Sunday, 8 July 2012

drip drip drip...

Viton valve seals
will solve some of my issues
rocker shaft seal kit
should sought the front rocker leak and shims if req'd 
rear pushrods show wear at top
seems its not so unusual with these thicker alloy rods
so the tubes are having a little relieving done to them 

its taken nearly five days to get the burnt on oil deposits off the heads and valves by soaking in a oven de-carboniser and rubbing with plastic scourers.
to discover that both exhaust valves have wear and need replacing.
the rear looks like someone had taken a file to it.
and guess what, Rowe have stopped making guides and valves so there's is a shortage.
and again a more expensive set had to be ordered.

I could go off this shit. 


Friday, 6 July 2012

Wednesday, 4 July 2012

every little helps...

starter gear for the kicker
alex @ grizzlys had this on back order for me
in fact he suggested trying it
designed for the lads with magnetos, the engine turns over more when kicked
watch this space...

Sunday, 1 July 2012

I'm a dancing fool...



taken by a passer-by in 2010
my mate johnny earning a crust when this dancing fool lays down some moves...

there's something going wrong around here...

burnt carbon is a c**t to remove,
I found gasket remover does help...
 money pit, guess how much - she's bleeding me dry...
 tried removing the cracked powdercoat, tried cleaning them, they looked crap, so painted them - it will probably flake off too...
decarboniser for oven cleaning took 24hrs on the valves
not for use on aluminium folks...

Thursday, 28 June 2012

prescription...

proper riding glasses at last

with prescription clip-on insert from
fat skeleton
I had an eye test, and contacted
cillary blue
they sent a box for the inserts and prescription 
and returned with new lens



now all I gotta do is get the bike back on the road...


Saturday, 23 June 2012

always look on the bright side of life...

rear inlet seal loose
 rear exhaust seal fucked (well it was after removal)
 burnt valve and seat, hardly sealing for compression
so it wasn't the rings, but...
some scoring on piston and barrels, looks like I didn't get all those metal filings out of the new oil tank...

when you're chewing on life's gristle, 
don't grumble give a whistle...

Thursday, 21 June 2012

when its windy and raining again...

 early shovel
 essential kit for the shoveleer
early scalextric
 holey twin leading shoe
 early gas pump
 early batmobile
 no, it's the 1929 golden arrow
 bluemobile
with a very large mouth


oh dear - part deux

Compression test
Luckily Pete called by, as this take two to do. 
Front good, Rear not good!
Improves when oil added and indicates rings
January reading!
Heads off today, but first going to check pushrod adjustment
then test valves by filling removed heads with petrol
and piston rings by filling cylinders with oil
old school tips from my friend Ray (the man with V8 trike)

Wednesday, 20 June 2012

oh dear

That leak is back on the front of the front head fins
but discovered it is travelling all the way from inlet rocker screw
pipes are covered in soot and plugs too
So I took out the air filter and went for a ride to Paul's house.
Where he showed me his fucked back tire. 
Then we noticed WHITE SMOKE coming from my rear pipe.
Fuck
This is what the plugs looked like after that short trip
Not good.
I've ordered some viton valve seals and special rocker seals from the states.
Heads off tomorrow. Fingers crossed.  

Tuesday, 19 June 2012

marmite and girls...

marmite bike?
girls
 
'marmite' because...
you either...
love it...
or hate it...

'Carousel'
Destiny Cycles gorgeous Pan / shovel
built by Vic Jefford


'marmite' credit to wade

Monday, 18 June 2012

Show time

We were on the road early, motorway cruising @ a steady sixty five.
The mind starts ticking over as there's fuck-all to do. 
So after looking at the speedo and counting the slow miles, 
you start to listen for odd noises... 
has something vibrated loose... 
is the oil circulating... 
start to think I hate fucking motorways, I want to shift my legs and... 
I FORGOT MY TICKETS!!!!!!
Fuck it, I'm not going back. 
And when we got there the ticket office were cool. 
Its not like I'm the only person in the world that forgets their tickets is it...
 Knuckle or S&S?
 Indian?
Shovel? - hmmmm
Exactly
seems it maybe the year of the shov
trumpet engineering
 Larry's engineering
with the new JAP engine
 still in vogue
 split head
fly by wire engineering
the Italian Knuck
 second city customs
big sucker shov

older engine based customs seemed prevalent at the show 
or maybe thats just my tunnel vision... haha