Well it must be spring time ! got bike out of the garage today .

The buds are on the trees and fuel is in the tank !

 

Manx Norton exhaust pipe now fitted with a straight though section of pipe.

It is not as easy as it sounds as the Manx pipe has a parallel end where it fits into the head and this has to be modified.

 

I am struggling with different types of exhaust from short pipes and long straight through and now again trying a reverse cone mega.....proof will tell when the season starts.

 

As the final weeks tick away before the first sprint of the season in April it is gratifying to know that you have a spare engine in the workshop in the event of a major blow up.

 

I have fitted one of those cheap Chinese rev counters -they take a pulse signal from the points wire. It seems to move but leaves me with a question mark over any accuracy !

 

 

Having closed the timing cover I found that the engine is too tight...something obviously binding .

 

 

 

 

 

Bush on timing side inlet camshaft clearly is still too close to shaft as it is shining bright.

 

Checking gap

 

checking matching gap on engine side of timing covering.

 

I have this spare timing cover but I note the bush in it is also shining bright showing rubbing.

 

Lowering height of cylinder as an experimental alternative to a longer conrod -required due to lower piston compression height.

Not easy when the task is just on the border of the capacity of my lathe. Low speed is the answer though.

 

 

 

Always seems a shame to have to strip everything apart at the end of the season but I am putting in a different engine so everything within the cradle must come out. I have tried doing it by leaving the gearbox in and raising the engine but it is more trouble than it is worth.

 

Having recently bought an old oil pump  found it to be seized through not used. This is very common as the main body is made from Mazak- the British trade name for Zamak. It is an alloy which shrinks with extended age. This feature is fine if used regularly as it takes up wear on the pump wheels but leads to seizure if left idle.

It was used due to being cheap and very easily die cast- being zinc based- for jobs like this. The only solution I have found is to dismantle the pump with great care - heat the body so that it is too hot to hold ( it is cold in the photo!) and use circlip pliers and much metal polish such as Brasso to free each impeller wheel round and then when each is done do it for the assembled pump.

 

Now that the season is over and work can start on the bike I decided to build a new engine with a lighter flywheel after having much thought over the pros and cons of flywheel weight. There is much in the way of arguments for ' heavy' as the momentum gives explosive acceleration due to the kinetic energy stored in the flywheels when the lights turn green.

 

However I am experimenting with a badly corroded set of flywheels so they would have needed dressing anyway. I loath turning cast iron as it comes off as crumbly dust which gets everywhere. I have heard of people trying a magnet at the tool to try and collect it but I just brush it down.

Woke at 0400 hrs to find that on Sunday morning the 12th Oct that at there was heavy fog. Set off anyway in the dark icy fog heading for the last event of the season at York- over 5 hrs much of it in the fog.

 Was hopeful that engine problems were now rectified. Saw the sunrise on the A66 heading for Scotch Corner and the start of the run down the east coast to York.

Got there to find that the fog was even thicker at the track. Waited until lunchtime but showed no sign of clearing. Headed back for long drive and found the fog had cleared on the M1 but too late to turn back; plus I had no way of knowing if it was still bad in York.

An unhappy end to the season.