[stinkwheel]

Was that bike called Ned?

I never actually noticed that. I made it from the bits left over from the two scrap bikes I built the 612 out of. It was more an exercise in creating space in my workshop. I figured I could either store a whole load of parts or assemble them into a bike and sell it.

[mrunderhill1975a]

I went out for a short ride and about 5 miles from home the bike sputtered and died.  I thought it was out of fuel, switched to reserve and started up for another mile and stalled again.  The filter looked clogged with metallic crap in the bottom, replaced that, got another five miles stalled again, took the carb off, some crude in the bowl, cleaned it with carb cleaner, looked at the jets, put it back together drove off for another 2 miles and stalled. At this point I unscrewed the petcock and found tiny flat black and brown squares in the petcock screen. I rinsed the tank and caught the rinse fluid, more black and brown flat square particles. I thought it could be rust in the tank so I then took a magnifying glass and found "Veins" in the fragments.  I finally concluded that the fragments were leaves from the nearby tree.  I then remembered filling the tank on a windy day when a leaf or two got into the tank.  I quickly pulled the leaf out, but another must have sunk to the bottom and set there decaying for about 9 months until it broke down into tiny fragments to plug the screen. The carb, filter, screens are now back to new.

[Raymond]

I went out for a short ride and about 5 miles from home the bike sputtered and died.  I thought it was out of fuel, switched to reserve and started up for another mile and stalled again.  The filter looked clogged with metallic crap in the bottom, replaced that, got another five miles stalled again, took the carb off, some crude in the bowl, cleaned it with carb cleaner, looked at the jets, put it back together drove off for another 2 miles and stalled. At this point I unscrewed the petcock and found tiny flat black and brown squares in the petcock screen. I rinsed the tank and caught the rinse fluid, more black and brown flat square particles. I thought it could be rust in the tank so I then took a magnifying glass and found "Veins" in the fragments.  I finally concluded that the fragments were leaves from the nearby tree.  I then remembered filling the tank on a windy day when a leaf or two got into the tank.  I quickly pulled the leaf out, but another must have sunk to the bottom and set there decaying for about 9 months until it broke down into tiny fragments to plug the screen. The carb, filter, screens are now back to new.

Wow! That is an educational story - who'd have thought a leaf could blow into the tank and cause so much trouble? Good detective work though . . .

[AsFarAsIGet]

I tightened the final nut, filled up the bike and saw the first spark after a complete tear down and rebuild 😁

The aim for tomorrow is getting the bike out of my living-room, down a set of stairs and finally try and start it for the first time in an about one years time.

Nervous and at the same time really stoked to hear that familiar thump thump as is fires up (I hope…)

[stinkwheel]

Years ago, my mate built a B40 in a second floor flat in Edinburgh. He reckoned the best way to get it downstairs was to ride it in first gear (engine off) using the decompressor to control the speed.

I'll leave that particular risk assessment up to yourself.

[AsFarAsIGet]

Years ago, my mate built a B40 in a second floor flat in Edinburgh. He reckoned the best way to get it downstairs was to ride it in first gear (engine off) using the decompressor to control the speed.

I'll leave that particular risk assessment up to yourself.

Haha!
Fortunately, it's just one floor, and the staircase is straight, without any twists or turns, leading directly to the door. So the decompressor idea could definitely work! 😄

That said, I have a few strong friends and some sturdy rope. I'm hopeful that this combination will ensure a slightly safer descent.

[Paul W]

The thought of that reminds me of a strange “removals” job I got involved with in Hong Kong, in the late 1990s. An acquaintance who lived on the fifth floor in the adjacent tower block to ours had built a wooden glider in his lounge (I’m not joking). He was retiring from his job as a civil aviation inspector and had built it so he could bring it back to U.K. and fly it. It wasn’t finished but the wooden structure was all there. The removals company took on look at it and point blank refused to even try to move it. He persuaded a bunch of us to go round and help. We lowered it in three large pieces (fuselage and two wings) on long ropes over his balcony and down to ground. It was worrying to say the least, but we did it without damaging it or killing anyone. I have no idea if it ever got back to U.K. and if it ever flew but we got our reward in beer.

[Adrian II]

Years ago, my mate built a B40 in a second floor flat in Edinburgh. He reckoned the best way to get it downstairs was to ride it in first gear (engine off) using the decompressor to control the speed.

I'll leave that particular risk assessment up to yourself.

Dare we ask if he succeeded?

A.

[stinkwheel]

He got it down the stairs. I wasn't there when he did it but I'd believe he rode it down. He was a pretty good trials rider. In fairness, a flight of stairs is a walk in the park compared to some of the greenlanes I've thrown my bullet at over the last few years and the bike's generally coped better than I have.

[AsFarAsIGet]

I some how succeeded in getting the bike down in one piece without injuries to bike nor people 

Clip of the event will be posted on my Instagram  within a couple of days. If you feel like checking it out the name of my Instagram account is asfarasiget.

[stinkwheel]

Checked the head nuts. As well I did, three of them took at least a 1/4 turn and one of the external ones had stripped the threads out of the nut. This may explain an increase in oil use.

Now working on a functional chainguard. It's destroyed two already. I'm on a 21t gearbox sprocket and it eventually grabs them and eats them. I found a trash but very heavy duty chainguard in my box of bits than someone had "customised" (they'd cut the mounting tabs off then welded other ones on to mount it on the frame, I shit you not, it hit the inside of the chainguard when the suspension compressed). So we'll see if my stick welding is up to the task of fitting new, slightly longer tabs so it has a bit more stand-off.

I'm also going to fit a fixed plate to cover the gap over the front sprocket with a spigot in it for the breather outlet hose to help control the mess.

[AzCal Retred]

The chain mung leaves the sprocket at right angles, like stones from a tire, so maybe the guard just needs to be stubbie & mostly right above the rear sprocket like those fender huggers we all love so well...? A strap from the lower shock bolt plus the regular rear chain guard mount might do the trick for an 8" stubbie. PVC pipe is durable and easily bends with a torch. A split & formed half piece of 1 1/4" might do the trick and save some weight too. Less weight means the support straps don't fatigue as fast. Just a thought.

[Paul W]

My 350 kept breaking the support tabs. Metal fatigue. After repairing them twice I gave up, cut them off altogether and made some more out of thicker steel strip. So far, so good. 

[AzCal Retred]

Seems like a resonance issue. Less weight changes the frequency as does stiffer & heavier tabs.

[stinkwheel]

The chain mung leaves the sprocket at right angles, like stones from a tire, so maybe the guard just needs to be stubbie & mostly right above the rear sprocket like those fender huggers we all love so well...? A strap from the lower shock bolt plus the regular rear chain guard mount might do the trick for an 8" stubbie. PVC pipe is durable and easily bends with a torch. A split & formed half piece of 1 1/4" might do the trick and save some weight too. Less weight means the support straps don't fatigue as fast. Just a thought.

This got me thinking. What do I need my chainguard to do? What's it guarding?

At the front, I want it to keep the grot off the breather contained in the chain area, support my breather outlet and prevent the chain coming up-out in the case of a chain break.

In the middle, I want it to protect the chain from much off the tyre, protect the tyre from the chain and to an extent protect the frame and toolbox from the chain.

At the back, I want it to stop me getting anything caught in the chain and stop grot being flung all over the back of the bike.

No reason one thing has to do all these tasks, there's a whole middle bit that doesn't do anything much and with the really tight clearances, parts invariably rub unless they are truler-straight.

So for the front I made this. Attached to the triangular gearbox mounting plate. This bit doesn't move with the swingarm, nor does it need to.


For the middle I made a small section of chainguard which is just big enough for all the things I want it to do. It rests on the swingarm on the outside so once bolted up, it's pretty solid.





My panel beating is steadily improving. I've used steel. Alloy is easier but less tolerant of mistakes and re-working. I was about to planish it to remove the hammer marks, then remembered it's a chainguard.


I was about to start on a rear section (a curved gutter is tricky) when I realised I already have one in the form of the broken chain guard so I'll cut it off at the dashed red line and fabricate a second brace at the solid red line. I suspect this will be ridgid enough but if it isn't, I can run a strap up to the mid section.