the Resurrection of Number ten

[themoudie]

Port and starbord lights are arse about face bor, and they let you loose on them Broads!  As for Naval types being "bent", I have no idea what you could possibly be implying? 

Good to read that #10 passed MoT, albeit grudgingly.

I had the chain tension problem, with my tester, but demonstrated that once loaded the chain is within the manufacturers specified limits; never questioned since. Sometimes advises on front wheel bearings, but I have taken the bare wheel along to demonstrate that they weren't a problem. Paper work amended.    Also taken the wheel along when they were a bit ropey and thanked him, as I couldn't feel it afore the test.

Thought the beam regulation was the two horizontal mounting bolts and the left-hand adjusting screw to throw light towards the kerb rather than into the eyes of oncoming vehicles. Have fitted same unit to Ducati 450 that is 40+ so no need for faffing about. I'll make sure it doesn't blind anybody on the dip, but woe betide any Chelsea Tractor lookalike, the main beam appears very healthy and everything is fed through a VW Beetle (T1) headlight relay, so no power loss through switch contacts.

I like the running light circle and if necessary will pair up the leads to produce the amber ring, rather than the white, so as to provide a contrast to all the other LED's running about these days.

Colours used on #10, please? Thank you.

Toodle pip, Bill

[iansoady]

he then figured the chain tension adjusters were not correct and should be tighter (i always slacken mine off a quarter turn once the wheel is bolted up, a habit inherited from my dad)

That's interesting Steve, why do that?

[Steve Lake]

hey Bill, i might try the amber side light myself. see pic for the paint colour/code
very soggy here today so up in workshop catching up on my second hobby ... stained glass work.
pip pip

[Steve Lake]

lost in the mists of time :-). i think it comes from when my dad had 2 or 3 prewar sunbeams, i spent most of my non skool time in the workshop either tinkering with stuff, or watching dad fettling. and i clearly remember him backing off the tensioners once the wheel had been locked in place, his reasoning was that there was no longer any reason for the tensioners to be tight once the adjustments were complete. funny how you remember things like that. i guess with the limited power output of even the 600 lion there was little chance of the back wheel being pulled out of alignment. with todays bike putting out HP in the high hundreds then maybe the tensioners should be kept tight.

[iansoady]

Yes, having once had a bike that didn't have any functioning adjusters (stripped by a previuos owner) the spindle definitely shifted. A bit like making sure you finish adjusting the primary chain by pushing the box forward otherwise it willl move backwards and make the primary overtight due to the differential forces between primary and secondary chain.

I suppose backing the adjusters off will show if the spindle does move as it will then butt up against them. A bit like leaving the nut off the tyre valve so you can see if the tyre / tube has crept.

[themoudie]

(i always slacken mine off a quarter turn once the wheel is bolted up, a habit inherited from my dad)

See, I always back mine off a flat, kick the rear wheel towards the swingarm spindle then tighten the rear wheel spindle, so that the chain doesn't overtighten during that final operation and then check it again.

Just adjusting the chain and then tightening the rear spindle often used to result in an overtight chain, in my experience.

The BROS, with it's single sided swingarm and eccentric adjuster can be a real bar steward, as the mearest tweak can turn a slightly too slack chain into a bowstring, if you are not very careful!

"Oh well, off to adjust my twanger", Bungle said to Zippie! 

Cheers, Bill

[Steve Lake]

well, here we are, #10 has been legal and roadworthy for 3 weeks and now has 300 miles on the clock. my observations are ....
1. not sure if it's me but does the 17" front wheel improve handling? this bike seems so much easier to flick through the bendy country roads.
2. this is the 2nd 400 i've had (for any length of time) and i find it a gentler better behaved bike, first time i have used avon tyres, would they make a significant difference compared to bridgestones?.
3. #1 is (because of my fettling) a bit 'twitchy' a bit raucous' , a bit highly strung... i only realise this having put a few miles on #10. a stage 2 head, yoshi cam, max rebore with high comp (10.5 - 1) piston, twin 33 dellorto's. handbuilt pipes & 'silencer' all add up to a younger mans bike maybe?
4. definite improvement in fuel economy over #1. the LED lights though not necessarily 'original' are a huge improvement and a far less drain on the battery with better light output.

[themoudie]

Mornin bor, good when a plan comes together. 

My plan hasn't and is goin to result in a bigger hool in the wallet.

In spite o a new cable and "EasyPull", the clutch still wants to drag and I spect that the wear in the clutch hub grooves are impeding the backard and forards movement of the steel plates taking the drive to the sprocket. New clutch hubs aren't about, unless you av £360+VAT for the 450 competition version that is longer than standard and consequently requires the NOVA extended clutch basket to match, even bigger black hool! Still this hub has done ~90,000 miles.

Off to trawl Fleabay etc!

Two thunderstorms yesterday, soo watering not a problem, just newts and a toadling tryin to get into the house.

Also, planning permission applied for a 49.9 Megawatt solar panel power station in adjacent fields! Fortunately, most of it'll be screened from our view, but Kat is "concerned", I'm more les affaires. You got any near you in the sunny hoom county?

Good health, Bill

[iansoady]

What is Kat concerned about?

[Steve Lake]

hey Bill,  sorry to hear about the clutch problems... can't the 'grooves' be smoothed out so to speak ? i know i've done it on the clutch basket before now ,

been fine and dry here up 'til about an hour ago, now i can hear a storm approaching... need the rain. runner beans are going bonkers!, last week they looked like they'd never get going, today i picked 5LB of the bloody things and getting too big for her indoors, personally i like them when they get a bit 'beefy'. if this storm passes us by , as it looks like it will i'll have to get the dribble pipes going for the leeks.

well, as you know i made my own wind generator which is moderately successful, in tandem with a couple of solar panels it powers my workshop ... will even run the arc welder on a good day. neighbours have a proper jobbie, 30kw in their paddock, only ever hear it if we have very high winds when it feathers itself to avoid over power/voltage. mine has a hinged tail which takes the blades out of the wind at high wind speeds.

you may (or may not) know, but for a while Swaffham had the 2 largest wind turbunes in the country, put up by Dale Vince of Ecotricity. (he's a bloody nice bloke and a hero of mine .. ex hippy eco warrior, clever and forward thinking) these caused some concern when they went up in the late 90's .... here's the entry in the EDP. ....

  'Built in 1999, the Green Britain Centre's wind turbine was the United Kingdom's first megawatt-class windmill'

some amusing letters in the EDP, and radio phone ins, one comes to mind from a dear owd mawther ....

''hint we gort enuf wind in norfolk without them blummin gret fans agoin round?''

the first one that went up has a viewing platform and access to the generator, so yours truly was one of the first to get up there, fascinating, and great views to boston in the west and happisburgh lighthouse in the east.

Kat doesn't need to worry about the noise, the modern ones have very sophisticated blade design both to maximise efficiency and minimise noise (i think the one influences the other)

an enterprising fella like yerself may even find ways to maybe put a few windings round a bit of underground megawatt cable ... (contact me for details of diameter of laquered copper wire required and number of turns ... you will need to furnish me with your average 24hr consumption )

[themoudie]

Further to the solar panel power station (N.B. no turbines!), whilst having a jaw with our neighbour, it transpires that it is intended that sheep will quietly graze around and beneath the solar panels, of which there will be 300 in the array and being 3m in height above ground level, at their highest (northern side).

Also, fellow Ducati single owners have suggested that whilst the "EasyPull" may do that, it also reduces the length of travel of the clutch accentuating arm due to the distance of the throw of the lever, within the "EasyPull" case. So, having listened to all 3 MGP races today, I am now off out to the workshop for some theraputic cable making.

Good health, Bill

[Steve Lake]

ahh, sorry Bill, i misread your missive, solar panels .... not as intrusive as turbines for sure ... we have quite a few 'farms' round here (you may have noticed it's a bit flat round this way ;-) ) whilst the landowners are keen to point out that 'the land can still be used for grazing so it's a win win' the truth of the matter appears to be that the grass & meadowmix is very slow growing due to light levels at ground zero.
and being the driest area of the country doesn't help, and when we do get rain the runoff from each row of panels forms rivulets which tend to run off the land rather than soak in. but yes, sheep are grazing under them but not in the numbers envisaged. on the plus side there is a guy local to me who is buying up solar panels from 'farms' that are renewing/replacing them  a couple of reasons they are doing this, 1) the older panels are polycrystalline and not as efficient also output degrades over time quite markedly and 2) new monocrystalline panels have nearly twice the output for a given size and a shallow linear  degradation in output. so, i have picked up 4 3 year old mono panels from him at 60 quid a pop, which provide my workshop with a nice 1kw into my battery bank. if i wasn't running storage heaters in the house i'd seriously consider going 'off grid'.

#10 still waiting for chain guard, early days i know, only been 3 months  . would welcome your thoughts on an oil cooler for #10 as the bona fide one i have is decidedly tatty ...
pip pip

[Steve Lake]

took my old s/s chain guard to the guys who did #1's exhaust system way back when, 3 weeks later i have 2 nice new s/s guards, fitted perfectly, just the oil cooler to get sorted now.

had a tinker with the front wheel/brake assembly, think i've cracked it, bit of brake fade when braking down hard from 80mph, but i think it'll improve as it 'beds in' ....

[themoudie]

Now there's agricultural, Norfolk and downright dangerous! 

Maybe andy230 should av consulted yew when doing thaat wheel conversion on his euphamistic "Norton" thingy! Them nippers look bu**ered fir anythin else now, less yew looking for a pair o wasp nippers round them hives o yurs! 

You keep a troshin, Bill

[Ian]

#10 still waiting for chain guard, early days i know, only been 3 months  . would welcome your thoughts on an oil cooler for #10 as the bona fide one i have is decidedly tatty ...
pip pip

Hi Steve have you decided what to do about the oil cooler? If you look at the genuine Yamaha one there is a lug either side that is drilled and will take an M5 tap. I can supply you with a piece of stainless mesh to bend as necessary and if you paint everything satin black then noone will see how good or bad .....just an idea to save a bit of wonga