ya front wheel's gunna hit the road mate eh.

 

There ya go brad.....Sorted.

 

what are they? they look a little like someone took on michelin's road 5 without trying to be an obvious copy.

 

This little project's turned into a bit of a mission. I had it running well before being stripped down, but since then it has been popping on over run, then started running rough at 4000 rpm, so spent many hours chasing a non existant air leak, and split diaphragms amongst other things. When started up last week was only running on one cylinder. Checked valve clearence (again), coils, pulse generator, and fuel height which were all good. The carbs had already been off 3 or 4 times, and cleaned with carb cleaner, and compressed air. So as a last resort had them ultrasonically cleaned. Put them back together this morning. What a difference running as it should.

 

What do you use in the ultrasonic cleaner?

I've been using simple green, with results that aren't that great, but then my cleaner doesn't seem to be firing on all cylinders either.
It's no wonder these carbs need a ultrasound cleaning with the size of some passageways. This jet arrived in a selection that I ordered.... it was supposed to be a 32.5. I thought about drilling it, but didn't have the correct size bit and its a guessing game anyway unless you have a good jet to use as a referance. Drilling mains is one thing, but primary jets are another.

 

Funny you should mention pilot jets Cyorg. After all the issues I was having I ordered new ones from NRP Carbs, along with float needles/seats. for £30 seemed silly not to.
As for the ultrasonic cleaner I've had good results using a 10% mix of this with distilled water....... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Carburet...-Fluid-Concentrate-5-Litres/192757000523?hash=item2ce136694b:g:sPoAAOSw7wFcATTw

 

one of my old bosses told me about using an oil can to clean carb passages once, and i've used it a couple of times to amazing effect. just an old school pump can and some 20/50. the oil viscosity moves stuff air wont.

 

well, they should be ok you'd expect. i'd not seen that pattern before, but i don't deal with dunlops

one thing with the road 5 is that the grooves don't go to the edge, and talking about that with the rep i realised that you probably don't need grooves at the edge because who's going to the edge in the wet? if you are, you're probably not relying on the grooves.

 

Hopefully get out for a test ride, and MOT in the next few weeks.

 

I don't think you put enough emphasis on the boneline, but it looks terrific. It wouldn't have had the same impact if you had done the frame in the stock colour. It needed to be black, suits the bike better, nicer contrast with your pretty pipe. Braided lines has to be one of the cheapest and easiest ways to improve the appearance of a bike. They just seem to clean up the clutter.

I'd need to check with the building naming committee but I believe Nice Shit Shed is still available.

 

The last time the carbs were removed and cleaned I hooked them up to remote fuel supply to check the fuel height and for leaks.
Everything seemed spot on, and after refitting the bike ran very nicely. Until yesterday, as soon as i walked into the shed there was a strong smell of petrol.
It appears the float valve on the front carb had stuck and allowed fuel to leak down one side of the freshly painted engine....Bugger.
So lesson learned I guess, don't try to scrimp with rebuild kits on 25 year old carbs.
I friggin hate bikes sometimes.

 

Not much consolation but at least you can identify the issue and cause rather than having to chase a problem down. Go back to page one, then take a look at it now...feel better?

 

Until earlier today I'd have probably replied...No not really.
Within 10 minutes of getting home from work tonight I received a phone call saying my daughter had been involved in a serious car crash.
Turns out she was taken out by a driver of a large van, who has been arrested for drug driving.
Certainly brings home how quickly the really important things in life can go tits up.

 

hope she comes out well man.

 

Geezus Steveo, so sorry to hear about your daughter, I hope she is ok. Nothing else matters when loved ones are hurting.

 

OMG Steveo that's terrible news, best thoughts and wishes for her speedy recovery.
"drug" driving or drunk driving? Here they just call it impaired but either way that charge against the guy who hits you can be a double edge sword for insurance coverage, watch out for that.

 

Brad, Trials, Woodsman...Thanks for the kind wishes chaps.
When we finally got her home late Friday night she had a lot of cuts and bruises and was badly shaken up.
Yesterday she was still in a lot of pain so we took her to A&E to have a CT scan. All injuries seem to be muscular so should heal on their own.
One of the witnesses took these pics.

 

Yikes, good thing the truck was empty, that looks like a cage for hauling propane cylinders.

 

Bruised, battered and having the crap scared out of you isn't great but it's about as good as it gets in a crash between a car and a delivery truck. As Trials said thank goodness he wasn't carrying a load. Really glad to hear that time not Doctors will get her up and going again. You can tell her we feel for her, bruised and battered from the road is something most old bikers can relate too. Hope she is out and about soon.

 

Relatively good news stevo. Glad she will be ok. At least she has her youth to help work though the healing process. I imagine you are wishing it was the good old days when you could take that driver, put him in that caged trailer and park it in the town square.... or maybe in the Colne.

 

Hopefully he'll get to share a cell with a lonely sheep farmer.

 

Replaced the float valve and seat, when started only running on one cylinder...Jeez.
No fuel getting through to the front carb, so carbs off again. The new float valve seemed to be sticking, no idea why tho.
Running well enough now, MOT passed, and out for a test ride this morning

 

Sorry I can't look at it, all the green grass and leaves is depressing.

How's your daughter feeling, she up and at it again?

 

She's on the mend. Thanks for asking woodsman.

 

whatcha gunna do with it?

the bike, not the daughter.

 

Good question brad.
If I keep it that means no more projects for me, might put it up on ebay to see how much money I'll lose.
Think I said at the beginning that this was a stupid idea.

 

Spending money on stupid ideas with motorized things is what separates us men from our ape counterparts.

 

that's a much more eloquent way of saying it.

 

No need to appologise. I've way over spent on this. My guess it's worth about £2000 at best (and that's being optimistic)
The really stupid part was spending north of 3 grand, and to make matters worse I let slip how much it cost to the Missus yesterday. That went down like a lead balloon.

 

so ye be wearin' yer scrotum for a hat then.

 

That's if she ever speaks to me again. Her last words were "How frigging much".

 

You should feel lucky you only got the "how frigging much?" without the additional "are you frigging kidding me?", "what the frig were you thinking?" or "are you frigging crazy?", all of which I've heard at one point or another. Of course with my timid Queen you can substitute frig for the other F word and add a shopping spree into the project cost.

 

I always try to go all Rainman when I get asked about how much those bike parts in the garage are worth - "about $100....yeah, definitely $100"....