Motorcycle General Discussion

[Phil LinghamParticipant @phillingham79132]

Hi All

New member (although I have been looking at the forums as a guest for a while). Thought you might like to see a picture of my Triton I finished last year complete with lots of home made parts.

[colin branniganParticipant @colinbrannigan54160]

Very nice indeed Phil.

Colin

[BazParticipant @baz89810]

Nice windmill, can’t make out what the sign on the gate says. Is it open to the public?

[Phil LinghamParticipant @phillingham79132]

Posted by Baz on 07/03/2023 15:40:22:

Nice windmill, can’t make out what the sign on the gate says. Is it open to the public?

Stelling Minnis, Kent

Usually open on Sundays and Bank Holidays in the summer

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

Very nice triton, looks like a big bearing 650, plenty of braking power from twin discs and a custom swinging arm for the slimline Featherbed frame. The windmill is nice, too.

[colin branniganParticipant @colinbrannigan54160]

Hi all,

It has been a busy few months as previously stated I started work on the Douglas beginning of January and it was completed last week, it ran, a little lumpy so that needs looking at but it was pumping oil around and the generator was charging. I have not ridden on the road yet but everything seems okay, but it's far from original the rivet counters will have a field day, I had a pile of parts which were Douglas and from the 1930's but from different models so it took a bit of working out but I am happy with the way it turned out.

This is what I bought………………

How it turned out………………

Lots of stuff had to be made like wheel spindles, fork spindles and bushes, steering damper, drive sprocket, headlamp is homemade from a Lucas and Miller bits with a Chinese lens thrown in. The rear carrier was also made, the leather tool box were from ebay, all we need now is a V5c from the DVLA.

Kind regards Colin

[JimmieSParticipant @jimmies]

Congratulations on a wonderful build which must have caused some head scratching at times. I find such 'restorations' much more exciting that those which tend to stick to the original designer's thoughts.

Jim

[Richard MillingtonParticipant @richardmillington63972]

Looks good Colin, don't worry about the rivet counters, hope the summer is good.

[JimmieSParticipant @jimmies]

North West 200 races

There is coverage of the International North West 200 across BBC Sport NI which started with live streaming of the first practice session on today (Tues).

'All practice sessions and races on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday can be viewed live on BBC iPlayer with worldwide video streaming available on the BBC Sport NI website bbc.co.uk/sportni'

 

 

 

Edited By JimmieS on 09/05/2023 20:49:10

[JAParticipant @ja]

Thanks JimmieS.

Far better than watching Fred Dibnah.

JA

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

Servicing the Chief today and wouldn't you know it the thunder is rumbling all around, well maybe tomorrow!

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Posted by bernard towers on 10/05/2023 14:35:44:

Servicing the Chief today and wouldn't you know it the thunder is rumbling all around, well maybe tomorrow!

Indian Chief? If I had one of those I think I would brave the rain to ride it. The '48 with skirted fenders has always been my dream bike. Well, one of them…

I have been at the other end of the scale this week, doing a major service on my VFR800 Honda V4 whizbang machine.  Makes you appreciate the simplicity of a sidevalve v-twin with no plastic bodywork to be removed to get at things. And perfect riding weather and here's me in the shed. Again. The old WLA Harley is next up.

Edited By Hopper on 11/05/2023 14:53:48

[Russ BParticipant @russb]

Oooooh, I didn't know we had a motorbike page! here's my 2pence worth, although its "only" just over 30 years old, it's nearly as old as me, so to me, its a classic! I'm perhaps a bit younger than your average demographic on here (sorry guys!)

It's a Honda NSR 250 (MC21) they only sold them in Japan, but when they had a surplus, some of them went to the Aussies.

I acquired it about 3 years ago if I recall correct. It was a race bike in pretty poor condition but it sounded great. Under the microscope however, the crank bearings had more float than anything I've ever seen, the wiring loom had several bare wires, vital bits were missing out of the carbs, needles were worn and loose and it was completely missing the oil pump system and there was a patch on one of the aluminium cylinders (the front/lower) that was missing the nicasil plating – I'm sure I found many other things that weren't right but they all just got picked up along the way.

It's built from new parts, pretty much all genuine honda apart from the odd bearing/seal which were NLA. New crank, rods, pistons, rings, cylinder plating, all bearings, seals etc etc. I rebuilt the carbs, sourced and reinstated the oil pump system so it was no longer on premix, rectified some issues with the electronics, had all the nuts/bolts/washers from the engine and chassis replated (3 batches, yellow/gold, bright zinc and black) rebuilt the front forks, powdercoated the wheels, restored the frame and swingarm etc etc etc. All cases stripped and vapour blasted, some holes repaired from a snapped chain etc.

I've been riding it for the past 18 months (with fairings and lights of course!) as my daily (summer) bike for commuting and pleasure and it's been great….. but I'm making a few changes, getting rid of the modern aftermarket subframe and seat unit and going back to the standard subframe and undertray/rearlight with an aftermarket GRP race seat unit – nothing wrong with the modern alloy subrame and skinny seat, I thought it might be a bit uncomfortable on my wrists but it's actually fine – I just prefer the original style GP seat units of that era.

 

 

Edited By Russ B on 15/05/2023 14:21:21

[DiogenesParticipant @diogenes]

I've just stumbled across a reference elsewhere that hinted at the passing of Henry Body (of Douglas/Sprint fame) back in the summer – if true it would be sad to think it passed without comment..

In spite of a search I can't find any further information – does anyone know?

[JAParticipant @ja]

Posted by Diogenes on 24/09/2023 10:33:46:

I've just stumbled across a reference elsewhere that hinted at the passing of Henry Body (of Douglas/Sprint fame) back in the summer – if true it would be sad to think it passed without comment..

In spite of a search I can't find any further information – does anyone know?

Henry Body passed away about a month ago.

My friend in the Douglas Club does not have the full details.

JA

[DiogenesParticipant @diogenes]

I'm really sorry to hear that, sincere condolences to those of whose lives he was a part..

..very few men have left such a big impression in so few seconds..

[JimmieSParticipant @jimmies]

Came across this f/b page and, with a life long enthusiasm  for motorbikes,  found it interesting. Perhaps others may enjoy it too.

https://www.facebook.com/scottiesworkshop

Jimmie

 

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

If you have an enfield 350 meteor and during or after very cold weather find the engine management light on, it is a software issue ! The bike will run fine, and there are several Ytube videos of how to turn it off, quite simple ! Noel.

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

Just took delivery of a new clutch basket bearing with the same part no as the old one but the old one had 16 balls in and the new one 30. It seems not all things are being dumbed down. Ther last one has done 55,000 miles so this one should go well past the 100,000 mile mark.

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

I am having serious thoughts about fitting a new battery on the bike this ones been on there since May 2015, and I’m giving serious thoughts on fitting lithium ion. Can someone tell me why you need a special off bike charger to charge them when the existing system on the bike does not need modyfying. The weight difference alone is massive from 4.35kg to 1.26!. Cant get any answers from the suppliers.

[Clive FosterParticipant @clivefoster55965]

The requirements for a specialist charger is to, hopefully, ensure that no one puts a wildly unsuitable charger onto the battery and destroys it. Lithium batteries can be seriously dangerous if overcharged or charged at the wrong rate. Best rate of charge  varies depending on how much charge is actually in the battery.

So an old fashioned dumb battery charger, basically a rectifier and transformer, has no chance of safely charging it. Fundamentally those things rely on the considerable abuse tolerance of the ordinary lead acid battery.

Modern smart chargers that, supposedly, interrogate the battery to figure out its state of charge and self program to safely bring it up to full charge fully generally aren’t programmed to recognise a lithium battery so the charging strategy will be, at best, less than idea.

I suspect that safe charging on the bike assumes that the battery is already fairly well charged. Of necessity a lithium battery will have its own charge controller devices built in but there are limits to what these can sensibly do. Motorcycle charging systems are generally fairly well behaved and supply a decent source for the on battery controller to work with.

Clive

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

So would you think that a system with a 3 brush generator would be intelligent enough?

[DiogenesParticipant @diogenes]

Do you mean a dc generator?

 

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

Yes the yanks call it a generator we call it a dynamo

[Clive FosterParticipant @clivefoster55965]

I think on the bike its basically a matter of producing a stable output voltage of a level the battery internal controls are happy with without any tendency towards semi-controlled high currents from the generating system.

Any electro mechanical dynamo control system sounds iffy to me. Event the more sophisticated car type with three sets of contacts relay on the battery to some degree for stability. The two contact bike type are worse and, I suspect, the three brush dynamo worse still. There is reason why battery life was so pore back in ye good old days!

When I made a batch of improved JG type 12 volt conversion regulators back in the 1970’s an unexpected benefit was greatly improved battery life due to the much better regulation and overcurrent control. With the standard Lucas or Miller controls, much better than legend suggests if you took the time to adjust them as per book, 3 years daily driver battery life was doing well. Never changed a battery after fitting one of my boxes so at least 6 years life.

I suspect an original high output Lucas Zener Diode controller might do well too as the Zener characteristic was “quirky” and designed for the job. Lord knows what you get nowadays. Probably a standard Zener which really isn’t right for the job.

Clive

[Author]

Posts