Fabergé Greggs: Xsara won’t start and it’s all my fault

[Fabergé Greggs]

  On 24/05/2022 at 18:06, purplebargeken said:

How much?

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Dunno M9, but I’d like to price it as the cheapest MOT’d one on the scene. 

[purplebargeken]

Ok, thats a good thing obv lol but a parkball figure is also a good thing haha

[Marm Toastsmith]

Ooh.

[Fabergé Greggs]

  On 24/05/2022 at 18:25, purplebargeken said:

Ok, thats a good thing obv lol but a parkball figure is also a good thing haha

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  On 24/05/2022 at 18:41, Marm Toastsmith said:

Ooh.

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[Dave_Q]

Awesome work. These are solid little things so not a big surprise it got through the test OK. Normally only rust or theft that sees them off innit and seeing as this has now survived both I reckon it will last forever.

Did you ever purchase anything of a big scooter shape?

[Fabergé Greggs]

  On 24/05/2022 at 20:07, Dave_Q said:

Did you ever purchase anything of a big scooter shape?

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Biggest scooter ever incoming 

[Fabergé Greggs]

We all know that funnest thing ever is indentfying holes in your collection of vehicles.. those little niches where your Vespa, Morris, Fiat, Ford or bicycle won't do. 

I have one such hole in my collection and an opportunity to do something about it came up...

So I set off on my trusty Brompton on an 8 mile cycle across London. 

Where I then collected this and cycled 10 miles in a somewhat slower fashion. 

 

It's fucked, but it was very cheap. The indexing is all over the place, the chain alignment is wonky, the steering is out of alignment, there's a mismatch between chain and sprockets, the list is endless. The chain skips about 6 times with every pedal revolution which made the journey FUN. 

It's pretty hilarious how lllloooooooong it feels. 

BIKE IN A BIKE FTW! 

[Surface Rust]

May I ask if you had really identified this as a gap in your fleet before you saw it for sale, or like me, you create and justify a gap after  seeing something interesting for sale.

[LightBulbFun]

if you wanted something like that you should of just bought this Harding Deluxe from ebay a couple months ago, gets you Some Villiers power  (and theres a wicker basket in the back to stick the Brompton in still LOL)

[Matty]

What the  bloody hell is it?? 😁

[hairnet]

collect bike with a bike

crayzee muhfuka

also cycle in lunnun - fuk dat

 

[Back_For_More]

  On 09/06/2022 at 11:46, Matty said:

What the  bloody hell is it?? 😁

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Over here they call them cargo bikes..... although I can't see a make on it, Ex has a huge wooden fronted thing - also known as a bakfiets......

The different front end configs are endless... Older ones are heavy bastards - most EU lot around here have upgraded to electric versions now.

[wuvvum]

How come the ride home was 2 miles longer than the ride out?

[Fabergé Greggs]

  On 09/06/2022 at 11:16, Surface Rust said:

May I ask if you had really identified this as a gap in your fleet before you saw it for sale, or like me, you create and justify a gap after  seeing something interesting for sale.

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Valid point and I wish I knew, I'm just lost in a vortex of WANTING EVERYTHING 

 

  On 09/06/2022 at 16:39, wuvvum said:

How come the ride home was 2 miles longer than the ride out?

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Good to see that someone is paying attention. Left accommodation, collected bike, cycled it to work. Home hasn't featured yet! 

 

  On 09/06/2022 at 16:19, Back_For_More said:

Over here they call them cargo bikes..... although I can't see a make on it, Ex has a huge wooden fronted thing - also known as a bakfiets......

The different front end configs are endless... Older ones are heavy bastards - most EU lot around here have upgraded to electric versions now.

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This is an old Babboe with some mods: https://www.babboe.co.uk/city

I'll probably electricfy it if it's a keeper. 

[Cavcraft]

Last time I was in the chic outskirts of London, those sort of bikes were everywhere. Can imagine they're massively useful, tbh.

[Matty]

  On 09/06/2022 at 17:03, Cavcraft said:

Can imagine they're massively useful, tbh.

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Can't imagine them being very good at wheelies tho 😁

[Fabergé Greggs]

  On 09/06/2022 at 17:45, Matty said:

Can't imagine them being very good at wheelies tho 😁

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Challenge accepted 

[High Jetter]

  On 09/06/2022 at 17:03, Cavcraft said:

Last time I was in the chic outskirts of London, those sort of bikes were everywhere. Can imagine they're massively useful, tbh.

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Saw some in the centre of That There on Wednesday, think they had even longer luggage boxes on.

[Fabergé Greggs]

  On 09/06/2022 at 17:45, Matty said:

Can't imagine them being very good at wheelies tho 😁

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[Matty]

  On 09/06/2022 at 17:55, Fabergé Greggs said:

 

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Brilliant 👍

[Fabergé Greggs]

The sensible choice of the nice Maxi scooter came and went: 

It was ace, comfy, rapid, very very nice condition, beautifully looked after. It crunched my commuting miles with complete ease. What went wrong? Dunno m8, just didn't do it for me. I'll probably regret this, but in it's place came this way less sensible choice: 

Yes, a 1994 BMW F650 "Funduro".  

Hot ain't it. Look at that 90's square headlight. 

Something so pure and simple about this set up. Love it. 

Chunky ain't it? Definitely the wrong tires for the motorway, agreed. 

 

So yeah, right now I love it. I had a supremely fun collection caper involving 150 miles of back roads and green lanes. It's a single cylinder so refined it ain't, and it sort of labours under 3000 or so revs, but keep it in it's happy zone and the way it delivers a thump of torque is completely addictive. So much so that the clutch slips. Oh well... 

What else is wrong with it? The steering lock doesn't work. It needs an oil all-round service. Clutch slippage as mentioned. It doesn't do ULEZ so I'm going to have to put it through a test and hope it passes. It's tiring on the motorway. All in all, it's the wrong choice for all sorts of reasons.

Whatevs

[Back_For_More]

Grizz on the blue forum swears by these..... Its a smart looking hunk. 

Makes me think of car/bike chase movies for some reason 

[purplebargeken]

I took one on a virtually full day test ride when they first came out. Good fun. 

[hairnet]

Been der

[Fabergé Greggs]

What have we got going on at the moment? 

I've been sipping petrol on the NC700X courtesy of @pilninggas which is enjoyable in a sipping petrol sort of a way.

I've really got a hankering to try a big BMW though- currently dreaming of an R1150RT for crunching those motorway miles. 

I sadly said goodbye to the Morris which was a bit of a heartache. 

Which makes way for something a little chunkier from @cms206 with assistance from @Talbot. Thanks lads! It was many many miles away up home in Scotland without an MOT, so I ummmed and ahhhed about what to do until a cheap backload slot became available and I got one of those "your vehicle is the on the way" shots..

Yay! 

First things first, the satisfying job of dispatching with the greenness. 

Which has it looking pretty swell.. 

As long as you don't look at this bit... 

It runs really nicely! Although with a strong whiff of petrol... 

Oh. It only leaks with the engine running though which could mean either return or sender. Some thorough googling suggests that these don't need the return line and are happier without them. Bypassing the pipework in the engine bay then starting her up again gives us a 50/50 chance of success.... which... was ... A SUCCESS! 

Many minutes were spent fiddling about with old contacts on bulbs etc to get all the lights working. The washer pump had the neighbours calling the RSPCA but with a carefully considered cocktail of penetrating lube and contact cleaner it was able to clear its throat in a  moment caught on camera for ever more.. 

With the (new) battery secured (thanks Andy!) it was off to the MOT station, more to see what it failed on rather than an expectation of a pass.. which brought us this news... 

The tester showed me around and it was a pretty fair verdict I reckon... A tiny hole in the inner wing and some CV boots. I'll take that. The idea of jacking this up and tackling the CV boots on my sloped driveway doesn't fill me with glee, so I reckon I might just farm it out. Once the ticket has been achieved I'll start sprucing it up somewhat. I think I'll take a phased approach, making sure I like it and I get the use out of it before spending loads and loads of time/dosh on it. Most urgently I'll be tackling this leaky spot which is causing a mossy drivers footwell. 

Oh, and the brakes! Andy mentioned they were a bit funny and indeed they are- without the engine running the pedal is nice and firm. With the engine running, about 1 out of 5 presses reveals a mushy pedal. It's not all the time though- I'll start with a check for leaks and a bleed and see how we go from there. 

[wuvvum]

Just stick a pair of split boots on it - you won't need to take the wheels off then.

[Fabergé Greggs]

  On 06/03/2023 at 13:48, wuvvum said:

Just stick a pair of split boots on it - you won't need to take the wheels off then.

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It had crossed my mind but I thought the general verdict on those was that they are a pain and pretty rubbish? 

[artdjones]

  On 06/03/2023 at 13:01, Fabergé Greggs said:

With the engine running, about 1 out of 5 presses reveals a mushy pedal.

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Sounds like the master cylinder. They aren't very expensive, though, about £50 on eBay.

 

Obviously, don't just take my word for it, but if it is that just make sure any cylinder you buy has the same number of bolts holding it to the servo  as the old one. Yours is probably a 2 bolt one, the heaviest models have 4 bolts.

 

 

[Fabergé Greggs]

  On 06/03/2023 at 22:16, artdjones said:

Sounds like the master cylinder. They aren't very expensive, though, about £50 on eBay.

 

Obviously, don't just take my word for it, but if it is that just make sure any cylinder you buy has the same number of bolts holding it to the servo  as the old one. Yours is probably a 2 bolt one, the heaviest models have 4 bolts.

 

 

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Good advice thanks! Out of interest, what’s the science behind it failing in this way? Ie, why is it only failing with vacuum assistance? Is it just as simple as a failing seal? 

[artdjones]

  On 06/03/2023 at 22:25, Fabergé Greggs said:

Is it just as simple as a failing seal? 

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Probably, but I'm basing it on what my brother in law's similar camper was doing before I overhauled the brakes. I got it through a test, but the pedal wasn't great and sometimes would suddenly have excess travel. A new master cylinder cured that, although the brakes on these aren't exactly savage at the best of times.