Motorcycle General Discussion

[WindyParticipant @windy30762]

Forgot to mention those old photo's were about 1968 and my Sister sent them to me after I was discharged from a stay in hospital over a week ago.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Windy on 07/03/2016 16:29:04:

Forgot to mention those old photo's were about 1968 and my Sister sent them to me after I was discharged from a stay in hospital over a week ago.

.

That should spur you on

Good luck with the project.

MichaelG.

[Dave plus / minus 40 thouParticipant @daveplusminus40thou]

Excellent photos's Windy!, The rear tyre is starting to deflect under acceleration in both pics, also two bystanders are shoving their fingers in their ears – most impressive!!

+/-40thou

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Oh well, nostalgia not being what it used to etc, had to dig these out.

Prescott hill climb, somewhere around 1970.

Bike is a 1,000cc Vincent twin, Norton gearbox and car wheels before they became popular, [ car tyres were cheaper ]

Driver was John Flood of Lincoln, unfortunately now deceased.

The patch on my left shoulder was the wall on the previous corner, all drivers should made to be passengers at some point.

[WindyParticipant @windy30762]

Great pictures John

[WindyParticipant @windy30762]

Posted by Dave plus / minus 40 thou on 07/03/2016 20:12:49:

Excellent photos's Windy!, The rear tyre is starting to deflect under acceleration in both pics, also two bystanders are shoving their fingers in their ears – most impressive!!

+/-40thou

In 1972 with a another homemade frame and capacity increased to 750cc from 650cc did a terminal speed of 180mph plus at the end of the standing start kilometre those were the days before you had to have silencers at Elvington.

Elvington 15 March will be watching the fast lads and lasses (Becci Ellis 264mph) on bikes etc. practicing for the UK speed week record attempts later in the year.

[Cyril BonnettParticipant @cyrilbonnett24790]

All well saying British bikes don't leak but when you buy a new Norton Commando Mk111 Interstate, delivered straight from the factory, you'd expect it to be the dream that you thought you were buying. Not so, on delivery it was looked over by the two guys that delivered it, asked to take in for a spin through cobbled Edinburgh streets you'd be over the moon. I was until the first left turn and hey ho away we went, straightening up it was okay, next left turn away again, a quick check and I discovered that the throttle cable was too tight! So a sedate ride back to Ernie's. The cables were too short so they swapped them from Ernie's showroom Mk2A..

That was just the beginning of a seven-month experience that proved the British motorcycle industry had somewhere along the line lost he plot completely. Chromed front disk, that was an experience in the wet, front forks that were porous, send them back and we'll check them!! Ernie’s MK2A to the rescue again, these engines had a reputation for spraying oil from the rev cable where it entered the casing, supposedly fixed, made my right boot really waterproof. Next the exhaust clamps, specially washer fitted to stop them unscrewing, right exhaust came loose 110 miles down the road. The American Prestolite starter needed a kick on the kick-starter on cold mornings, it started misfiring at less than 250 miles, quite common in Commando’s so they told me, change the plugs, that sorted that. Next the chrome stripped off the front disc going into Hrathill service station, left that as it really improved the braking in the wet. Finally, and 7 months later on the way back to Edinburgh the engine developed a death rattle. A valve spring gave up the ghost, the valve went through the piston. Norton Villiers warranty was six months and they didn't want know. Ernie rebuilt it at cost, I part exchanged it at Edgar Brothers for a Honda 750F1 and rode that throughout Europe for the next 120.000 miles, oil, tyres spark plugs and a set of head bearing and it started first time every day, and ticked over quietly, the only trouble was the neutral light switch gave up the ghost in Holland, ten quid and it was fitted while I waited.

The dream to own a big Norton turned into a nightmare and British bikes did leak oil from new, that and rotten workmanship, bad management and greed cos us bike industry.

I rode another 5 bikes all from Japan all shaft driven, one turbo charged, for hundreds of thousands of miles, no oil leaks, no major disasters, just service items tyres, timing chains oil and bearings plus bulbs and spark plugs, I no longer ride bikes, something to do with age

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Posted by Involute Curve on 07/03/2016 09:22:18:

I have a Venom, its in original condition so I'm undecided if I should restore it,…

No, no, don't restore it. Fix it up mechanically, add discreet upgrades like belt drive and a mikuni if you like, but if you have an original paint, factory finish bike, even with wear and tear on it, it would be a sacrilege to "restore" it. Once you cover it in new 21st century paint and chrome, the real bike is hidden for ever inside its cocoon of modernity.

So many of these old bikes have been restored, and over-restored, that the original "survivors" with factory paint etc are now worth more than a fully restored example in many cases.

Beside that, I have found that once you go over the top on paint and chrome etc, I am too scared to ride the darn things as much as before, in case it gets a scratch or dirt on it. So for years now, I have given up on the restos and gone for "tidy 'em up and ride 'em". Much more fun — and cheaper too!

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

A bit more nostalgia:

The 1930s Cammy AJS V-twin built for the land speed record attempt, with the blower removed and raced at Bakers Beach, Tasmania, in the 19 40s/50s. I believe the bike has since been returned to the UK and is in a museum.

They could not get it to run properly without the blower (cams all wrong I suppose) and my old man's Harley WLA went faster at 104mph in the time trials. I bet the AJ boys were peeved! Pretty good going for a 750cc sidevalve .

[WindyParticipant @windy30762]

I love to see the old speed trial machines most of what is seen today is so electronically controlled.

But I don't bury my head in the sand and enjoy learning about the latest speed developments even if a bit above my head at times.

[john fletcher 1Participant @johnfletcher1]

Taking of speed I "run" a little bike powered by a Villiers 2 speed 98 cc engine. Two speed, slow and a bit faster, now in the 1950 's when go- carts were all the rage, owner were improving the engine. I live in a very hilly area and would like to know what people actually did to their engines to improve performance, as riding it in the summer is really un realistic, I'm a menace to other road users, to slow on narrow roads. Any ideas would be welcome. John

[Bob RodgersonParticipant @bobrodgerson97362]

John, I ride vintage bikes that are pretty much too slow on busy roads. I used to live in Northumberland and the roads there were ideal for low powered slow machines, however I now live on the south side of Manchester and there is only one road that is suitable for me to get out of the area up into the Derbyshire Peak District. As a result I tend to ride my trusty BSA A-10 or the Velo locally and save the vintage bikes for special occasions like the VMCC's Northumbrian Gathering.

At last years event I noticed one of the Stalwarts of the South Durham Branch wearing a black jacket with the words

" I Do Not Do Fast

Or Faster"

In big white letters on his back. One thing I have learned riding my old Vintage bikes is to keep well out from the Kerb and do not be intimidated into pulling into the kerb to let impatient drivers past. I will only pull into the side of the road if I can see that the cars behind me can get past with sufficient room to spare to enabler me to return to my normal position on the road. If yo pull over to let one past you can bet your bottom dollar there will be some pillock who will try to squeeze past and nip in quickly forcing you to stay in close to the kerb of worse.

I think a 98cc villiers engine might be tuneable but I doubt the level of tuning that some of the go karts were tuned to in the 50's would do much for reliability. Just fit a 2T engine in the frame, that'l give it plenty of go.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

"live life at a moderate pace. Die in middle age".

Neil

[DodParticipant @dod]

Posted by john fletcher 1 on 08/03/2016 16:43:49:

Taking of speed I "run" a little bike powered by a Villiers 2 speed 98 cc engine. Two speed, slow and a bit faster, now in the 1950 's when go- carts were all the rage, owner were improving the engine. I live in a very hilly area and would like to know what people actually did to their engines to improve performance, as riding it in the summer is really un realistic, I'm a menace to other road users, to slow on narrow roads. Any ideas would be welcome. John

No ideas to improve performance, plenty enough for me. Talking of Villiers 98cc engines, I have a power saw in shed powered by same, used it to cut through firewood trees simply by laying chain on trunk and releasing clutch, taking engine above idle and gravity did the rest – used to think me knuckles were nearer the ground after a session on that thing.

Must get it going again to enjoy the sound of straight out 2 stroke exhaust port at arms length.

[davebParticipant @daveb17630]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 08/03/2016 18:32:55:

"live life at a moderate pace. Die in middle age".

35 Seems a bit young to drop off the twig, think I'll just carry on as normal.

Dave

[Gordon WParticipant @gordonw]

I had a 98cc villiers "autobike" with pedals and no gears ! These old villiers motors are easy to tune and are quite strong. Higher comp. ratio, pack the crankcase with a horse-shoe shaped ally spacer are starters ,done with moderation should not affect reliability to much. There must be lots on the net about this. PS -a mate of mine used an early chainsaw with a 197 villiers motor.

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

A mate of mine has an Indian built Royal Enfield side car combination, with a diesel engine, with a passenger in the sidecar it has atop speed of 45K ph, last time he took it to a show he displayed it as a stationary engine!!

Ian S C

[WindyParticipant @windy30762]

A past club member who restores old vehicles really confused the old bike experts he put an ancient Jap industrial engine in an home made chassi it looked 1930ish.

Lot of head scratching by onlookers deciding what bike it was.

He has a sense of humor

[Barnaby WildeParticipant @barnabywilde70941]

Posted by Windy on 09/03/2016 12:54:15:

A past club member who restores old vehicles really confused the old bike experts he put an ancient Jap industrial engine in an home made chassi it looked 1930ish.

Lot of head scratching by onlookers deciding what bike it was.

He has a sense of humor

One of the nicest 'custom' motorcycles I have ever seen was a simple, single seat, flat tank fitted with a diesel engine sourced from an old cement mixer. At first glance everything looked like it was made in 1910 but if you looked long enuff then nothing was more than 20yrs old.

[WindyParticipant @windy30762]

Yesterday after going to PEEMS club workshop in the morning went to Elvington to see the fast lads and lasses speed testing for UK speed week later in the year.

Was talking to Mick husband of a fast biking lady Becky 264mph hoping after they sort her new machine after her high speed crash last year to set a record at 270mph then maybe retire.

Wind was across the runway so speeds were a bit down one did 217mph while I was there.

[WindyParticipant @windy30762]

Posted by Hopper on 08/03/2016 03:13:09:

A bit more nostalgia:

The 1930s Cammy AJS V-twin built for the land speed record attempt, with the blower removed and raced at Bakers Beach, Tasmania, in the 19 40s/50s. I believe the bike has since been returned to the UK and is in a museum.

Carl a forum member of **LINK** posted this.

It never went that well with the blower either Paul, it's in the NMM at Birmingham now, have a photo somewhere.

[Anonymous]

Posted by Windy on 21/03/2016 07:58:27:

It never went that well with the blower either Paul, it's in the NMM at Birmingham now, have a photo somewhere.

There's a good write up of the bike's history here **LINK**

[WindyParticipant @windy30762]

Went to see a acquaintance from the speed record scene who used to watch me when he was a kid on his push bike at Elvington now he is a leading light on top speed machines.

I picked up some 5" thick 2014 plate also an overdrive unit converted to air shifting for my latest project and was shown some of his creations to name a few a v8 motor cycle now converted to 3 wheels for stability 180 plus mph.

Parts for a gas turbine record attempt motorcycle and then an interesting alcohol 2 wheeler plus an Allchin model another unusual job was a mould for a turkey artificial insemination also a piece of lightweight aluminium.

Got there at 9-30am did not leave till mid afternoon there is another machine that would literally blow your mind heard a test firing but sworn to secrecy until it's running when allowed will let you all know about it.

His quality of engineering makes my hammer and chisel modeling look so amateur but he is also self taught.

Will see him again next Tuesday at Elvington top speed when the fastest women 264mph Becci will be testing her latest bike after last years was wrote of in a high speed crash.

[WindyParticipant @windy30762]

Went to a wet Elvington today a few brave souls had some high-speed runs but was a bit dodgy at times.

Met some very interesting friends who are preparing for a land speed record motorcycle attempt Face book viewers have a look at https://www.facebook.com/The52Express/ 

I've put an order in to one of the team for more materials for my own slow speed project their enthusiasm is an addiction that's infectious these enthusiasts take years for dreams that eventually become reality.  

A few pictures from today unfortunately the UK fastest lady could not test her latest machine because of wet conditions also pictures of two 100+ Lambretta scooters and 52 express power plant.

 

 

Edited By Windy on 12/04/2016 17:03:23

[Rufus RoughcutParticipant @rufusroughcut]

Hi Gents

Ditto as Neil says:

(+1 to what Paul says – if a bike unsticks, it goes forwards in a straight line, it doesn't fly outwards.

Nei

However the real question is acts in relation to what !!!!!!!

If Gravity, the curvature of the earth and how start is a straight line.

Having had gravel rash a couple of times i have discovered that oh! shit is no fix to angular seperation.

Rufus

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