn't fit:




It's too short as well. I contacted HMC on this and we'll see, what to do. It's always such a fun.
And as said, after hours and days of research still nothing on the wiring. I'll try some braiding techniques though.
So long,
Andreas

[grumbern]

I engaged myself in braiding of wiring harnesses and started a small experiment. For simplicity just with ~10cm auf yarn, a pencil to simulate the wires and a slotted toilet paper tube as a "loom".






The result:



There wasn't any more possible with just that bit of yarn. It works quite good, very even and with some exercise not too difficult to do. But the time needed is a bummer! Just ~3cm in a good 30min. won't do it. With an average wiring harness of about 2m and double braid you can count a good 270 hours. Well, no, I have to improve that! Working on it.
So long,
Andreas

[Adrian II]

I'm sorry I couldn't help over the wiring. Your best plan in the absence of an original schematic would be to find another alternator-fitted British twin from the same year with similar switchgear (there are plenty of wiring diagrams on the internet).

I don't know to what extent you might want to modernize the electrical system - if at all. If you want an original as possible 6V system that might take longer, but running 12V instead will permit a simplified wiring scheme. A modern 12V regulator/rectifier can be tucked away out of sight (but still in the air flow for cooling).

For putting together your own wiring loom all the different Lucas coloured wires are available (in the UK at least), or you can buy multicore cable with as many different coloured wires as you need. 10 is probably enough, if you are not fitting indicators, 7 core trailer flex will do, at least as the backbone of your wiring harness. You can still cloth braid it until an original turns up (I wouldn't put it past you to come up with some clever tool to speed up the process). The layout is more or less determined by the positioning of the components, with enough slack left at the front to allow the forks to turn freely in both directions.

Or it could just be psychedelic spaghetti monster time!



It does look a bit tidier now, fortunately...

Try here for multicore, otherwise I'm sure you can buy some locally.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10-CORE-AUTO-CABLE-1-0mm-16-5-AMP-CAR-WIRE-3-METRES-MULTICORE-AUTOMOTIVE-3M-/251125011570?hash=item3a78379472:m:mv72-OMYcFDw-e3hTOr4Tmw

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/13-CORE-AUTO-CABLE-3M-1-5mm-21-AMP-CAR-BOAT-LOOM-WIRE-3-METRE-THINWALL-1-5MM-3M-/261266757164?hash=item3cd4b6562c:g:Ho8AAMXQ2dBSD4AM

As for the exhaust pipe, it looks like it's not far off. The pipe I bought for my Not a Fury was a poor fit (sold to me as such), sorted by gently bending the relevant bracket to line up with the mounting stud until it **did** fit! You could also open out the hole in the pipe bracket just enough for it to slide onto to through-stud properly, and make sure it's covered by a heavy-gauge repair washer, but something tells me you wouldn't do that.    Hopefully the pipe will then line up properly with the rest of the bike, though if you have to fit a spacers between the bracket and the frame you will have to fit a longer than standard 3/8" CEI/BSC through stud, you can get these in stainless steel here:

http://motalia.com/index.html
 
If that were my clutch cable I would simply trim the outer cable back to expose enough inner to reach the actuating arm, assuming the cable as a whole is long enough (I wouldn't trust myself to re-solder the nipple). If you had to destroy the ferrule on the outer cable to do so, a carefully slotted new ferrule could be placed on the shortened outer cable end.

A.

[grumbern]

Hi Adrian,
thanks for your reply. My problem really isn't the wiring itself, since I've done that several times and I do have a schematic for a Meteor Minor, that should do the job. My problem is, how was the genuine harness made? How long were the sections an where were the connectors located? It's those boody details that drive me nuts 

I am going for the 6V system, since that's what the original layout and alternator was made for. My spotlights are 6V also. It's not intended to be an everyday tourer, so I think I'm going to be ok with that, allthough I switched to 12V on my other bikes for obvious reasons.

I think I should be able to get all the correct colours where I bought all my cables until so far and I have a source for the connectors (the right ones!).

Sorry to say, but the pipe's way off. I can't even get the footrest in its position. The angle doesn't fit so I have to twist the pipe to get it in the port, but it won't align then. The natural position of the bracket would be on the other side of the frame tube and that is too much to bend, without the danger of chipping the chrome or crease the tube.

Simply shortening the outside cable won't help either, since the whole cable is too short (about 10cm). I'don't know why really, but Allan will see if he has a longer one that will fit. If necessary, I can fabricate one myself, but since I bought it as it is, I'll see if I can get a fitting one instead

Have a nice weekend!
Andreas

[Adrian II]

The clutch cable is a nuisance but is easily replaceable. The exhaust pipe, however looks like being harder to sort out. If it was just a problem with the bracket I would cut all but the last 30mm off, drill a hole and make a new right-angle bracket to fit, but if the angle of the pipe bend itself is so far wrong that even a little brute force and ignorance won't get it into line, it had better go back! Do you have anyone who can make a one-off pipe for you? We have people in the UK who can do this, but they need to have the motorcyle in their workshop so that when they bend the pipe, they can make sure it is a custom fit to that particular motorcycle.

I have one possible idea for a wiring loom, or at least the next best thing. A.O Servies offer generic wiring kits for British bikes to suit a variety of configurations, including alternator 6V coil ignition bikes, maybe one of these will do most of the work for you:

http://www.aoservices.co.uk/index.htm#products

Scroll down and follow the link on the right to download the pdf . They will need to know full details of all the components you're using including the lighting and ignition switches.

My only experience with 50's RE electrics was with a 1957 500 Bullet, and as the 6V system wasn't working I rewired it for 12V. The one peculiarity I can remember was the original selenium rectifier sat under the fuel tank on the end of a long bracket which fitted round the frame top tube. As a matter of interest, what ignition and lighting switches does your Chief have?

A.

[grumbern]

Hi Adrian,
Allan Hitchcock claimed, that it is known there are slight differences in the pipe bends as well as the port bores. I assume it was a really bad pairing and he offered to help - so I sent him pictures and am waiting for his response.

The electrics on the Chief are pretty standard, that's why the Meteor Minor schematic will work I guess. It has the Lucas light switch in the dash, dip/horn switch on the handlebars, horn by the front engine mount, standard Lucas tail light and brake switch and it has the rectifier below the tank. it features the 18D2 distributor as it was on the Meteor Minor. The only difference is the path the wires take, as it doesn't have the big air/tool box, just the small box on the left.

I am still hoping someone who has done a Chief rebuild still has some pictures, or at least remembers where the wires went and where the connectors were placed. I know it plays a minor role on functionality, but when going for originality it would be a shame to have such "mistakes" in the wiring, even if it works and its unlikely anybody will ever see it...

Andreas

[Adrian II]

I am still hoping someone who has done a Chief rebuild still has some pictures, or at least remembers where the wires went and where the connectors were placed. I know it plays a minor role on functionality, but when going for originality it would be a shame to have such "mistakes" in the wiring, even if it works and its unlikely anybody will ever see it...

I have to admit it, this is why I love building a bitsa/special, I can just get on and go for what works, provided of course I can get everything to fit nice and neatly and the end result doesn't look like the proverbial dog's breakfast with valuable parts ruined.    Anything I put together could always be restored to original by a future owner.

For the same reason I have a lot of respect for the more patient people who are prepared to invest serious time, skill and effort in a painstaking and authentic restoration. I just don't think I could be one of them! 

A.

[grumbern]

Sometimes I would like to be more creative, but then I think about it and come to realize, that it takes me much more creativity to build the bike back to stock, than being "creative"
Allthough I do custom stuff sometimes:



Yeah, I'm kinda crazy, but what can I do? Today I started planing my "maypole braiding machine" - gears and bearings are already here...

[Adrian II]

Now that's a PROPER café racer, none of the brat-style rusty steel and hunt the missing rear fender stuff. The maroon paint is of course an added bonus. 

A.

[grumbern]

That's what I was going for and just as you, I hate what is declared today to be a cafe racer. Flat to hit the first stone in the way, tyres to wobble through curves and seats that solve the question of the whereabouts of mommy's ironing board.
I really hope that fad is over soon and cafe racer becomes a classic race-trim stock bike again.
Andreas

[Adrian II]

I really hope that fad is over soon and cafe racer becomes a classic race-trim stock bike again.

It may take a while, as long as people feel the need to ruin harmless old bikes. Looking through the used Indian Bullets on ebay in the UK was getting to be rather depressing, though the (related) bobber cult was mostly to blame.

A.