Kempton, and My Lock-up, a Motorcycle Weekend…

What a nice day out was yesterday, it was part of a long weekend over here in the UK, the sun was out with the warmth of early summer, and the air was filled with the smell of oil, rust, and bacon sarnies, for it was another Kempton motorcycle jumble, run by Eric and EGP enterprises.

Shaun, Bob, and Marcus were there, freshly returned from disturbing France. Baza and “dat der Karl” also made an appearance. And of course we had Grandad complete with battle scars, MrEd, and Graham, just to round things off. Perfect. It was nice to see you all.

And of course there were some old rusty piles of junk, that only we could love…. so shall we have a look at what caught my eye this time around? why not…

1950’s Peugeot

Norton Dommie

Norton Racer

AJS Motor

Yesterday was a national holiday over here in the UK, so I get a bonus garage day….
It was fun too. It started with me fettling the carbs on the TriBsa, this now starts real easy hot or cold, and doesn’t dance across the floor on the center stand like it used to. I then had a go at testing the dynamo, I read up on this on line last night, and it is really quite easy when you know how! the result of which shows my dynamo giving out between 7vdc and 11vdc, which should be perfect when I fit the new regulator. MoT this week? well just maybe.

Next I dragged out the Commando, had a go at setting the carbs on that one too, and then took it for a short ride, it still pops and misses when warm, not sure what is going on there? what a fun bike to ride though.

Next out for a ride was the 1200 Shovelhead, this has been in the garage having new springs in the gearbox, it now changes both up and down, and I can even find neutral now too. I have a mis-fire on this one too, that needs to be sorted, I like the bike, it is fun to ride on the open road, but hates low speed traffic.

Finally I got to have an extended ride on the R80st, this has always been my most reliable bike, until it all went wrong last summer going to the Rabbit rally, but now having bought an Alpha electronic ignition system from Rick at Motorrad Elektric, over in the US, and then having to replace the Dyna coil, it is now running sweeter than ever,
The only bike in the garage I never got to ride was the old Norton project, but that may happen later this year too.

Tribsa 650

R80ST

In the Lock-up

Riding October, a Norfolk Camp…

I managed to get a last camp in before I was laid up for medical reasons, a short visit to hospital has put paid to my motorcycling for a couple of weeks, and as we head towards winter, the evenings are closing in, and the weather has become a little unpredictable.

So the camp was arranged by members of the Britbike forum that can be found here  http://www.britbike.com/forums/ubbthreads.php and was held on the Norfolk coast, at the village of Weybourne, over a very wet and windy weekend.

BSA

BSA 10hp

R80ST

BSA and Honda

At the Beach

BSA

No Jacket Required..

Summer breeze makes me feel fine
Blowin’ through the jasmine in my mind

Sweet days of summer – the jasmine’s in bloom
July all dressed up and playing her tune
And I come home from a hard day’s work
And you’re waitin’ there
Not a care in the world

Today my friends was a no jacket day, when the sun woke up it was already warm, and by the time it had had it’s juice and coffee, it was toasty, even in the shade of the overhanging Oak trees, in the small back lanes, it was warm. The hedgerows were alive with insects, butterfly’s and birds were everywhere, and the scent of fresh flowers hung on the corner of every lane. perfect.

I got up early, as it was too warm to sleep, uncovered the bike, the BMW to be exact, clipped a camera to the rack, and headed out into the small country lanes in the direction of south Oxfordshire. I had heard a rumour, that there was to be a display of sports cars on an industrial estate in a small village a few miles from my home. So I thought it would be fun to try to find it, and see what was there, and as it was early, I may get some pictures before the world wakes up, well that was the plan.

The morning was about as perfect as an English morning could be, hardly a soul out in the lanes, the bike burbling along like the waters of a small brook, I found myself just drifting along those little back lanes, open face helmet, t-shirt, and soft leather gloves, it really doesn’t get much better than this. So after zigzagging for a few miles, I arrived at the village, but there were no signs up yet to point the way, but I found a sign for an industrial estate so followed that. A little way further down one of the lanes, I turned a corner and whooow, I had found what I was looking for.

R80 and Galaxie 500’s

Valpini and Austin

Galaxie 500

more can be seen here… http://www.britbike.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=496903#Post496903

 

 

The Guzzi Chronicles…. cont..

Well now that winter is starting to fade away, I had a play with the Guzzi Sunday morning in my ongoing battle with the L/H oil leak? so I pulled the rocker gear and re-torqued all the head bolts, they all seemed to be where they should be, and I never noticed any loose ones. So I bolted it all back together, adjusted the tappets, etc. the plugs were a fantastic grey colour, so the mixture seems to be on the money.
I then gave it a little choke, turned on the fuel, and hit the starter, and she just fired right up, fantastic considering it has been sitting for a month in this cold (for us) weather. I never got a chance to give it a ride, but let it warm up in the garage.
I have now ordered a gasket set, so will pull the heads in a week or two, to see if I can find where the oil is coming from, this will also give me a chance to check the bores too.

This old Ambo was on Ebay USA,  looks a bit sad right now, but will be a great project for someone, it also has some nice parts on it, like those little rear passenger foot plates..

As seen on Ebay

Needs a little work

I wonder who bought it? it would be good to see it back on the road.

I also got to play with my BMW R80ST, this old bike suffers from the weather, because I make it live out on the street,  and because we have had windy weather, blowing the road salt around, the clutch cable had gone a little rusty, and so needed replacing. As it happens I have had a spare in my panniers for over a year, I like to take a spare when out on a trip, it just makes sense.  So I pulled the old cable, and half an hour later the new one was in place, it then took me close to an hour to get it adjusted, there is just so little room at the back of the gearbox to get to the adjuster.

But it was done soon enough, and I took it for a test ride on a cold but dry sunday morning. It was nice to be back riding a bike, and now I am looking forward to some nice spring weather.

R80ST in Wales 2012

Daisy the Triumph…

I have been away for a weeks holiday on my BMW, loaded up for a camping trip in Wales, with a couple of friends, although the bikes used were not the normal camping tour bikes. We had a BSA A65 Thunderbolt, an Indian built Enfield 350, and the infamous Daisy, the 1948 Triumph Speedtwin….

 

Daisy the Triumph

 

It’s a New Year…

I hope it is a good one, we shall see.

First job of the year on my BMW R80ST

As I live in the centre of town, and the majority of my BMW riding is at slower speeds (I don’t do motorways if I can help it) I decided that to get the most from my alternator I would install a Police spec regulator, that switches to charge the battery at lower revs. So I contacted the nice people at Motorworks, and they sent me a nice new Reg to fit, and that was done this morning.

So after removing the tank, and the CDI assembly, I could get to the allen screws holding the old Reg in place and remove the old unit.

Old Regulator

 

Then it was just a simple matter of replacing the old with the new smaller Reg, as you can see.

 

Ne Reg, fitted

 

The new unit is much smaller than the old, but as it is a BMW part, all the holes line up to make fixing it in place a doddle.

After that was all done, and as I had the tools out, I decided to check the valve clearances, they were all spot on, but I adjusted the inlets from 10 to 15, jst to see if it runs any better? we shall see.

Under the covers, this is what you see, just for any who have never worked on a BMW…

 

Rocker Assembly

Then a nice new set of Bosch W7 plugs, replace tank, and it fired right up. Once warmed up and off choke, I put the test meter across the battery, and sure enough the new Reg kicks in around 2000rpm giving 14.3v at the battery.

 

 

 

Christmas Eve Bimble..

I love the whole ethos of winter riding, the cold of the morning, and the warmth of the bike, riding with an open face helmet, picking up all the smells of winter as you ride the country lanes alone. And this morning was no different, I had a few cards to drop at friends and rels, it seems these days that the only way you can be sure they arrive, is to deliver them yourself, so that I what I did.

 

BMW R80ST

I dragged the cover from the beemer, and let it sit warming up in the chill morning air, there was still a touch of dampness on the road from last night torrential rain, but the wind had died down, and the sky was just winter grey.
Soon I was ready to go, firstly around town, and deliver the cards, then out into the countryside, and the little roads the criss cross the Kennet and Avon, where you get wafts of woodsmoke that hangs in the cold air drifting from the narrow boats on the canal.

Ufton Bridge

I stopped at one of the bridges to take a picture, this was at Ufton Nervet, and the road leading on to Ufton Court, an impressive Elizabethan manor house.
I carried on for a few more miles, before heading back towards home and a nice hot coffee.