old motorcycles

[Perry Ruiter]

Interesting that your bike has a separate bracket Ken. My bike has the bracket for the lever as an integral part of the pedal and the parts books implies the same (see photos below of the parts book pedal and my klunker's pedal). rickeieio, I don't know what brochure Dale showed you, but in terms of which DeLuxe brochures apply to which year bikes, we just went back and forth on this over on the Henderson site:
http://www.hendersonkj.com/kjex/
Look for the subject DeLuxe brochures ... Perry

[Perry Ruiter]

Here's the picture of my klunker's pedal ... Perry

[Tom Lovejoy]

Rick thanks for the photo's great machine, one thing I think you will get a kick out of is. Watching the faces of others as they try to I D the motorcycle as you are coming down the road. Always a crack up, the looks on their faces when you ride past on a Henderson. Watch your clinchers well, especially in traffic or at speed - keep the pressure right up there and your valve stems loose, best of luck, Tom.

[Ken Lee]

Perry , you are right but my parts book lists two clutch pedals
K-551 and K-551A , the former listed as ''Clutch pedal and Fulcrum Bolt Assembly'' and with the A suffix ''Clutch Pedal for Machines with Reverse'' so perhaps mine had reverse at some time as does rickeieio's , so Rick a bolted bracket would be best just in case you wish to attach a chair and make use of reverse .

[DWN]

Okay, you fellows have brought up two issues I'd like to get input on.
1) Clinchers. Tom said to keep my air pressures up and my valve stems loose. While the bike was still on the lift at Wheels Through Time, the rear tire blew off the rim, destroying the tube. This is a new tire, Firestone repro from Universal. I had put 38psi in the tire, because I had been advised to run 36 and I'm not a small unit....a little more is better......BOOM! Nearly knocked a beer (Negro Modelo) out of my hand. Reading the mentioned brochure, we determined that perhaps 20psi was the prefered pressure. That's what's in the tires now.
2) Sidecars. I'd love to find a sidecar for this bike. A friend found one advertised in Canon City, CO, but I have yet to successfully speak with the person selling it. What should I look for, or avaid? What would I expect to pay?

[Perry Ruiter]

Ken - you're absolutely right! I didn't know there were two different pedals! The more I learn the less I know! ... Perry

[martin]

sidecar

If the sidecar is coming from a guy named Zeke, buyer beware. Don't buy anything without having it in your hand. He misrepresents on purpose and you will NEVER get a good deal from the guy.

[Ken Lee]

Rick , your tyre should not have come off with higher pressure , normally the higher the pressure the more the tyre grips so perhaps it wasn't fitted properly or the tube was pinched or something is faulty , my Deluxe was fitted with drop center rims many years before I got it but I wouldn't have changed from beaded edge (clincher) as have never had problems with them on other bikes !! Get in touch with the manufacturer and get their opinion on pressures , the extra wieght of a sidecar would warrant extra pounds , as would carrying a passenger , I run beaded edge tyres at 40 to 50 pounds , even so called balloon tyres as found if I run them too soft they creep around the rim and have to keep deflating the tyre and moving it round again , higher pressures prevented this , I would appreciate other peoples opinions on this too , Ken

[jww]

Rickeieio,
Clinchers are exciting to say the least. In my opinion alot of variables determine the required pressure. How well does the bead of the tire fit the bead of the rim, condition of the bead of the rim, etc.... I went thru a learning curve with repop rims and Cokers (3.85X20's). Ended up scuffing the powder coating on the bead contact area of the rim, cleaning the tire of any oil, run 21" tubes and 60 psi. Anything less and they would spin on the rim which makes for an exciting event. Blowing at the pressure you described sound more like a pinched tube to me. Standard practice is to confirm the stems are straight before and after a ride. Good luck with the excitement!
johnny

[Perry Ruiter]

Here's a link to a thread I started a while ago on clincher pressure ... Perry

[DWN]

Dale suggested I lace a set of modern rims and use modern tires. I can see why. He also said that he has a chart, somewhere, that shows different "clincher" types and the wheel/rim combinations that work well, or not. But he couldn't put his hands on it....
So, after riding the bike a bit, to seat the clinchers, should I try pumping up the tires? To what pressure? I'm sure I need a bit more air than the standard person of 1927, as I'm about 2x the average from back then. Well, maybe 2.5x.

[Tommo]

Fitting beaded edge tyres is an art all of it's own and even after years of watching my Dad do it I'm only half as good as he was at it. He never ever used tyre levers when fitting them and I still have the two wooden paddles he fashioned and used to get the inner flaps seated. His arguement was if you had to use tyre levers you were not doing it right and if you were using enough force to break his paddles you would be pinching the tube if you were using tyre levers. He would never attempt to fit a tyre without the use of copious ammounts of french chalk. He coated the tube in it and spread a couple of handfulls around the inside of the tyre. The reason for this was to prevent the tyre pulling the valve out of the tube should the tyre creep on the rim.The chalk allowed everything to slide past one another nicely. If at all possible he would always do the job on a bright sunny day and would leave the tyre out in the sun for a number of hours to soften up before he started fitting it. He made the whole job look so easy and because of this it was much easier to get him to do it rather than getting him to teach me how to do it and now he's gone I just have to try and remember all those little wrinkles he used to make the job so easy.
He would never let you ride on beaded edge tyres with pressures under 50psi and if the rims were in good order and not at all sharp on the edges he would put anything up to 70 psi in them.
Both he and I have ridden many thousands of miles on beaded edge tyres and we have never had one pull a valve out of a tube and never had a tyre come off the rim. Just last week I was happily riding my 1919 TT Triumph at speeds in excess of 65 mph on beaded edge tyres at 60psi and I never leave the valve securing nuts loose.
Hope this is of interest.
Tommo

[jww]

Rickeieio,
I don't think there is a definative answer to your question. Everyone seems to do what works for them. Again i think its best to closely watch the valve stems until you feel comfortable. If one of them starts to angle a bit, lift the bike, let the air out, turn the tire until the stem is straight and increase pressure.
Building a set of drop center rims would take alot of excitement out of your experience. I know lots of guys who put LOTS of miles on clinchers. If you do eventually aquire a sidecar, remember that puts a whole new "twist" on the clincher debate.
You might try 45psi for starters and adjust as needed. Would much rather it blow setting on the lift than going down the road.
Again, beautiful bike!
johnny

[DWN]

Okay guys, I guess I'l pump up the tires to about 45 psi and pray.
It makes sense that a small tire like this would need more pressure. My modern bikes have much larger tires and more psi to boot. (180/55x17 @ 41psi, 180m=about 7")
We rode the bike a total of perhaps 1 mile so far, so perhaps the beads are now seated. Maybe I'll step up the pressure in increments, as I put miles on it.

[jww]

Rickeieio, Tommo's reply has great merit in my book! Rode on several road runs with a club member who has a JD with a sidecar. In the middle of my clincher battle i asked him what pressure he ran. His reply was"at least 60 psi". Astonished with the "high" figure, i quietly visited his bike late one night to check for myself. All three tires at 70 psi. Felt bad about doubting his word afterwards, but resolved the issue. johnny