1912 HD Belt Twin (AKA EVIL TWIN)

[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.

[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]

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...

[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.

[c.o.]

There's no reason magnetos can't be 100% reliable. .

Glad you said that. You'd never know it from the reporting from the first Cannonball.

One Appendix is a copy of a two-part article I wrote on replacement condensers that ran in 'The Antique Motorcycle' two years ago.

Ah, hah!!!! You're the author of that "electrical mystery" stuff!!!! Loved the articles and will be going right through that link you posted in the near future. Great stuff. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[BoschZEV]

I checked out your site......WOW.....impressive.

Thanks for your comment. A Gold Star I bought ~20 years ago was the first bike I'd had with a magneto. The magneto wasn't functioning when I bought it so, rather than learning how to rebuild it myself, I made the mistake of having it professionally restored by someone who came with good recommendations. That magneto failed after ~50 miles. The tools and instrumentation shown on that site are only a fraction of what resulted from my subsequent decades' long obsession with magnetos. One Appendix is a copy of a two-part article I wrote on replacement condensers that ran in 'The Antique Motorcycle' two years ago.

[knuckcrazy]

There's no reason magnetos can't be 100% reliable. The following link is an extensive description of the complete restoration of a Bosch ZEV that I did for a friend to use in the last Cannonball (he'll be using the same bike in the next one even though it's a 1923).

http://www.britbike.com/forums/ubbth...733#Post446733

I'm not soliciting work, since I only restore magnetos for myself (and for a few close friends), but seeing what needs to be done to properly restore a magneto will help explain why so many "professionally restored" ones cause people a lot of grief.

I checked out your site......WOW.....impressive.

[BoschZEV]

Magnetos certainly do cause me a lot of grief...

There's no reason magnetos can't be 100% reliable. The following link is an extensive description of the complete restoration of a Bosch ZEV that I did for a friend to use in the last Cannonball (he'll be using the same bike in the next one even though it's a 1923).

http://www.britbike.com/forums/ubbth...733#Post446733

I'm not soliciting work, since I only restore magnetos for myself (and for a few close friends), but seeing what needs to be done to properly restore a magneto will help explain why so many "professionally restored" ones cause people a lot of grief.

[Slojo]

Cory

Magnetos certainly do cause me a lot of grief. A last minute quick magneto change in hopes for a hot spark introduced a new problem, the magneto used for competition had a reproduction points cover and was the culprit. Along with the magneto their must be another Gremlin in this motor , it just doesn't make good power like other early 61" twins I have worked with. Everything checks good except the cam . Something for a later date, now it's time to finish building a 37 Knuckle Head motor.

joe

[c.o.]

Cool photos Rob... That '13 is purdy cool! Damn mags eh Joe? That Walksler is a hard man to beat!

[Slojo]

Rob

Prima Donna? Depends on which definition of the term is applied.

The photos depict a Jefferson preparation for firing. The fuel line dirt traps were clogged causing starting difficulties. I cleaned them out again while at Dale's and had no further fuel line troubles.

joe

[rwm]

joe maybe you should call THIS 13 THE PRIMA DONNA TWIN.

[Slojo]

Run,
Before anyone did anything on o motorcycle Carl Stearns Clancy Did it all on a 12 Henderson. To have History on your side. You bet I would.[ATTACH=CONFIG]11764[/ATTACH]

4thCoast Guy

What about the California and a much earlier date ? Better clean up your act or loose creditability.

joe

[Tom Lovejoy]

That's a great photo Dave put up of you guys at the start, looks like a blast! Right on Dale, wins one for Indian!

[Slojo]

Jefferson, Wheels THrouigh TIme, Barbers Century Race marathon.

Jefferson I found an NOS points cover for a Bosh Magneto hmm............... Why?

Barber century race was fun and disappointing. My original 1913 magneto proved to be firing a week spark, so a rebuilt loaner magneto was installed at Wheels Thorough Time from Dale's inventory.

Dale's loaner magneto fired a hot spark until moments before race time when it decided to give up the ghost. Dale leaped to my assistance and removed the points cover for a quick visual inspection while Art and I focused on spark plugs. . The bike restarted and ran well just in time for the race.

Paul OZ acted first to the green while Matt immediately captured the lead on his fast 1913 HD. Dale and I followed Matt into the first bend.

My 13 HD was running week behind Dale while Matt's strong running 13 HD was pulling over on the side of the track at about the 1/2 mile mark with fuel flow problems (fuel line plugged with rust). Dale now leading the race I passed him and ran lead for the first of two laps across the start finish line . Alone in front after the first lap all I could think of is lack of power and Dale's screaming Red Skin burning by when my 13 started misfiring. I made it half way around the track limping along until the 13's magneto quite firing spark. A brief pull off the track and inspection reveled the magneto points cover shorting out on the kill button circuit.

With a little luck the 13 re-fired and limped back to the finish line under its own power.

Now pulled into the paddock, cautiously abusing the reproduction points cover to force it into a convex face instead of a concave face for clearance inside, it worked. The 13 was last back onto the track in time for the Cannonballers parade lap with both cylinders firing for the full lap.

Still week on power it appears the cam is either wrong or out of specification for my 1913 61" . With a proper operating magneto my 13 is still to slow for the fast Indian, although I do believe Matt's 13 HD would have been the victor with full fuel flow. My hat off to Dale, great job at the end of the race winning by a feather's length.

Without doubt my 13 is week yet it 13 handled well, ask Buzz C.