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That's funny Rich, i have some legitimate pictures somewhere, but these are more fuN.
*M.A.D.*
*M.A.D.*
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Friday in Chicago was not warm. It was a whopping 2F when I walked to the train. I thought surely the weekend is shot for bike testing.
I was delighted to learn meteorology is not in my skill set. Saturday dawned sunny and with 42F. woo hoo!
I spent a couple hours chasing oil and fuel line fitting leaks. i wound up flashing the cones on the fuel line fittings in the solder pot to “reface” the sealing surface. This deposits a thin, sacrificial layer of soft lead. However, the left petcock taper was so worn no amount of flashing could build it back up. The taper was worn eccentric and while repairable with a few more hours work, i took the lazy approach and soldered the petcock in the open position and added an in-line petcock.
For those unfamiliar with these type of early petcock, they use a tapered cone pulled by a spring to mechanically seal. You often can lap them if they drip. But, once the taper wears eccentric, fuel escapes down the taper and there’s no seal. Fuel fitting grease can slow the leak, but i assume eliminate it.
With that done, the carb overflowed. Float is correct and “floaty,” so the seat was suspect. Lapping with 220 clover helped, but it’s time to track down a new seat or make one. I decided to just leave the petcock half cocked to more or less match the overflow.
All right, finally ready to ride!
Damn thing won’t even cough. , ,and then i notice the high tension lead is loose on the plug. Fix that and boom, the old guy lit on the second kick. Despite the imperfect carb, the bike idled well and didn’t blow smoke.
I clicked it into gear on the center stand and it had terrific clutch feel. Time to ride.
I have to admit this is the first time ever that all the bs i read about riding these bikes is 100 percent true. It was the most natural pointing bike i’ve ridden in a longtime and very light. It felt exactly like a very good prewar bike, but with suspension that works. Power was surprisingly good and torquey. 20hp, but well done. Clutch is very light and there’s zero snatch. Brakes are light, good, and surprisingly progressive. Controls are ergonomic and feel good. Bike is quiet, but the exhaust valve does squeak on the over-run under high engine braking. I’ll need to keep an eye there to see how it beds in after a tank of gas.
I did about 5 or 6 miles just puttering until the cold creeped in.
The voltage regulator crapped out and spiked the voltage enough to blow the fuse. So far, this marelli dynamo is challenging me ;-). Beyond that, it seems i just need to deal with the carb drip and off we go.
I think i’ll enjoy riding this one and am very glad i didn’t give up on finding one.
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Excellent!DrSprocketComment
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