1912 HD Belt Twin (AKA EVIL TWIN)

[BoschZEV]

You'd never know it from the reporting from the first Cannonball. ... "electrical mystery" stuff!!!! ...

You put your finger on a large part of the problem. Electricity is a mystery to most motorcyclists, so when their freshly rebuilt magnetos fail they don't get upset with the rebuilder but instead regard it as having been inevitable. Instead of being justifiably upset with the rebuilder that the magneto failed after 50 miles they regard it as some sort of miracle it lasted even that long, or they think they just were unlucky to have gotten a bad one.

No motorcyclist would accept it as anything other than shoddy workmanship if their engine ground to a halt and they discovered it was because a snap ring was missing from the wrist pin. If customers realized that every properly restored magneto will be good for tens of thousands of miles with only minimal maintenance (i.e. lubing the cam and replacing the points and brushes when they wear out) they wouldn't accept any excuses offered for failure. The bar for rebuilders would be raised to where it should have been all along.

[BoschZEV]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

p.s. I've lectured on magneto restoration several times at AMA's Vintage Days and at a vintage rally in Ireland. The last two years the (former) Davenport chapter wanted to bring me there to give a hands-on magneto restoration workshop, but the timing conflicted with trips I was already committed to make. I have a portable toolkit (that has let me rebuild magnetos in motel rooms -- if I'd been there at the start of the first Cannonball I could have had everyone running by the second day), portable testers, magneto bodies cross-sectioned on my mill to let people see what is happening inside, cross sectioned armatures, etc. It's all legal for carry-on luggage, although the TSA shows more than a little interest when the bag passes through the x-ray machine...

[c.o.]

The magneto fiasco on the first Cannonball had me wondering.... There is a museum about a days drive from my place that is dedicated to old machinery in general. They have a full restoration shop and handle pretty much everything but you guessed it... magnetos. They relied on an old farmer down the road that had kept all the old tractors going in the area for years. His mag work was top notch and all was well. Well... one day he said that he was hanging up his hat and they decided they had to send their mags out. You guessed it again... they were less than satisfied with the results and decided they weren't having any of it. They contacted that old farmer and acquired all his equipment and had him oversee the operation until he was satisfied they could do the work. I'm sure there are a few folks out there that do a good job but it sounds like maybe there aren't enough of them.

Now a semi airport friendly portable mag repair shop sounds pretty cool. That would have been the ticket eh Joe? Check out that link posted above when you get the chance. Amazing stuff!!

[BoschZEV]

Now a semi airport friendly portable mag repair shop sounds pretty cool.

Pardon the quality of the photo, but I only took the time to dump the contents of the 5 lb. blue bag on the floor and take a snapshot of my TSA-semifriendly portable magneto toolkit:



I supplement this with a few "normal" instruments, some of which also fit in the blue bag: LCR meter, high voltage insulation tester, tiny oscilloscope, and a soldering iron. A few items that aren't allowed on airplanes I buy locally (e.g. can of compressed air and 6V lantern battery for the dynamic coil tester that's in the bag at upper right).

If it turns out a magneto died because its coil developed an open winding, I wouldn't be able to wind a new one in a motel room. But, short of that, the kit lets me diagnose and repair most magneto meltdowns in the comfort of a Motel 6 at 2 a.m.

[D.A.Bagin]

Your website is amazing. How do you find time to do anything else?? LOL. Your statement about electricity being a mystery is ever so true. Give me a wrench, grease and oil and I am fine. Give me wire, a battery and ignition switch and I am terrified.

[BoschZEV]

How do you find time to do anything else??

I had a very nice phone conversation with Slojo yesterday afternoon that touched on exactly this point. It's a key reason why I don't rebuild magnetos for others, because I have my own projects to work on.

When my friend asked me to look at his Bosch ZEV magneto ~18 months ago in preparation for the last Cannonball, he said it wouldn't be sent to me for a few months because the bike first had to be shipped to the U.S. Given that I didn't know what problems I might face (and, if you read my thread on that other site, you'll see I had to deal with a lot of them) I started prowling eBay looking for ZEVs to use for replacement parts if necessary. Although that particular rebuild had a short, firm deadline I continued to follow eBay with the thought that I might pick up a ZEV, rebuild it in a leisurely fashion, and have it available for exactly the sort of situation Slojo is facing now. However, complete ones that look like junk routinely sell for over $400 (ones claimed to be good have sold for as much as 3x that amount). I just haven't felt like spending $400 for a piece of junk to sit on the shelf waiting for me to work on it instead of one of my own projects.

However, this Bosch ZEV digression has hijacked Slojo's thread long enough so I'll quit posting on this topic here. Note that I did start a thread on the Bosch ZEV in the Electrical Forum where I would be happy to reply to anything further on this topic:

http://www.antiquemotorcycle.org/bbo...ch-ZEV-magneto

[knuckcrazy]

Joe..........Joe.............are you there?
Any updates? Missed you at Barbers but watched you race.
Austin says Hi.

[Slojo]

Hi Bob and Austin , keep up the pounding and wrenching on those old bikes. Sorry for the poor outcome at Barbers. Not enought time to do everything right.

Clearly falling behind on my Evil Twin build project, therefore no updates worthy of posting. Most of my time relegated to other responsibilities such as total replacement of my cabin roof , minor importance having a roof and insulation right?. Last winter was cold without insulation. Also repaired the wood stove readying it for another winter. It required welding internal cracks, replacement of all the fire brick and upper steel supports.

Next the gas station massacree (Arlo would be proud) in four part harmony with the Court locking me up on the group W bench for failure to cooperate with their corruption, NO, I am not anti Government just anti corrupt government and am willing to stand up for my rights. Three trips to court so far and still no further along with process. It appears they do not want to dismiss the case and do not want to prosecute it either as it will put the cop on the stand, things will get ugly.

The court is trying to protect the cop (detective) knowing they have no way out, dig, dig, dig. Strange, the appearance of impropriety exists between the station attendant and detective, both attempting a cover up of the missing eight gallons of fuel. Wait for it to come around on the guitar one more time.

Next the Hospital , bad news for George (National number 92) is being overtaken by Parkinson's and is on his last lap. I can't imagine going from broad sliding a BSA Gold Star or a KR around a flat track in the late 50's through the early 70's to being un-able to stand on you own two feet today.

Car, Had to remove the entire dash to replace a heater control unit, two days

Business, yes work is a necessity still and things have been running ruff lately.

Barber and Jefferson, not what l expected but non the less better than a bad day at work (see above).

1912 Frame, yes some bike work has taken place. The frame is nearly complete, with a little TIG work and silver braze remaining to complete the work of art. These frames are a thing of beauty when completed, love the left side belt sheave offset.

joe

[knuckcrazy]

Sounds like your plate is full but you are on top of things.
Sorry about your friend we just went thru same with a friend in Davenport area...sucks.
Check the build every once in a while if you need laugh as Austin and I will show how NOT to do things!
Good hearing from you.

[rwm]

photo (1).JPGphoto 1.JPGphoto 2.JPGphoto.JPGphoto (1).JPGphoto 1.JPGphoto 2.JPGphoto.JPGi went through the corruption today joe. seems like the cops think if you drive a truck you have no rights. they had 10 townships of cops from two county's doing dot stops. as soon as one of the officers was done with a truck they pulled one more over for him. when the officer came to the side of the truck he said " i'm going to open your door" i have been through these stops before and have had it with them. my reply was" no the doors locked don't open it". he came back with "i must so he can read the gvw" i told him" it's painted on the side of the truck in 8 inch letter he's more then welcome to read them just don't open my door" round and round we went. finally he say's sir come out of the truck.
out i went and slammed the door, locked it and placed the key in my shirt pocket. at this point he has 2 of his co workers by his side. oe says " please open the back door" i said no. you got a warrant. he claims " they don't need one. so i said " ok let me get the key out of my pocket" out came my cell phone. i held up the phone like it was on video and said do no search my truck you guys have no right or reason. then i told them in pa. it is an illegal to ask to search a vehicle with out returning the driver's license. they had a good chuckle with that one. a minute later the third cop comes by and says i can go a check of the vin shows i passed a dot check in va. last week
if i had never download updates for my i phone i may have been able to really turn on the video camera. but let me tell you they dont wont to be filmed and it changes the way they work. i tried to take photos of all the cops and trucks but it's hard with the windshield in the way.

[rwm]

well i quess those photos are proof that i need lucy to do all the photo work. good luck with the roof joe and PAY THE 2 DOLLARS.

[Slojo]

Good for you Rob, more people need to stand up to these criminals in uniform and their partners in crime the judiciary.

joe

[Slojo]

well i quess those photos are proof that i need lucy to do all the photo work. good luck with the roof joe and PAY THE 2 DOLLARS.

Two dollars what are you talking about? If you are refering to the gas situation it was eight gallons of fuel or about 28 dollars.

[rwm]

Two dollars what are you talking about? If you are refering to the gas situation it was eight gallons of fuel or about 28 dollars.

no joe. it's a quote from willie howard. he did a vaudeville act. he is charged with spitting on a nyc. subway. the fine is $2.00 his lawyer spends a ton trying to get the fine removed. in the end when they drag willie out to jail. he yells to the lawyer PAY THE $ 2 DOLLARS . when i was in high school i worked for an old man. that was his favorite saying when i got into trouble. i tried to find it on the net but. cant maybe corry will more luck..

[c.o.]

Joe sent me these pictures a couple of nights ago.... so my apologies for being tardy! Work's been getting in the way of my old motorsickle addiction! Ain't that new roof a dandy?









Rob, that kind of stuff happens up here all the time. The DOT's set up huge checks in road side rest stops and wheel all the trucks in and go right through everything. Recently the police forces have been granted inspection rights to large transports and that has caused a lot of P.O'd truckers. One log hauler I know was pulled over and fined by the same guy 3 times in one week! One might say there might be a reason for that but it was real nitpicky stuff that you likely wouldn't think of or at least might slip your mind. I could write a short essay on the problems I've heard about! I played the truck driving game some years ago now and for a time I thought about going back to it but I don't think I could handle the harassment.

Found your reference on the "Pay The Two Dollars" but it was a download that had to be purchased and not viewable online. You'd think footage from 1931 would be easier to come by...