Remember Motorbikes?

[Baggy Trousers]

Just curious, you understand, but whilst we have had an unusually good summer, there has been a remarkable paucity of reported two-wheeled activity. Surely we are not all indoors pursuing bottleheaded nerdy things, are you? I've not had the 6550 running for a few weeks now.

Sadly, I spent several weeks of the best weather with the gearbox strewn across the garage floor so that's my excuse. Repairing the transmission was a costly undertaking but at least the replacement bits are available which isn't bad for a nearly sixty year old model. One is grateful to have these, regardless of cost.

Pre-65 scene been busy, Philip?

This forum seems to have lost a lot of the vitality it had a few years ago. We can't all be getting old, can we?

Baggo.

[pre65]

Hi Baggo, I've been having problems with my neck recently, even had to resort to seeing a sports therapist for treatment. So the scrambling has been put on hold for a while.

I've even got to do a conversion on my road bike (Triumph Sprint ST 955i) to raise the bars so as to give me a more upright and comfortable riding position.

Glad to hear you have got the gearbox sorted out, that's a Burman box on the Ariel I believe ?

And also, been fiddling with mowers, and now my trusty old Hayterette has a more modern 450 Briggs engine.

[bob orbell]

Hi Baggo Pre and all, as Baggo says, it has been a very good summer for all outdoor activitys, I have done ONLY 256 miles on the T140 so far and nothing on my Red Panther, the petrol tank sprung a leak on the Panther last year (77 years old now), (the Panther that is, not me) and only just fixed it, had to cut the bottom out and weld in a new one, now its over to the paint shop, (more bloody expense) so I will not be riding that till next year. As some of you know, I had a knee replacement just over 12 months ago and whilst I now have no pain, it is still not good to keep the knee still for more than one hour, it gets very stiff and tight if I ride the motorcycle for long, so this year I have been cycling a lot and I do like it, doing a 25 mile ride for CYCLE 4 CYNTHIA this sunday, looking for good weather and a light tail wind. Sorry to hear about your neck Philip, what happened? and glad the gear box is sorted Baggo. BOB

[pre65]

Originally Posted by bob orbell

Sorry to hear about your neck Philip, what happened? BOB

Taking jumps at one event and jarring my back, and neck, when landing.

To start with I had a touch of sciatica in one leg, which the chiropractor sorted out, and a bad elbow (doctor diagnosed tennis elbow) which was more nerve related in my opinion.

Still, I'm almost back to "normal" now, if I ever can be normal.

To get my Sprint bars at the right level I'm making a top yoke adaptor plate to raise things up and to enable the use of 7/8" (22.2mm) bars. I cobblered up a pattern for the bars from an old lawn mower handle, and they look like a set of upside down ace bars.

When the lump of alloy gets delivered, it will be a day in the garage cutting, milling, lathing, drilling, tapping and generally getting dirty and (most probably) a bit of bleeding as well. Then (if it all fits) I need to sort out longer hoses and cables.

In an ideal world I'd just buy a 955i Tiger, but I can't justify the expense.

[bikerhifinut]

Philip,
Is this to get the bars higher than you would with the usual aftermarket risers?
I ask because I have recently accquired the ex bro in laws 955iST, very low mileage on 04 plate (8500 miles) and apart from trying to source a hugger and a front mudguard extender, I feel the need for bars a tad higher and so far have identified risers for the standard bars at about £80 a pair. These raise the bars approx 50mm I think, beyond which there are issues with fouling the fairing.
Be interesting to see a photo of the finished article.

Andy.


To get my Sprint bars at the right level I'm making a top yoke adaptor plate to raise things up and to enable the use of 7/8" (22.2mm) bars. I cobblered up a pattern for the bars from an old lawn mower handle, and they look like a set of upside down ace bars.

When the lump of alloy gets delivered, it will be a day in the garage cutting, milling, lathing, drilling, tapping and generally getting dirty and (most probably) a bit of bleeding as well. Then (if it all fits) I need to sort out longer hoses and cables.

In an ideal world I'd just buy a 955i Tiger, but I can't justify the expense.[/quote]

[pre65]

Andy, what I'm making is something like this.

http://www.triumphparts.gbr.cc/product.php/5789155/

I've already got their 33mm risers and that's not enough for me. I need them a bit higher and a bit further back.

My bit of alloy came today so it's now work in hand.

[bikerhifinut]

If you want to sell the risers, i may be interested. Thats the ones i looked at.

A.

Originally Posted by pre65

Andy, what I'm making is something like this.

http://www.triumphparts.gbr.cc/product.php/5789155/

I've already got their 33mm risers and that's not enough for me. I need them a bit higher and a bit further back.

My bit of alloy came today so it's now work in hand.

[pre65]

Originally Posted by bikerhifinut

If you want to sell the risers, i may be interested. Thats the ones i looked at.

A.

I'll let you know how things go.

[bikerhifinut]

OK Phil I'll watch this space

Be good to see what you have achieved. Those clip on style bars aren't meant for us oldies !!!

I'm going to strip the bodywork off mine when the winter comes and see if I can renovate a few cruddy bits. Ex Bro in law didn't seem like a "Polisher" and the lack of a hugger has seen the rear shock get blasted by road crud. So I imagine a stripdown of the suspension linkages and bearings will be in order. The bike was decently serviced last month, there's evidence of the rear chain adjuster and hub being stripped and lubricated, a weak point I am told, and also the brakes had been stripped and cleaned etc, which saves me a job until next year. Plus I must get the Scottoiler fitted during the winter layup. I cant be arsed while its still nice enough to get out on it. I just need to order a few spares for the oiler as it is a rescued one from a mates old bike. all in good nick though.

It just needs a few days of TLC and it'll look like new again.

Until the next time i have a long wet tour.............................

[Baggy Trousers]

Originally Posted by bob orbell

and glad the gear box is sorted Baggo. BOB

You and me both, Bob!

Actually, it's a curious story. I have a chum who with me and a lot of other old farts on even older bikes frequents a local caff and since he recently bought a '54 MSS Velocette, he has been asking me to try his new toy and for him to have a go on my '57 Red hunter. Well we did this and whilst I was impressed by the general handling of the Velo (and it had brakes!), it had nothing like the engine performance of the VH Ariel. Anyway, later when it came time to ride home, I had no transmission drive, in fact, I could change gear without the clutch so knew I had a problem and so phoned the magic number in my wallet which summons a fellow with a van which then transports everything home. Of course, the Velo owner had long since disappeared.

I subsequently discovered that he had parked my bike and had the engine running quite quickly when he dropped the clutch, thinking the box was in neutral when it wasn't. The engine, being a long stroke single, has pretty respectable flywheels so there's no shortage of kinetic energy.

So, with this knowledge I had a good idea what the problem was and proceeded to dismantle the box to find the 4th gear hub parted from the sleeve which carries the final drive sprocket - sheared in half with no evidence of a latent mechanical problem.

The Burman GB40 box is a pretty bulletproof affair so this failure remains a puzzlement. Anyway, after a lot of money spent, The Beast is back on the road and going well which is rather more than can be said of my '53 G80 Matchless. Must ditch that Mk1 Concentric.

Hope you get the ape hangers working, Philip!

Baggo.