So Close!...
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It’s made a hell of a difference! It’s tracking better than I’ve ever had it before, confidence inspiring. Well chuffed!…
The embarrassing thing is I didn’t realise how bad it was affecting the ride. I thought of the rear wheel alignment, tyre balance and shock movement/condition before I even stumbled across the front spindle!
A lot of the problems I’ve had I didn’t even realise I had at first. This is the first bike I’ve ridden since the early 90’s! I’ve never ridden a good one, so I wasn’t aware of what was bad or wrong 🥴 Hell of a learning curve, but very satisfying when you get there… -
@SpookDog Is that a 4-cylinder DOHC 125? Must rev to the moon! If you like that kind of thing check out Allen Millyard on YouTube, he built a Mike Hailwood Honda six replica by chopping up two Yamaha FZR250 engines to make a 375cc six:
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It’s so sweet, no? I can’t remember the proper numbers but I think it’s 22~24bhp and 120mph!! And built in the early 1960’s…
If it’s who I’m thinking of, then that man was truly inspired, the imagination was not the limit with him!…
I’m only a bit familiar with his work, my old mate ‘Hairy Steve’ turned me onto his builds. He was a Z1000 nut back in the day , was into welded cranks and nitrous! Also loved his Mikuni flatslides for some reason!
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I just watched a big chunk of it and I find it hard to believe some of it! The man must be a functioning acid casualty! Seriously bends the laws of possibility. I’m guessing it’s the same bloke who did the six cylinders stuff that my bud enthused about. I have maximum respect for the man
seriously…Edit: just finished watching it, the man is seriously talented. Piss off Henry Cole and put this bloke on the box!
I’ve just got to find the crankshaft clip now!
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Though I’d give it a jet wash in celebration of the weather…
Nobody is going to call it pretty, but for a 35 year old workaday mongrel it looks OK, I think anyways…
It’s nice to be able to go over 50 without having to fight the bike. Since fitting the new front spindle it tracks straight and true even with hands off the bars. It doesn’t ‘dip & tuck’ the front end when cornering anymore either. I’m embarrassed it took me so long to get to the crux of the problem. In my defence nothing is straightforward with this basket case. I will get it properly righteous before the end though. I’m nothing if not stubborn
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Just a question mainly directed to some of the older peeps! (Tho not exclusively) Did road salt during the ‘winter’ used to be so prolific and so much of a problem? I don’t remember it ever being an issue 25 years ago! Maybe it was youthful ignorance but I don’t remember any rust damage from road salt back then? Then again, the country never ground to a halt because of six inches of snow back then, did it?…
The last two’winters’ (I want to call them wet seasons!
) have done quite a number to my little old bike 
I’ve really noticed it since given it a clean up… -
@SpookDog Well, if you had a Lancia it was rusting even in the hot climates.
I certainly think they are salting more now than ever. But whenever I use my bikes in the winter the one thing I do as soon as I get in is PTFE the exhaust and clean it off.
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Damn! I keep on having troubles getting my headstock bearings right! . The smallest adjustment means the steering is ‘wobbly’ unless I go through the whole resettling process. I’m starting to wonder if my headstock & bottom yoke are true or not…
I really need a half decent bike stand that’ll let me remove the front end, or the rear swing arm, without having to order from Germany and pay import dues cause it’s over £130 odd!
Any recommendations that are based on personal usage would be appreciated…I was trying to find this in the UK
But not having any luck
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@SpookDog Easiest way is a MX bike stand which are also pretty excellent for chain adjustment, gearbox oil level, tyre changes etc. I always use this, then put a car axle stand underneath the boat anchor stock exhaust header pipe to raise the front but with your RH pipe you might prefer to get an assistant to push down on the seat whilst you adjust the headstock bearings:
Only thing you might want to do is cover where the bike sits with something to avoid trashing the frame tubes. I used old tyres on mine chopped up and pop riveted on, the carcass is pretty tough and what's left of the tread blocks grips the frame quite well even during one of my full scrub with degreaser/wallow in WD40 episodes.
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If you say that they’re usable for removing either the rear or front wheels, then that’s good enough for me
I can’t keep on balancing it on a bucket of old cement and bricks while ‘fine tuning’ it with a trolley jack (to stop it sliding off!)
It looks like I could fit some threaded J hook/bolts to clamp onto the foot pegs and hold it steady…Cheers bud!…
PS do you know of a motorcycle engineer locally that can check the true of a crank? Also TIG welding ally casings would be nice
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@SpookDog No worries
Not sure about crankcase repairs locally but Badfoot Customs on Mark PastyfacedlittleFuckerbergbook do some good work, I've seen them make good some vintage Maico cases which have been badly repaired previously and stuff like that.G. Arnold Motorcycles in Khyber Road in Poole have a good reputation, he does wheelbuilding and two-stroke rebores so probably has the equipment to check a crankshaft although I've never used him myself. 01202 747405. Failing that PJME or Grampian Motors in Liverpool, not local but they've been at it for years
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Cheers! It’s a shame that there are no reputable-prominent workshops within screaming distance! 🥴
I’m getting kinda tired of living in a world that is in a state of constant decline.
It’s scary, all the insects have nearly disappeared already, ladybugs, ants, grasshoppers, wood bugs! Not to mention the pollinators! Bees, butterflies,ect…
It’s like the planet died and no-one told me!
Oh well. Keep Calm, ect
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Does anyone else have dodgy speed cameras near you? I have 2 villages near me that have ‘flashy signs’ that say I’m doing 31-32mph, when my speedo says I’m doing 40! If I carry on down the road for a few hundred metres at the same speed I get a speeding ticket for doing 37mph! WTF?
Which speed camera do you trust? The one you can see, or the one that bills you?!…Not only that (where I live) they’ve started putting mobile speed traps just between leaving the 30mph zone and the point 100-150metres down the road where it changes to 40mph! (This is 3-400metresfrom an existing camera!!!) Just where you’d speed up. It’s a money trap! So fukin wrong. I’m not pissed cause I got my third ticket for doing 36mph. I’m pissed off because it’s so obviously a money maker they’ve done it twice in the last week!
If it was an accident spot or a speeding problem I’d at least try to understand, but it so isn’t!…Is this happening everywhere else in the uk?…
No weird bind & twist as it was torqued up.
