groovylee

4 hours ago, Tommyboy12 said:

How was L2B this year? Different start point to last time I did it. Did it help with the horrendously early start time?

it seemed to go ok. i last did it 18 years ago from crystal palace park. this time from Cheam it was a bit more organised.

basically camping was in organised rows. cars were lined up at 7pm on the sat night in strict order of arrival for camping. very controlled and very good.

5am sunday the gates opened for the non campers to queue up. run pack collection from 0530, first cars away 0830 after the show and shine ones left.

all in all, good fun, felt less manic than the old CPP days, and more easily accessible food places on foot at Cheam.

it looks like this could have been the last one due to ULEZ, but we will see.....

Crazy to think that these two were taken 20 years apart! 

not a lot has been going on with this little thing really. while the salt was on the roads it stayed on the drive. so now the sun is out, it's time to get it out to play again. 

with this in mind, we decided to do the London to Brighton mini run last weekend. it was a great run, with loads of amazing cars present. pics in a sec, as i can't seem to get them to work on this machine....

This is the manifold I've got in so far.

this has sat doing nothing over the last few months, as work, life, and a general loss of mojo stopped me from wanting to go anywhere near it.

the work on the bantam has kind of kicked me out of my funk, so i have had a good clear out of the cockpit, and started to get on with it again.

first up, was the frankly shit exhaust that i lashed up to get it running quietly enough to try and get it timed up and tuned up.  it is obvious that a standard LCB was never going to fit, so i have decided to revert back to the old cast all-in-one manifold, as that has a single pipe exit, and is on a sort of knuckle arrangement, so it should give me some wriggle room to fit everything in.  i found a mild steel Klarius twin box exhaust with all clamps etc, that i think will fit my purposes for the princely sum of £70 delivered, and that is hopefully coming today. if the weather holds out, i'll get some pics and show you all what i intend to do, so people can hopefully tell me it'll work! or, if not, why not....

there are also the rear wheel cylinders to replace, which wont take long, and i should be able to get it back on it's wheels.  then it should just be tuning and fettling before i give it an actual road test. then the usual tweaks and adjustments before i can call it finished (not that a car like this is ever truly finished!)

pics to follow this evening

3 hours ago, twosmoke300 said:

Don’t fancy coming to cornwall next weekend for the flora trial then ? I’m doing it in the other half’s CT90 😂

I'd love to, but the forks are currently in pieces 😢

I found litre bikes easy and lazy to ride after my R6. Just remember the throttle goes both ways and even first gear will get you.into licence losing territory. 

It'll be fine. My first bike was an RSV1000R. No kittens died.

I managed to find an upgrade stator, so that is all sorted, in conjunction with an LED headlight bulb, so the smoke shouldn't be escaping from the wiring any more. 

As the next event isn't till October, I'm taking the opportunity to go through everything with a fine tooth comb. First up, change the fork oil.

Oh.

Pretty sure it's not supposed to be that colour!

Fork seals must be a bit ropey, let's take a look...

yep. They're knackered. And here's why 😳

New stanchions, seals, bushes and scraper seals (NLA so had to pay £24 for a pair from some robber on fleabay 🙄)

Once this is done, I'll test them out, then I need to build an engine cradle and whip the top end off for a good look see. From what I've found so far I'm expecting a wooden piston and a con rod made of Meccano 🤣

Bit of a bantam update....

Did the lands end trial over the Easter weekend. Well... I say did....

Managed to do the first 95 mile leg to the start, all good. Then did 34 of the 35 miles to the first section, and then the lights went out. Then the engine stopped. Ah. Must be not charging. 

That'll be why 🙄😢

more bantam news. some good, some bad....

managed to get the timing done and it started first kick, result!

took it for a 5 mile run, nice and easy. during the ride the gear changes started feeling a bit notchy, and the engine sounded a bit rattly. as i pulled into my drive, pulling the clutch in killed the engine. very strange.

thought i'd better check the gearbox oil. it should take 568 ml (a pint) before it starts to run out of the level hole. i managed to put 390 ml in before it was full. 🙄

still no better, although a bit quieter. pulling in the clutch, even in neutral, killed the engine. so back into the house to take a closer look.

on pulling off the side cases, i noticed the clutch basket didnt look like it was fully seated on the shaft. so i went to give it a poke, and it came off in my hands!  the nut that secures the whole clutch basket to the shaft had come undone.

so off with the clutch, separated it all, and im now just waiting on the clutch holding tool so i can tighten the nut back up properly. then we should be good to go. after i've re set the timing etc all over again!

buy an old two stroke they said. it'll be fun they said. 😅

23 hours ago, tom13 said:

I will be on the beggars roost stage. Will have to post on here when you are coming through. 

awesome stuff! i'll do my best, but having seen the state of some of the bike set when ive seen them on trials, posting on here may be a bit of a push lol.

i should be coming through Beggars roost at about 22:30 if all goes to plan. if not, you may see a green Rickman Ranger instead. hopefully not... if on the bantam, you'll spot me because i'll be the one that probably falls off on the restart - Number 14. 😅

by way of a bit of an update on the bantam - I've got the carb back together, the head back on the bike, and brought it back into the living room for some timing checks. I need to grab my DTI from father groovys house tonight, but a speculative check of TDC using a screwdriver in the plug hole yielded some unexpected results...

the timing is 180 degrees out. yep. set at 16.5 degrees before BOTTOM dead centre. i had to check it three or four times, then video call my 2 stroke licker mate to further check my findings. he was as shocked as I was!

so tonight is going to be full on reset of points gap, points cam, set the ignition timing properly, new spark plug. then drain the tank and put some fresh fuel in with a confirmed ratio of two stroke, and then on to test starting and tweaking the air and idle screws to get it running well at idle. after that, it's test ride time.

it seemed to go ok the way it was, so if i get the timing and fuelling right tonight, it should go like a scalded cat in comparison!* 

*as much as a 175 bantam can, anyway 🤣

On 20/03/2023 at 16:06, groovylee said:

going to pull the carb and the plug tonight. probably the head to check theres no damage following the nip up too. this bike is a bit of an unknown to me tbh, so the more i can find out early on, the better really. i just wish i had more time!

had the carb off the bantam and pulled it apart. all seems well in there, with the correct bits where they should be.

one problem found - the pilot jet and air screw are in the wrong way around 🙄 that wont be the cure of all my ills, but it certainly wont help!

pulled the head off, slight bit of rubbing where it nipped up, but not bad by any means. 

charging wise - found the earth connection on the reg/rec had come apart, so thats that sorted  

next steps, check the timing, set the points, then put back together and start the tweaking until it is running right, then some test rides.

T-15 days till the trial.....

11 minutes ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Have you checked the plug to see what it looks like. That should answer the mixture question.

going to pull the carb and the plug tonight. probably the head to check theres no damage following the nip up too. this bike is a bit of an unknown to me tbh, so the more i can find out early on, the better really. i just wish i had more time!

26 minutes ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Are you using the correct fuel to oil ratio?

Should be 25:1. (For each litre of petrol put in 40ml of oil.)

But with modern oils 33:1 is OK (for each litre of fuel add 30ml of oil.)

yeah, currently 25:1, but there doesn't seem to be any smoke at all from the exhaust, which i would expect (could be wrong though). im wondering if the fuel/air mix is off 🤔

does anyone here have a recommendation for someone who could take a look at my 1971 bantam? nearer to the bedford or hitchin areas the better... it has a nasty habit of nipping up when on a run, and the battery isn't charging. im hoping to do the MCC Lands end trial on it on good friday, but im rapidly running out of time! 

old 2 strokes are still a bit of a mystery to me.

cheers

The drive home was fun 😬 looking forwards to a nice run down to Newick tomorrow morning in it with Mrs groovy 👍

1 hour ago, mk2_craig said:

Great buy! What are the rubber seals like around the back end? They’re kippered on my wife’s 2010 car but most things seem to be more robust on later examples of the earlier generation cars. 

They seem fine. I've seen you can get repair kits on eBay if it comes to it 👍

Mini purchased 😄 James and Family are most lovely. We will look after it 👍

12/10, would purchase from again etc etc.

We haz arrived!

The conveyance of choice has arrived! Not my choice..... 😂

...in more ways than one.  shortly due to embark on a MINI collection. MINI because, well, its a MINI. and mini, because it's only 35 mins away 🤣

i know, lame. but im super excited at the prospect of another quality autoshite purchase.

just waiting for the conveyance of choice to arrive, and then i'll be on my way!

On 05/03/2023 at 17:01, JJ0063 said:

Nice one, I’ll get on Amazon!

I don’t know if maybe it’s something I like the idea of more than the reality but I think like @Dave_Qsays I just ought to do it. 
 

I have an AGV K1 full face, nothing special but not a £30 eBay special either 

i found my AGV K5 to be noisier than the other ive had. as others have said, def wear earplugs, it make the experience a lot more fun.  also, i tend not to ride my bike over hte winter, because being cold and wet when you have a car seems a bit daft. in the summer however, riding is awesome!

4 minutes ago, 5speedracer said:

What happened?

i think it is split manifolds, which are going to be £££s and take some time to do, which i have very little of at the moment with work etc. i could be wrong, but right now i just need a car that works to get to work, so needed to get rid and get something else.   the main fear is that i change the manifolds, and then find something else, then something else, etc etc.

i know its not very autoshite to throw in the towel, and i normally wouldn't, it's just circumstances at the moment that dictate the course of action.