Jules’ favorite bike 1928 101 Scout

[FLFD7]

Getting ready to close up the cases so sorting out the hardware…

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Next up I’ll put it together without Yamabond to check the end play…

[FLFD7]

Moving along got some stuff done on the cases, I had to shorten some 1/4” x 1” pins to 1/2” for use as locating pins for the transmission case.

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I also wanted to send a shout out to Steve Slocombe for sending me a new pinion shaft pinion screw to replace my chewed up and spit out original screw.

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You sir are a gentleman, and somehow I’ll return the favor..

Cheers, Joe

[FLFD7]

Continuing with the bottom end got both cases cleaned up with lacquer thinner and elbow grease

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Flywheels cleaned up as well. Thought I would check how true they were running so put them on the stand. According to the 101 R&O manual they should be true to within .001, but looking in my army manual they say between .0015 and .002

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On the pinion side they look to be about .001 out, but on the drive side they look to be a little over .002 out, let’s say .0025. Now, I really hesitate to mess with the flywheels cause they are the original cast iron open wheels and I read horror stories where, even though they only go to I think 60 lb-ft torque on the nuts they can still crack, which would be a huge setback. So should I risk cracking the wheel for that extra .0005? I’m not going to risk it, I’ll run them as is.
Since I won’t be splitting the wheels the last thing I needed to check is if the oil passage from the pinion shaft to the big end of the connecting rods was clear. I filled a little squeeze bottle with lacquer thinner and shot it down the pinion shaft and it came out of the big end, a little dirty at first but then clear so I know that oil will go through there.

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So making progress, hope to button it up by next weekend.

[T. Cotten]

Think how much we could have learned, Steve,...

If builders had thrown cranks on knife-edges and calculated their existing factors before splitting them.

..Cotten

[Steve Slocombe]

Ah, balance factor! That discussion might run and run. The early literature, and the 101 Shop Manual, imply a 50% factor by halving various weights. I'be been using 46% on the VLs and understand modern Harleys use around 58% for low end grunt. On the VLs the flywheels are heavy and tend to drown out small changes in balance factor. In a 1934 Shop Dope Harley says it is 'not strictly necessary' to rebalance the flywheels when changing from iron VL pistons to aluminium, as long as both are changed. Yikes!

[T. Cotten]

Those are impressive, Steve!

Note that the balancing holes imply a very high factor, and the casting is relieved further; Any idea what the original factor for 101s should be?

Note also they are right where the flywheels bulge most:
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(Displayed by sliding the wheel on a sheet of emery.)

....Cotten

[Steve Slocombe]

Here is a picture of the bronze flywheels. They are made for a 37 inch stroke bike but weigh the same as the 45 cubic inch ones, 4.7 kg or 10.3 pounds each. They are the spoked style and I don't see any factory markings.
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[T. Cotten]

....I also found bronze 37 inch flywheels in the bike, weighing as much as the steel flywheels for the 45 inch versions. Does anyone have any insights?....

Bronze is a noble material, Steve,...

But probably a poor choice for flywheel tapers; Do they have markings like other Wigwam productions?

Are they "see-through" wheels?

I would suspect they bulge about the crankpin much more than cast iron.

....Cotten

[FLFD7]

Hey Steve,
Yeah I can use one of those screws. Problem is you’re in England and I don’t do PayPal or Venmo and I don’t think a check in American dollars is going to work for you. You wouldn’t happen to be going to the Oley meet this year? If so I could get it from you there.
Joe

[Steve Slocombe]

I'm doing a '28 as well, as seen earlier. I bought a pack of five of those left hand pinion shaft screws from Eastern Parts, so have some left over if you need them.

I also found bronze 37 inch flywheels in the bike, weighing as much as the steel flywheels for the 45 inch versions. Does anyone have any insights? Again, this is an early 1928 101 with a serial number in the 400s.

[FLFD7]

Well, after the above mentioned screw and the pinion was removed I was able to split the cases and was greeted with an oily mess…

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Original 101 open flywheels well coated in oil. A good cleaning is called for, time to get dirty….

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Ok, making progress, it’ll take a couple of days to get the cases clean (and a lot of rags and lacquer thinner), but at first glance don’t see any cracks or other issues. Fingers crossed.

[FLFD7]

I discovered something and I want to correct myself, back when I took the pinion gear off Jules’ engine I found a left handed 5/16 screw that I thought Jules or somebody made up, cause I was expecting a nut. I found the same thing on this bottom end (somebody chewed the heck out of the hex head, probably didn’t know it was left hand thread)

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Well that was because I was used to Sport Scout engines that have a nut on the pinion shaft. Turns out the original 101 pinion shafts used these screws instead of nuts. Here it is in the parts book

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Pinion shaft pinion washer screw. Funny thing is, in the 101 Association R and O manual it’s not mentioned, as a matter of fact the only diagram in there that shows the flywheel assembly shows a nut on the pinion shaft

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I guess since those shafts are no longer available they use Sport Scout pinion shafts with the nozzle cut off past the threads ( that the left hand nut goes on).

I learned something new.

[FLFD7]

Ok, now I’m heading off in a new direction. Thinking about these flywheels they gotta come apart to clean out the rust, and upon further exam it seems Jules welded the drive shaft to the wheel

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Not that I couldn’t work around that, but I have other options, and I’m trying to make this easy for myself. I got a lot of stuff going on, getting stuff together for Oley. I got to get a reconditioned mag back on my 39 Sport Scout, and my 40 Four needs some TLC. And I’m working with a guy interested in one of my father’s bikes. So a lot of irons in the fire. Anyway, here’s what I’m thinking now, I have another 101 bottom end

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Dirty, yeah, but the case is well oiled, not a bit of rust to deal with. So if it looks decent inside I can use that bottom end with the trans, primary and mag from Jules’ engine and I’m set.

[FLFD7]

Split the cases and as I feared looking pretty fugly in there.

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At first glance at least the cases look good, I didn’t notice any cracks straight up, and I see Jules put late Sport Scout z metal flywheels in it, so that’s something.

[FLFD7]

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Next up I’ll crack open the case…

I must say I like the work stand Jules made up, the neat thing is it swivels, so the base stays in place and the motor can spin around, neat.

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He used a couple of flanges and a short length of pipe and it spins on the threads. I mean, I guess if you don’t pay attention and always spin in the same direction it’ll come apart, but for swiveling back in forth works like a charm. Good job Jules!