The Bikeshite Thread

[Dave_Q]

Yo PVD, there is a fastener place near my work if you want me to pop in for an ask, if they've got some they'll be pennies.

[plasticvandan]

These things seem to be a sidecar specific fixing,searched all over and not found them used for anything else

[Dave_Q]

These things seem to be a sidecar specific fixing,searched all over and not found them used for anything else

Does it matter if the eye bit is thicker? The eye bolt isn't particularly rare, does it fit into a slot or something?

[cobblers]

7/16ths eye bolts are everywhere (Seatbelt fixings), could you open the hole up?

[plasticvandan]

The threaded part has to be 1/2" unf,one goes into a threaded split clamp,and the other goes through the upper shock mounting.

[ChinaTom]

Parked in space behind my. Not moved for years apparently. Any good?

 

Sent from my STV100-4 using Tapatalk

[strangeangel]

^^^ Yes!

[PiperCub]

These things seem to be a sidecar specific fixing,searched all over and not found them used for anything else

 

Have you tried that lot that sell/used to sell east euro type bikes - F2 wren't they called ??? Or Watsonian (if they still exist). 

[PiperCub]

Parked in space behind my. Not moved for years apparently. Any good?

 

Sent from my STV100-4 using Tapatalk

 

Used to really lust after one of these about 25 years ago! But bought an LC instead. 

[martc]

Or Watsonian (if they still exist). 

 

Watsonian-Squire very much still exist - could be worth a try.

 

http://www.watsonian-squire.com/

[plasticvandan]

Unfortunately Watsonian are out of stock

[blackboilersuit]

Parked in space behind my. Not moved for years apparently. Any good?

 

They are nice little bikes and the twin shock GPz's do sell for more than the unitrak bikes. BUT none of the small Z's and GPZ's are actually worth that much in comparison to the 900's, 1000's & 1100's. If you're thinking of buying be careful and check out what they're really selling for in good condition. That bike could very easily turn into a money pit.

[castros_bro]

That Ariel 3 video had me laughing! Well done. I've got flashbacks to trying to make the 50cc Bantam my mate got given in lieu of cash years ago, go a bit faster. There was also a sort of louder buzzing and more vibrating, without much more progress!

 Ann Anorak  speaks:  The smallest  Bantam BSA made was the D1 at 125cc.

[Guest Hooli]

And the largest was the D10/D14/Bushman at 175cc.

[pbottomley]

Well that sort of didn't go 100% to plan, I rode out this morning to Market Bosworth, to a show. about 10 miles along the back roads, all went as expected. Rapid buzzing bouncing and fun!

I had to strip and clean the carb out of crap in order to get going after the show, which I was prepaired for, but what I wasn't prepared for was a large stone jamming itself in the cooling fan and locking up the back wheel completely when I am going 25mph.  I got the stone out but one of the fins on the fan was completely bent back on itself and jammed in the larger belt drive wheel. So i could not wheel it backwards of forwards.

 

Fact of the day!

Its a lot harder to bend a fan blade when you need too than when you dont want to bend it. The differnce is when you dont want to bend it, they are like tin foil, when you need to bend them, they are rock solid!

I restarted and rode on slowly back to the garage at around 10mph with lots of bad crunchy noises from the back end. I think its done some serious damage. Time for a rebuild me thinks....

[Jerzy Woking]

My brother took his Guzzi out for its first ride after its MOT yesterday. 2 months ago it was a Nevada, a cruiser styled bike that was, at least to him and me, not very pretty. Looks much better now.

[strangeangel]

Dear old Bikeshite Thread, you have been missed.

 

The Helix has developed a fuel leak from the float bowl gasket. Frankly I'm only surprised this hasn't happened before - the collective age of the five (!) Keihin CV carbs I own is about 150 years!. Unfortunately the cost of a new gasket comes to just shy of £24, which seems a lot for such an apparently trifling component.

 

A quick foray onto eBay reveals that Chinese copies are available for the princely sum of £30 delivered! Here's one I bought earlier...

 

 

I figured if it provides the aforementioned gasket and a spare bystarter (auto choke) then it's got to be worth that. Now I've gone a step further, and I'm planning to fit the entire carb, just to see how good/bad/indifferent it is, compared to a 30 year old original. More later!

[Jazoli]

This beauty was dumped in a quiet area of my work carpark today

 

 

 

I forget how tiny old bikes were, this is a 6 cylinder 750cc and it looked as big as my YBR125 (apart from the engine obviously)

[nigel bickle]

Pooh! I ALWAYS wanted one of those. I'd make a ludicrous offer if he decided to sell.

[DodgeRover]

Proper bike that!

[Eddie Honda]

Last man to check in (again). 3.05am for the 3.30am boat. Had to keep inside the limit* over the entire 127 miles from home...

[strangeangel]

So the Aprilia is off to join a far more illustrious fleet than my own... from Accrington Stanley to Arsenal, if you will.

 

My last job was to fit a new speedo drive so Chris 6-Cyl can see exactly how fast he is(n't) going:

 

 

 

A quick test ride revealed a working, if predictably optimistic, speedometer!

 

Expect a collection thread involving the back of a C15 soon

[strangeangel]

The Helix's Chinese carb didn't work out too well.

 

 

It has a mahoosive flat spot when pulling away from rest, which ain't funny on an automatic scooter. This confirmed my suspicions about a carburettor that costs £30 posted from China. I'm no expert, but out of all its components I imagine that the jets require the most accurate machining, and would therefore be expensive to do properly so they didn't bother.

 

Whatever. I treated it as a repair kit and robbed it of the float bowl and seal, plus the throttle cable mounting bracket, which was cracked on the original. The scooter is now back to its old self, with the added benefit of no fuel leaks!

 

At some point I might try to prove my theory by running this thing with a set of Honda jets in. Not tonight though.

[Fabergé Greggs]

The Helix's Chinese carb didn't work out too well.

 

IMG_1306.JPG

 

It has a mahoosive flat spot when pulling away from rest, which ain't funny on an automatic scooter. This confirmed my suspicions about a carburettor that costs £30 posted from China. I'm no expert, but out of all its components I imagine that the jets require the most accurate machining, and would therefore be expensive to do properly so they didn't bother.

 

Whatever. I treated it as a repair kit and robbed it of the float bowl and seal, plus the throttle cable mounting bracket, which was cracked on the original. The scooter is now back to its old self, with the added benefit of no fuel leaks!

 

At some point I might try to prove my theory by running this thing with a set of Honda jets in. Not tonight though.

I still really really want a helix!

[strangeangel]

I still really really want a helix!

 

Do eeeet - they're great. Here's my two...

 

 

[The white one's actually a Fusion because JDM YO; one of the earliest too, being an '86]

[strangeangel]

This is what the black one looked like when I bought it in 2009:

 

 

[PiperCub]

Is the gaffa tape an OE feature?

 

Seriously though, they are so weird that to quote Julian Clary, I find myself strangely drawn to them.

[CreepingJesus]

Ann Anorak speaks: The smallest Bantam BSA made was the D1 at 125cc.

Post went missing so...take two.

I stand corrected! But as other now missing posts had reminded me, the damn thing started out life with approx 7hp, and a few of them had departed, so yes, there probably are more powerful fifties!

But, right foot gear change for hilarity. Like when yours truly was belting along* behind Texas Home care and a car came the wrong way round the one way system...

 

An acquaintance on Facebook (Scotland's biggest Guzzi nerd) posted a video of a Benelli Sei 900 racer being awoken from its slumber. What a noise...!

The Kwak Z13 I reckoned had the best engine noise of the transverse sixes. Sounded like a Jag to me.

 

Maybe not entirely shitey (it was newish), but I hadn't seen a Honda monkey bike in the wild for a while, so I was tickled to come across this today. MSX 125 I think it is?

[DodgeRover]

Is that carb actually jetted correctly for your application in the first place - Jets are simple to make compared to casting up a carb body correctly, in a emergency you can redo them with solder and a correctly sized drill rolled between your fingers

[Dave_Q]

Post went missing so...take two.

I stand corrected! But as other now missing posts had reminded me, the damn thing started out life with approx 7hp, and a few of them had departed, so yes, there probably are more powerful fifties!

But, right foot gear change for hilarity. Like when yours truly was belting along* behind Texas Home care and a car came the wrong way round the one way system...

 

An acquaintance on Facebook (Scotland's biggest Guzzi nerd) posted a video of a Benelli Sei 900 racer being awoken from its slumber. What a noise...!

The Kwak Z13 I reckoned had the best engine noise of the transverse sixes. Sounded like a Jag to me.

 

Maybe not entirely shitey (it was newish), but I hadn't seen a Honda monkey bike in the wild for a while, so I was tickled to come across this today. MSX 125 I think it is?

 

MSX125 aka Honda Grom. 

 

Our Ultrawomble had one for a bit, some lads at work have them, I had a quick blezz once, they're GR12.