1920 Harley Model F

[T. Cotten]

Maybe there is a future for me as the European arm of Cotten Enterprises?

John

Only if you have a small fortune you want to turn into a tiny one, John!

....Cotten

[brettxlch]

Rewinding a couple of weeks, I needed to repair one of the footboards. The original footboards are badly corroded:



but I have another pair in better condition. These are 1916 boards as they have a few remnants of grey paint and no rivet holes. One board however had had a horrible repair where they are riveted to the pivot arms so some time last year I had repaired it and so now I just needed to fix them to the pivots and then glue the NOS rubbers on.







On to today

I took some time to fettle the carb and then set to finding and fitting the last few small parts. Te sun was out so I blew up the tyres and moved it outside.

The right tank had previously been stripped to bare metal and repaired. I obviously didn't want to leave it bare metal so I have painted it and started to add fauxtina. It is not designed to try to fool anyone but just to make the tank not look too new. I have left the various dents and I will probably add to the fauxtina as I go, certainly the decals are still too bright. The left tank has been left red. I know it is the "wrong" colour but I actually quite like it.

At some point I might fit the original tanks just to see how they look.










I still need to go through the bike and check everything and make any necessary adjustments and then add fluids and see if it will spring to life. This will happen in the next week or so so watch this space.

John

Cant wait too see her fire up, please film it , so we can see and hear...I envy you guys wid the ways and means to collect these bikes...

[TechNoir]

Cant wait too see her fire up, please film it , so we can see and hear...I envy you guys with the ways and means to collect these bikes...

Thanks for the comments.

I will film the bike once I have it running which might be soon or might be a while away depending on how the planets line up.

Regarding the "ways and means to collect these bikes" I probably have less means than many to spend on bikes and make up for it by buying things than need work. I have paid my dues for many years fixing up bikes and cars on the driveway and on the road outside in all weathers and it is really only in the last few years when I have had a better workshop and a bit more cash.

John

[Steve Swan]

Thanks for the comments.

I will film the bike once I have it running which might be soon or might be a while away depending on how the planets line up.

Regarding the "ways and means to collect these bikes" I probably have less means than many to spend on bikes and make up for it by buying things than need work. I have paid my dues for many years fixing up bikes and cars on the driveway and on the road outside in all weathers and it is really only in the last few years when I have had a better workshop and a bit more cash.

John

Ditto what John says!

[TechNoir]

I need oil and fuel to start it up. I was out of SAE50 non-detergent oil so I ordered 25 litres which was only 2x the cost of ordering 5 litres. I think it arrived on Friday whilst I was at work but because it needed a signature got delivered to next door. That is fine but next door had gone away for the weekend by the time I got home so the box (which I hope is oil) remains in their hallway, visible but out of reach. I didn't hang about outside my neighbours house for too long as because I didn't want to get ambushed by Paparazzi

I felt unwell on Saturday, I think it was something I had eaten and still didn't feel great on Sunday but did manage a bit of progress.

I spent a bit of time seeing if it was possible to adjust this, I have highlighted with blue arrows what I am referring to.



After a bit of time I came to the conclusion that it is impossible to adjust the "hand" brake to a point where it might be useful. It has to be fitted in the UK as the law when this bike was new required a bike to have two brakes although the law didn't specify if they had to be on different wheels so HD opted to fit the "hand" brake as standard for the UK market which was an optional extra in the USA.

This brake is dismal. The only thing it is of use for is to stop the bike rolling back when stopped on a hill which leaves your left foot free to operate the clutch. There is no way to improve on it by adjustment and setup which I knew before I started but i think I just needed to remind myself.





Another optional extra needed some attention. My bike has the optional front stand, from what I can tell this is a fairly uncommon item. The issue that needed attention was the clip that holds it up.

Here is the stand hanging down



And here is the clip that holds it up



The problem is that this pin has sheared off (highlighted by red arrow)



It was a simple matter to drill it out and silver solder a new pin into place.



And reassemble. Getting it all together with the pre-load on the spring did prove tricky but I did it eventually.



More next week when I get the oil.

John

[exeric]

I have the 'export' hand brake on my '16 H-D and it is a terrible excuse for a brake. It isn't even a good hill holder. The Excelsior, and Henderson double brake was far better. I tried arcing the outer band to the drum on my Harley but the hand brake just doesn't seem to exert enough constriction on the drum. In 1921, H-D changed the export brake to a heel pedal mounted at the right rear footboard, and the geometry, and new brackets improved it's performance. I had all that stuff, and let it go because I wanted my '16 to be correct. . . Probably a mistake

[TechNoir]

I have the 'export' hand brake on my '16 H-D and it is a terrible excuse for a brake. It isn't even a good hill holder.

My bike originally came with a sidecar, I cannot imagine the terror of adding all that weight with the current brakes.

Al least the "hand" brake is good for two things It makes my bike street legal and it provides decoration and a talking point (is that three things?)

John

[exeric]

John, I have a Rogers sidecar that I plan to hang on my '16. I've been thinking of putting a disk brake on the sidecar wheel which could work, or may be very comical. I have this image of hitting the brake and having the motorcycle make a radius around the sidecar wheel. I don't think the front forks are strong enough for a disk, and clincher tires can slip on the rims. If city riding is likely, I think the alternatives are doing a Cannonball upgrade on tires, wheels, and brakes; or leave it stock and restrict riding to off hours, and rural roads.

[TechNoir]

I remember you mentioning the sidecar Eric. I think the sidecar brake idea is worth doing although I agree with the risk of ending up going in circles. The early forks are certainly not up to a front brake and I think if I were ever to consider one I would either fit later one (VL/UL maybe?) or perhaps get Jake Robbins make me some that look right and are strong enough.


First update is a shot of the front stand with the clip in place



The oil arrived, 25 litres equates to about 6.6 US gallons or 5.5 UK gallons.



After filling with oil, next thing was to check that the hand pump was delivering oil OK and to remind myself of how much each pump stroke delivered. Initially it delivered nothing which was traced to a broken cup washer. I already had a die that I had made ages ago so I soaked a piece of leather in some oil and made a new one. The first one didn't work 100% because I think the leather was too thin so I made another from thicker material which works in the sense that it pumps oil perfectly although its quite tight, hopefully it will bed in and ease off.



3 pump strokes equates to about 140 ml which is about 4 3/4 US ounces. I think that this amount is about right for this motor



Next I filled up with fuel and checked for leaks. At this point I realised I needed to make a minor adjustment to the throttle cable so that is the next job before I see if it will fire up and that's as far as I got to tonight.

I might have some parental duties tomorrow that may mean that I wont get around to any more until Wednesday.

John

[TechNoir]

A while ago I wrote about being a dim-wit and having to repair the magneto. BoschZEV on this board recommended that I have it re-magnetised and whilst I didn't forget his advice I never got around to it.

I had some time earlier and got everything back together. However I kicked it over and made various adjustments enough times to know that something needed attention. (starter rollers are now on the want list) The first item to check was ignition timing which needs the chain guard taking off to get to the points cover properly. I figured that seeing as I had gone this far I should go and get the mag re-magnetised to eliminate that as a possible issue. So after a two hour drive each way to a magneto repair company I now have a fully magnetised magneto (at least I hope so, I don't have the equipment to measure magnetic field strength).

Now I need to refit it, hence my separate post in the J/JD section.

I also remembered that removing the left tank is a pain in the neck without the item described as: "Cap EO-747 to screw on oil tank nipple when feed pipe is disconnected". So I will make a couple of those, one for the on bike toolkit and one to keep in the shop.

John

[TechNoir]

Since my last update I have mostly been unwell with some horrible gastric bug which has meant that little progress on the bike has been made. This is doubly annoying because the bug has coincided with some days that I had booked off work.

Earlier today however I did get back to the bike and I first sorted out my technique for timing the mag so that is now installed and the bike back together. I tried starting it again but there was nothing after about 4 or 5 kicks. Then I realised that I hadn't re-connected the HT leads so with those reconnected I tried again and after 3 or 4 kicks it started and ran (badly) for all of about 4 seconds and then petered out.

I couldn't restart it again. I also noticed a fuel smell and that the breather pipe that runs below the carb was wet. So I stopped trying to start the bike and pondered my options.

The mag is good and the timing is right. I am confident that the timing hasn't slipped because the gear is always a very tight fit on the taper so I am ruling out ignition (for now)

Given the symptoms, i.e. it petered out and the area below the carb was wet with fuel I am looking at the carb again.

First I checked the float. All was well, in this shot my remote fuel can is about three feet above the carb and the level stayed rock still for over half an hour and the level right is according to the manual.



Whilst the float valve was being tested I set too making the oil tank plug that I mentioned earlier. I found a lump of brass hex that looked suitable and, using a 9/16" x 24 bottom tap that I had ordered earlier in the week, made a simple plug. I have made the bottom of it inside flat rather than trying to match the taper on the nipple. I will make a small rubber disc to go in the bottom so the plug will only need to be finger tight to make it oil tight.



At this point Mrs Technoir called me in for dinner so that's as far as I got today.

I need to read through the various posts on here and caimag from Cotten and Tommo on setting up a Model H Schebler from scratch and try again.

I would like to think that it is close.

John.

[TechNoir]

Hi all, since last posting I have been busy with anything and everything other than old bikes however I have some time tomorrow and my initial focus will be on getting the carb right.

I have been re-reading the Service Station Manual and it suggests that the starting point for these carbs is with the knurl button being three turns out with the needle valve lift lever at position "4" on the cam. And with the low speed air screw three turns out.

Is this a good starting point? Does anyone have a better starting point?

John

[TechNoir]

.....however I have some time tomorrow and........

Haha. They were prophetic words. A lot has happened in the last 7 days but nothing to do with old bikes

First thing was that I was as sick as a dog from Saturday evening to Sunday afternoon, not just feeling unwell but Olympic standard vomiting. Long story short I was admitted to hospital last Sunday, they have let me home for the weekend but I have to go back in next week. I will omit the details but the scarier possibilities seem to have been ruled out or at least put on the unlikely list but the definitive diagnosis is still up in the air.

Also, last Wednesday we seemed to have sold our house and we have also found somewhere to move to. If the planets all line up OK we are on the move in September. Long term this a good thing as I have space to build a decent shop. I am shooting for 2000 square feet (my wish list is 4000) although I may have to dial that back a bit once I get the detailed measurements of the available space. Because it needs to be built it will pause any bike stuff for a while (although a shop counts as bike stuff even if it is indirectly)

All of the above is a long winded way of saying that fate seems to not want me to get to ride this bike much. Screwing around with old bikes is off the agenda for the immediate future.

John

[Steve Swan]

Hi John, I'm sorry to hear you were befallen with illness; my thoughts will be with you as we all go forward. Congratulations on finding a new home! Take care and looking forward to seeing you back on the forum!

[TechNoir]

Thanks Steve, The house is great other than a couple of carpets and some paint it is good. The garage/sheds that are with it are the things that need the most attention.

Hopefully I will be back to full health soon.

John