[looseparts]

Chasin' a misfire

Richard! Good thread, love reading what the others are doing. DaveDone's seat looks fabulous and the rest of you made me cry realizing I quit drinking 20+ years ago before I ever tasted a Guinness...

Today. Today it was one of those Oregon winter days without rain. Rains for thirteen days-stops for one - Rains for thirteen days-stops for one - Rains for thirteen days-stops for one, all the way to May. (Yeah, yeah - it could be worse... but I'm from San Diego <sigh>

So today when I got off work, it was still a teensy bit light outside, so I took my 67 T100 up and down the highway trying to find why it doesn't run as good as it did a couple of months ago (see other post).

Then I looked wistfully at my 650 parts wishing I had the $$ to put it together...

 

[looseparts]

Shortend Side Stand - Continued Sewing

After installing shorter shocks a couple of months ago, the side stand made the bike too upright, so tonight I dragged out the welder and cutter and removed about 1/2" length. Now the bike leans just right for standing on the left peg and giving my patented two-kick start>

Then I came in and sewed the 6th of the 12 patches I'm adorning my jacket with. Too old and chicken for tattoos - kinda envious of the guys with big arms and full 'sleeves' - so the next best thing for me is to cover the arms of my leather jacket with embroidered patches. Very time consuming, but it's fun.

Tomorrow I hope to make it to the gas station and then on to work - Next week, the rains of Oregon return - but this week, we ride!

Is it too late to talk about yesterday? Ok, so lately, after a ride there would be a puddle of oil the size of large football under the bike within a half hour. Chased off the dumb cheap hose clamps off the oil lines and affixed them with my new safety-wire tool - to no avail. Cleaned underneath to see where it's coming from - took a ride... No luck. There's always been some seepage from the cap on the oil tank - the filler neck had been moved from on top to the front by the PO. Turns out tons of oil was coming from the under the cap on the tank and pouring down the side and under the bike and making a mess when I parked.

I covered the filler neck opening with rubber sheet and a hose clamp - discovered one of the long screws from the front of the primary cover was gone, so I replaced that screw and cleaned the whole bike free from any oil and went for a long ride. Guess what? No oil leak! Not one single drop yesterday or today.

Gonna need a better way to cap the oil tank - but for now I solved the frightening huge oil leak. After finding the source of my 3rd gear misfire and all the above, it's been a good couple of days.

 

[looseparts]

I machined an aluminum bar stock mount for an aftermarket oil filter for my 71 T120...after rebuilding every mechanical thing, I decided to use a filter, I have changed oil and filter after only 50 miles, figured I pulled out the first/worst particles.

I originally had it on with u bolts and was not very pleasing. I bought a couple nice chrome 3 pc frame clamps from JP cycle and used them to hold the aluminum block that I bolted the filter holder on to.

so far so good...now for some warm weather.....

Hi David - That sounds interesting. Have you some time to post some pics of what you've done?

I think Punxsutawney Phil said spring was right around the corner...

 

[looseparts]

A show and tank sealer

Within the last 24 hours I drove 2 hours to see a rather unusual motorcycle show - some fine finished machines - Nortons, BSAs, an AJS, and more Triumphs, but mostly it was 70's Japanese bikes that have been modified to cafe racer style. The bikes were on platforms like an art gallery - but it was not a quiet affair. Thundering loud music, burn-outs and cans of PBR for a dollar - Portland, as in 'Portlandia' - is a place where no one seems to be able to dress in ordinary clothes - everyone is dressed up as 'someone-special' - despite an high percentage of posers - it was a fun event - I took a zillion pictures of rear-sets for ideas for my 650.

http://theonemotorcycleshow.com/

Today I remounted the gorgeous red tank that I originally fitted on my 500, after some welding and a second coating of Kreem - Looks like the leaks have been controlled and I can put the stupid Sportster tank back on the shelf.

Here in Oregon, we have winter on the run. Less rain than in the fall and seldom dips to freezing.

 

[looseparts]

I took the day off work to wait for the phone repair guy and hoped that they would show early so I could enjoy a dry sunny day for a ride but it was not to be. He did not show until 3:30 and then to top it off the problem was at the pole so he did not need to get in the house so in the end I could have either gone to work or gone riding. Got some tinkering done on the '72 TR6R anyway;

- put the tank back on after the head re-torque
- moved some connections at the ignition switch to return correct functionality of three key positions - a PO thing
- re-wired Boyer MK3 to provide kill switch functionality
- burnt forehead on front pipe listening to top end clatter - DOH!

John

We share the same name and we share some of the same behaviors - DOH!

 

[looseparts]

Got myself a '62 Slimline Featherbed rolling chassis so trying to decide 'What Motor' This one will be a Cafe Racer for sure......
Unit Triumph? Norton Atlas? Big Beezer A65? A10??
Hope i don't die before i get the chance to kill myself on it!

OK - Quit smoking, look both ways, avoid the bad sides of town - do whatever it takes to hang around long enough to get that little sweetie done. And take lots of pictures and keep us posted. In fact... go ahead and start a thread in the 'Member's Restoration & Rebuild Projects' area and keep it going. This is going to be fun : -)

 

[looseparts]

Rathlindri - that's a very pretty pair of bikes you have in your garage!

Today for me was working on the rear wheel of my 650. One of the few things I got out of the mechanic up the road was a rim, power coated rear hub and a spoke kit. I made my self a nice wheel out of those parts, and then began looking around for a drum and brakes.

Last year I bought a serviceable whole rear wheel including brakes for $80. I'm running it on the 500. This year there's been only one I've seen (on eBay) and it went for over $425! Used!!

So I dragged out the rusted-solid rear that came with the 500 and tried once again to get the brakes out of the drum. Couldn't budge it or pry it, let alone turn it. So in desperation, I drilled out the pivot post which allowed the shoes to finally pop free of the drum.

I think I can have the drum turned and still have enough thickness left to use as a rear brake - I'll take it to my brake-guy in town, but I may be living in fantasy land.

If any of you all's have some spare rear parts please shoot me a PM.

 

[looseparts]

Well lets see.... I got her back ready for the road after someone backed over my 66 Bonneville. Gave me the motivation to go for a full restoration!

Did you have to do more than replace the primary cover? I saw a previous post where you mentioned a foot peg went through the cover when the bike got knocked over, was there other damage?

 

[looseparts]

Today, I anticipated that 'sweet spot' when the temperature would climb above 25 - but the rain hadn't begun. I pushed the gorgeous T100 (now that I have the original red fuel tank's leaks stopped and freshly mounted it back on the bike) on to the driveway in preparation for a bit of a ride. By the time I got my helmet on, it was raining - I took off anyway.

After finally having the much-loved tank (that the entire project was conceptualized around) re-mounted, and the mysterious 3rd and 4th gear misfire solved (right exhaust tappet too tight) I thought I'd look a little deeper into the 'one remaining problem' (he's an optimist!).

The PO had moved the oil fill spout forward on the oil tank. That it is no longer on top of the tank suits me, as my seat does not pivot on hinges and having the spout in a location where the seat can stay put for fill ups is great. But... there's leak.

The return line from the oil pump has a hole in it, right behind the new location of the opening in the filler spout. At idle, oil just dribbles out that hole, into the tank. At speed, I believe oil is shooting as a stream directly at the cap of my oil tank and when I get back from a ride, there is a smear of oil running down the outside of the tank from under the cap all the way down to making a puddle on the ground. I once covered the filler neck with a square of inner-tube rubber and hose-clamped it tightly on the tank neck and after a long ride, there was zero oil on the outside of the tank, so i know that's where the oil is coming from.

I've tried newer and older caps, with different materials (cork and o-rings) as gaskets, but they didn't stop the flow.

Suggestions?

 

[looseparts]

Today I gazed longingly at my T100 during a break in the showers, but was warned not to jinx my sale - what could be worse than having a crash on that 'one final ride' after the bike has been sold - so I set my sights on the new project. Got out the cylinder head, jugs and rocker boxes that were returned to me from the mechanic who had my bike for 18 months and fit them together - to make sure everything was from the same era... and while I'm no expert, the threaded holes are BSF, so I'm pretty sure this stuff is period correct for 1967. I did not get my push rod tubes back and as expensive as they are, getting the right ones is important.

Stripped the parts from the rocker boxes, and shined them up with a wire wheel - sure, it's only temporary, but they look grand and it was nice to get my hands in some parts again.

 

[looseparts]

Gatornapper - I sure hope your starting troubles are simple to fix - hate to waste the first 80 degree day chasing a dumb problem. Best of luck to you.

Today I have assembled the rear end using the parts I got at the swap meet in San Jose along with some new parts that came in the mail today. Sure went together nicely - Love having all that new stuff to work with. Freshly turned drum, new brakes, bearings, axle, big nuts, spokes, rim, tube and tire and the powder-coated hub - sure looks nice:

Then I put the motor in the frame to see if I might have gotten the offset close when I built the wheel and it seems that I did. After fitting the oil tank, I began looking for a place to put the battery. Having the chassis mocked up like this is risky for me, that it might fall over an damage painted parts, but I have to work out how to mount the tank and seat-bed, figure out where is the license plate going to go, where can I squeeze the oil filter, etc. To tell the truth, I just like sitting back and looking at it - imagining how it's all going to end up. Love this hobby : -)

 

[looseparts]

20/50 ?? , what were you thinking?

I hope you`re going to change that to 80/90 gear oil as soon as possible!!

While there is an infinite debate on lubricants - I know racers that use Torco 50 in the engine oil, gearbox and primary, and there's folks that use ATF in the primary - the march of progress in the technology of lubricants might make the shop manual irrelevant this matter, but I run gear oil in my gearbox as it just seems to make the most sense.

At one point I put 20w in the gearbox as it was hard to shift but after making an accurate clutch adjustment I went back to 80/90 gear oil.

 

[looseparts]

I have used the family dishwasher on it's high temp cycle. Easy as stacking dishes!! RR

Family dishwasher?! 'Family'... indicates you're married. Where the hell was your family when you put your clutch plates in the dishwasher? Vacation to Europe?

My wife can smell when auto / motorcycle parts have been in her oven over a mile away - I can't imagine getting caught putting clutch plates in the dishwasher. She'd be having me buy an new dishwasher, no matter how I explained my thinking.

Hat's off to you, brave man : -)

... and thanks for putting the 'Reinstate Hank' link in your sig. A noble gesture indeed.

 

[looseparts]

Today I put a multimeter on all the ignition parts to see if I could find out why I`m getting such a weak spark on the left cylinder.To make a long story short I couldn`t find any fault and started the bike up again only to find more black smoke coming from the left side.Now I`m going check the timing and points gap on the left to see if the fault lies there.

Go ahead and check the tappet clearance while you're checking things...

As you may recall - I went through a zillion gyrations trying to figure out why my bike would begin to sputter above 4000 RPM in 3rd and 4th gears - I looked at coils, plugs, plug wires, battery, flow from tank and more - only to discover that the clearance on the right exhaust valve had pretty much disappeared.

Once that was put right, all my troubles were solved.

Best of luck to you.

 

[looseparts]

My favorite sentence on the forum this week?

"Felt electrical, so it's probably fuel."

 

[looseparts]

Finally got the bike put together. Strobed and took it out for a quick toot to see how the new guides, valves, pistons and rebore felt.
Thanks for everyone for tyour help especially: Snakeoil, RetroRod, Mr. Pete, Garioch43, coloradobob,Ed h, NJTiger, Dave M, 68Tr6R, siverfish, crackerman, OogieBoogie, Tiger Dale, Apdingfield, and of course Plewsy (aka Lunmad) and many others whose threads I perused (too numerous to mention). Well, now for the break in. (I gotta get away from these traffic lights!)


Here's a vid.


See you on the Black Top soon!

.

Very Nice Bike! - Could be a viable candidate for this year's 'Most Improved' : )

 

[looseparts]

When I pushed my project home from the swap meet a couple of years ago there were no foot pegs nor a rear brake pedal (not to mention no tank, no seat and a whole lot more. So much was missing, my wife gladly wrote the check thinking 'he'll never get that running' - one of these days she's going to be wrong) Anyways... the rolling chassis is just about done and now I'm trying to conjure up some sort of pegs and pedal.

I bought foot pegs at a swap in San Jose, but they don't look right. I may have purchased two left hand ones (one tilts up and the other down, and they look like they're bent forward. The left engine mounting plate does not have the welded bush for the pedal, so I'm trying out some parts that I have on-hand.

The pictured folding foot pegs may have come from some Honda - Who knows - I got them from a wrecker who's out of business, but I think they're going to work. As you can see, I've left about an inch of bolt past the lower attachment thinking I will pivot a brake pedal off of it.

As fun as it is for me to bash together some pathetically fabricated 'part' I know if this doesn't work out, I can scour the eBays for some functional stock parts.

None the less, as the tread is titled... this is what I did with my vintage Triumph today.

 

[looseparts]

Made a brake pedal

This week I finished the brake pedal - couldn't find a stock plate/pedal for under $80, so I made one. The rod is outside of the shock, but seems to garner no interference and it's strong enough that I can pogo on the end of it. Cost about $6 and the satisfaction is pricele...

 

[looseparts]

Nice job and the price is right. Looks kinda aftermarket-racey-esque.

May I ask why your side stand is cut off? Did you lower the bike?

regards,
Rob

Thanks - the making of the pedal was fun - that it will work is a added bonus.

Hope I haven't messed things up having it lowered. The sidestand is short because at the angle it is, that's where it reaches the ground. The bike was a non-running desert-sled when I got it and the shocks have been changed and the fork tubes have been replaced, so I have no idea what the ground clearance is supposed to be, but I think it is a little bit lower - the swinging arm is angled at about 3:30 on the clock (if 3:00 o'clock was level with the ground) and it looks a bit less of an angle than pictures of stock bikes that I've seen. If I haven't screwed up the geometry by having it lower, that will be great, as I'm only 5'5" and the way it sits (custom bum-stop seat) I can almost be flat-foot astride the bike and it feels good that way. Hope it will still handle ok..

 

[looseparts]

Three+ years later... First Start !