Petrol head thread!!!

[billy rubin]

not so much at 0515 in the morning. id like to stay off the motorways because i am small and inconspicuous in the dark, and from 0500 to 0700 is when the truckers are likeliest to be falling  asleep after driving all night. biorhythms and so forth.

i could but wont take the old secondary road, which is a straight shot and off the beaten path for everybody except me and the stinking road maggots:



odocoileus fucking virginiana

these creatures have competing saftey behaviours. first, they will freeze, and stand quietly off in the dark while they watch you approach. then when you are close, they either stay still if they think you havent spotted them, or they run. when they run, they pay no attention anymore to where you are, and will happily run right into you trying to get to a safe place on the other side of the road.

i dont know why there isnt a program that says, run away from the source of danger. all they know how to do is run . . .

ive killed between five and ten in the years ive lived here. the wife has done in several more. most recently i caved in the left front fender on the wifes minivan going to work in the pre-dawn on the same road i would be taking my motorcycle.

theyre large enough to hurt you. well over a hundred kilos. so i stay off the slow road.

long answer to a short question, i guess. when i was a kid, it was troops of monkeys that caused roadblocks in the morning. then later out west it was free range cattle. now its the wild stuff again.

at least theres no alligators this far north.

[Tank]

Maybe hedgehogs and squirrels aren't so bad after all

[billy rubin]

almost hit a marmot yesterday.



six or eight pounds, about like a pugdog.

big enough to cause issues

[Dark Lightning]

You need a flexible "cowcatcher" with wheels on the outer edges. You'll still be able to lean. I used to ride my motorcycle on canyon roads at stupid fast speeds. Yet another reminder of another way I could have died. 

[billy rubin]

see below

[billy rubin]

no canyons here but plenty of tight twisties in and out of the hill.

used to be a big dead tree right at the apex of a downhill sweeper just before the turn into my road.

some harley guy took it out a few years ago by going into the corner hot without being willing or able? to lean. he didnt make it. it was a sizeable tree.

im always about to slow down coming out of that corner so i dont worry about whats left of the tree.

but i pay attention to marmots

[billy rubin]

therapy today. ive been stressed, so i went out to the shop and picked up the spanners.

ive had issues with a 1969 BSA with low oil pressure. these old nails can develop pressure problems from a bad pressure relief valve, a bad oil pump, worn rod bearings, or a worn timing side crankshaft bushing.

i just got it running a while back, took it out and warmed it up seriously hot for the first time, and when i got home the oil pressure light was on.

what?

so i put on a gauge, and it was only 13 psi. should have been around 30. 13 psi will kill the motor.

so i rebuilt the oil pressure relief valve, re-threaded the cavity with epoxy to seal up the threads, took the oil pump out and rebuilt it too.

stuck a feeler gauge under the crank bushing and was able to get a 0.003 in there. not 0.004, which is good, because 0.005 is rebuild time.

that was several weeks ago, but ive been busy. today i finally put the inner timing cover on. connected the clutch, and discovered that i had the wrong inner timing cover gasket- no holes for two cover dowels. dont know what year those showed up, but the gasket was good otherwise.

fixed it with rapid scissor surgery while the wellseal was drying, and got the inner cover on, with its eight recessed screws. got the shifter mechanism in place, which is always fussy, and then tried for thirty minutes to put the stupid kickstart return spring retainer plate on.

this is an incredibly awkward securing method for the kickstart spring, and reminds me why i prefer to work on triumphs. i eventually accepted defeat before i broke something, and left it until tomorrow.

once its in, and i have the outer timing cover on, ill fill with fresh oil, set the ignition, and start the pig up. if i have decent oil pressure, im done. if the oil pressure is still too low, then it will be time to pull the crank. but not today.  ill set the machine aside while i work on other machines that need attention.

it wont be fixed, but all the pieces will be in place, so nothing will be lost. and ill have to come up with a new gasket set anyway.

still to work on before the snow flies are the buell, the ninja, the LSR, and the sidecar tug. if i get crazy ahead, ill take another stab at the 441 victor.

but my old 1972 T120 just motors on, and lets me ride something sane and easy on the remaining good days of the year while the others require nursemaiding. i recently took off the 34mm carburetters ive been running for about ten years and put on some 32 mm instruments ive had for a while. excellent result, as the flat spot off-idle is gone and the machine runs well at slow speeds again. ill do some work on the 34s and then put them back in, as i want the 32s for the sidecar tug.

cheers!