--------------------------------------
 | ||||||
My dad decided to come for a visit, he is 72 years old, after a couple of beers and talking awhile he told me he sold his motorcycle as he felt he was to old to ride anymore, now you have to understand, my dad was one of the original bikers! Hell they made movies about guys like him! I grew up on his stories of incredible motorcycling adventures such as being trapped under an overpass in a tornado, riding from Massachusetts to California on a BMW , riding 600 miles in a snow storm and wrapping newspaper around their legs inside their levi’s to cut the wind and stay warm and riding to Daytona Beach, Florida from New England and winning the 500cc drags on his highly modified BSA, were talking 1952 modified! And this was back when you raced on the beach! So here was my hero, the person who taught me to ride when I was 7 years old, the man who filled my life with stories of motorcycling action and adventure and here he was telling me he no longer wanted to ride! It was unbelievable, his words shook me to my core, my whole world lost its meaning! I thought I would never see the day! Well, he was visiting us this summer and since he is retired and I had to work for a living he became very bored just sitting around my house, having just purchased a brand new Kawasaki Vulcan Nomad 1500 I offered to let him take my mom for a ride while I slaved away at work so I could earn the money for more accessories or perhaps another motorcycle, He declined saying they had no helmets and it was a new bike and Bla Bla Bla to which I responded that I reside in a state with no helmet law and if he felt the need to wear one I had a whole closet full of helmets and the fact that he had been riding longer than anyone I know and if I couldn’t trust him who could I trust? So the following day I presented him with a map of the local area on which I had marked some scenic routes and off they went on a nice summer ride, my mom said he smiled the whole ride and when I got home that night he was still smiling, well this led to him rethinking the whole age issue and when he got home and after much placating of my mother he purchased a brand new Yamaha Roadstar 1100, this was 8 months ago and he hasn’t been off it since and when I asked him about the snow he told me he was going to ride it until it did snow and that he bought all the latest cold weather riding gear! every time I call to talk to him my mom will say OH HE’S OFF RIDING THAT BIKE AGAIN, he washes and polishes it and has added many sparkling aftermarket accessories to suit his style, you know, just a few things like some BUB pipes and Kuryakyn Hwy bars, he even talked a couple of his buddies into getting bikes and they all ride together. He is now talking about getting another bike and bobbing it, so when are you to old to ride? I say when you can’t hold her up anymore and even then you can just get a Trike!
Sonny Morrison
Motorcycle Enthusiast
ARTICLE
The Squashed Inlet Valve
-------------------------------------------------
Gold Star Shakedown II
Awakening a hibernating BSA DBD 34 Gold Star is not without its problems.
Over the past few weeks I have been eager to find out what the Gold Star mystique is all about.
Well, I can tell you that the bike handles like a dream, as well as any Norton featherbed I’ve had the pleasure of knowing. The engine seems to offer an endless and flat torque curve that makes it a real joy to wind through the twisties without having to constantly play with the gears.
The Good and the Bad of having a Rev Counter
Big singles are deceptive. It is difficult at first when learning an engine to tell how
many rpms one is really hitting. The rev counter (tachometer for us Yanks) was not functioning. I spent a weekend cleaning and oiling the chronometric tach; the insides are a clockwork (see photo below). Unlike a sweeping modern magnetic tach, chronometrics jump between increments. Its a very sexy thing...brings me back to the days of Ferrari Barchettas.
However, if you don't look down at just the right time, one could miss
an over-rev. In any case, it was not until I repaired the instrument that I was able to truly run the engine up to its proper speed.
Once I had a functioning tach, I was surprised to see that I was way off from where I thought I was in revs. Chasing Skip on the Triton, I opened the Goldie
up at what I thought was at least 5500 rpm. It turned out that I was at about 4000.
With this new found cache of power, I went crazy last weekend. With all the primary and clutch issues tightened up, and a new set of magneto points, I set off on a very spirited run on Long Island's worst and best local roads. I finally experienced the thrill behind the Gold Star's reputation....pulling up next to R-1 and GXSR kids, blipping the throttle to egg them on.
As expected, I blew them off the line only because they were
dumbfounded as to what the hell that was with the chrome tank, and an old guy in ripped Wranglers next to them.... making more noise than a 440 Olds with open pipes.
And then it happened.....
On the final stretch home, the engine rolled easily past the 6 grand mark. The
vibration was less than that of a parallel twin, and the big single begged for
more...she had finally awakened. The huge fins kept her cool as a cucumber.
And then it happened; quite a similar sound to when I blew the bottom of the
crank case on my TR6R back in the 80s. The sound was a soft thud and a free
spinning engine. As I coasted to the side of the road, I thought the worst. I
jumped off the machine and immediately checked the cases; they were fine.
I stepped on the starter and kicked it over gently. Pressure came back through
the carb. This meant an open valve. Could it be stuck open....or even worse?
It was Mother's Day, and after 33 years of marriage and bikes, my lovely wife
knew the routine...bring the trailer, and get the team back to the pits.
I rolled the bike into the shop. The bike looked good, but I knew that the
potential damage could be in the thousands. A used Gold Star head goes
for well over a grand and a half. I pulled the plug and saw the inlet (intake for us Yanks) valve clearly in line with the plug hole. This was alarming; the valve should be no where near it. I gave up for the day and celebrated with the wife and kids.
Monday was spent speculating. My good Goldie friends in the UK, Ian from
the Goldie Club, and Len Haggis the Gold Star specialist, both had encouraging
but cautious words. By Tuesday night I was ready to check it out. I came home from work and rushed into the shop. Ginger, my Corgy, watched intently as I disassembled the big single's head. Like a real thoroughbred, Goldies come apart quicly….. in less than 20 minutes. These bikes are a joy to work on; designed to be most accommodating to the club racer and home mechanic.
The photo below shows what happened. The aluminum valve spring collar snapped in half. The part that holds the cotter halves is shown sitting within the springs. This allowed the inlet valve to drop. At about 6200 rpm the piston smacked into the valve, bending it. Now the head had to be removed so I can see if the season was over for the bike.
More detail of the fractured valve spring collar. So much for race lightened
aluminum parts. I am looking to replace these with steel since I am not going
to push her past 6000 rpm, even though my Gold Star friends tell me she
will be very happy at 7000 on the open road.
Photo below shows how convenient it is to work on big singles.
The moment of truth came as I flipped the cylinder head around to take a look.
The valve was squashed nearly flat against the dome. I used a drift to push it
out. Sweat dripped onto the aluminum as the hot shop lamp illuminated the cavity. I wore my best reading glasses and explored every square millimeter with great care. I could not believe my eyes......
Remarkably the bronze valve guide took the brunt of the impact. The top of the
piston had a small but harmless dent from the impact. The fact that the valve
slipped down so far must have allowed the piston to have the correct angle of
leverage to bend it neatly like an accordion.
Parts are on order already from the motherland. We’ll be back on the road in a couple of weeks.
By Armand (Brit Iron Rebels #173)
You know the old saying, “How many motorcycles do you see outside a phycologists office?” The answer is NONE, that’s because when your on your motorcycle your living life and having fun!, I will admit that when feeling depressed I will pull out my Cafe Racer and with the kind of shear power it delivers it doesn't take long to jump start my adrenalin, I can come back from even the shortest ride with my heart pounding twice its normal rate feeling exhilarated, alive and full of energy, I figure if I am going to die I don't want to be sitting on my ass all depressed, I choose the adrenalin, the rush, the thrill. Guess I figured I don’t need a doctor since I figured out how to treat issues like boredom, depression, nagging wife syndrome, getting fired and life’s other unpleasantness, just grab a bike from your garage and hit the open road, find a few twistie’s and screw it on and after awhile you will find that you not only have a clarity but a whole new mindset and whatever was bothering you no longer occupies your thoughts but has faded away to the farthest reaches of your mind as you lean into and accelerate out of that next corner, it really works too!, as an example, about a month ago I took a ride, A 1,985 mile ride to be exact and my wife was not happy about me going , it appeared she was going to make me as miserable as possible and even as I was lifting my leg over my bike to start my journey she came outside (I thought to say Goodbye) but NO!, she had found one more petty thing that needed my attention before I left, needless to say it pissed me off but I found as I rode thru town and onto the open highway and the miles melted away I soon was transformed, the previous week no longer occupied my thoughts, just the beauty of the day and the mellow roar of the new Cobra true duel pipes I had installed on my 1500 cruiser. Along the way I came up on a guy riding his Harley on a long trip, we stopped at a rest area and swapped a few stories and then we rode together for another 100 miles or so before parting ways, it turned out to be one hell of a nice day! So I can honestly say to all of you, if you are feeling bad and need to get on top of your game again, just grab your bike, hit the road and ride all your troubles away!.
Have an interesting article? email it to me and if I like it I will post it here on vintagecaferider.com
FEELING BLUE
WHEN SHOULD YOU STOP RIDING?
= Here's a little tip =
If you get stuck in the cold and your feet are freezing stop at a Sporting goods store, they sell 1 time use foot warmer packets for a couple dollars. They slip in the bottom of your shoe like a insole and they work even if your boots are wet. You won't believe how warm they keep your feet.
Cafe Rider Tip # 2
CORROSION KILLER
Do your cylinder heads and barrels have corrosion? try hosing them down with a generous amount of WD-40 and scrubbing between the fins with a small stainless steel brush, then spray with engine degreaser , let sit a few minutes and hose off!
Cafe Rider Tip # 3
Planning on changing your own tire?
Install a new tube when you change to a new tire as the old tube has been in service as long as the tire if not longer, DO NOT use cheap small tire wrenches, you want a good set of the longer tire wrenches like the one in the picture below, you will need 3 of them to properly do the job, Please don't use screwdrivers as you will just pinch your new tube! remember to inflate the tube a little to keep it from getting twisted in the tire, a little water with some dish soap will help ease the tire onto the rim. I also use rim savers as they are only a few dollars, are reuseable and will keep your rims looking good. Sometimes the tire will not be seated on the rim straight, you need to inflate the tire until it seats properly on the wheel, then deflate to the recommended tire pressure for your motorcycle. Good Riding!
The Makings of a
Motorcycle Trailer
---------------------------------------
I live in the northwest and it snows here so a 4 wheel drive truck is necessary, but getting bikes in and out of the bed requires assistance, so I decided to build a motorcycle trailer low enough that one person can load and unload motorcycles. It needed to accomodate 2 to 3 bikes and have a heavy enough frame and axle to support three motorcycles safely as freeway speeds here are 70mph and you don't want your trailer failing at those speeds! I started by looking at different motorcycle trailers available on the market, then estimated costs for the metal, axle, tires, wheels, lighting, wiring, saftey chains, bed material, jack, and hitch, and, in the end decided it was not very cost effective to build one myself, so I started checking the want ad's for a good used motorcycle trailer, well, they were either to expensive or a total piece of crap, I did run across one guy that was selling or rather wanting to trade something for a trailer that had a commercial reader board attached to it, well it had a lot of crap on it and didn't seem like a good candidate but I called the guy and he said he would strip it down to the frame and axle, so I decided to take a look since he didn't live to far away.
Here's the original picture he sent to me:
I get to his house and immediatley saw he had torched all the mounts for the reader board off the trailer, I found it was now composed of a heavy gauge square stock tube frame, a nice 3500lb commercial duty axle and newer tires on 15" full size steel wheels and a tounge that could be used as a battering ram at Fort Knox. The fact was that it was wide enough and long enough to strap 2 fullsized motorcycles down when completed and it had rear drop down legs so you could put a bike on and off it when the trailer was not connected to the truck, Hmmm! I told him I was afraid it might need a couple more crossmembers to properly support a deck and he said he would throw in some heavy gauge angle iron to weld in place, I asked if I could tow it down the road and he said sure!, so I took it out on the main hwy and reached speeds in excess of 80 MPH, the trailer had no side to side sway and tracked nicely so upon returning we got down to trade discussions, I ended up trading him an Item I had bought for $100 for the trailer which I thought was pretty good until after we traded and he told me he had bought the trailer for $50 at an auction, Geez I felt good about it up till that point! anyway, I towed it home and parked it by the shop, it now awaits my attention, being it is a balmy 15 degrees out it will have to wait for a little warmer weather before I continue the saga, but here is a picture as it sits now.
When it gets a little warmer I will grind down the leftovers from his torch job, weld in some cross members and install some angle iron around the edges to give the decking material some side support and give it a cleaner look, think I will make some plates to close up the open ends in the frame to keep water out, then mount some heavy duty tie down points, after this it will be ready for a new coat of paint and some decking, I also have a nice steel box I will mount to hold tie down straps and such, I don't think I will build a ramp gate, to keep costs down i will instead build an adjustable sliding ramp but then again, who knows, I am still in the planning stage. I will update you as I go!
Friday_1/30/2009________________________________________________
OK couldn't take it just sitting there so I Plowed a path to the shop, once I got er in there I wasted no time in installing the 2x2x3/16 angle for more floor supports, then I was off to the steel yard and bought enough 1 1/2" flat stock to enclose the bed so when I drop the the 2x8 wood floor in it will be incased in steel, Here it is so far,
Then I got to thinking that the bikes need some sort of protection from rocks, gravel and water being thrown up from the road so back to the steel yard where I bought some 3/4" angle iron for a 2 ft high splash guard across the front plus a little side protection as well, I have it mostly installed but a picture will have to be posted tomorrow as I have to take the wife to dinner and a movie tonight!... ya know, butter yer bread and all that! ain't nobody happy unless the wifes happy!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's Saturday and here is the trailer with the 3/4 angle splash guard frame welded in place and the 2x8's for the wood bed mocked in, I wont secure them until I figure out what material to use for the splash guard, I went to the steel yard to check out the different metals available and found they are closed on sat & sun, guess I will have to wait till monday morning, the nice thing is the Steel Yard is only a mile from my house. After everything is mounted and fitted correctly I will take it all apart and tow the trailer to the sand blasters before a coat of fresh paint.
Well were back!
The diamond plate has been custom ordered with the pieces sheared to size I checked them for fit, a little had to be cut off the ends but better to big because you cannot add to the length if it's to short!, with the diamond plate ready to go in the next thing was to cut the front jack mount off and weld in the new one that came with the new jack, I also welded in a spare tire mount and a rest for the tire to sit on to help carry the load of the spare, this I located on the right front side, I also welded a heavy duty tie down on the steel tongue just inside of the splash guard to help with securing the motorcycles. I removed the fenders and delivered them to the powdercoaters for a nice coat of black then removed the wheels and had the tires dismounted from them in preperation for painting, I then removed all the lights and sanded the frame with a sanding wheel on a 4 1/2" grinder which made quick work of it, I primered the frame and painted it with a sunburst yellow oil based paint and while everything was off I decided it was a good time to paint the axle black, while waiting for the paint to dry I put the the 2x8 wood planks on saw horses and slathered them with a good coat of weather sealer on all 4 sides and on the ends. Once the new yellow paint was dry I installed the diamond plate splasg guards using heavy duty rivits to hold them in place then installed the wood planks making sure to leave a gap in between each piece for any swelling of the wood that might acure. I went to a screw and bolt supplier and purchased the same self tapping screws that the big diesel trailer builders use to secure their floors, I needed one hundred of them and by the time I was thru securing the deck my hands were DONE, I suggest using gloves as I didn't and could have saved me a lot of pain! , after the deck was down I installed heavy duty recessed floor mount style tie downs at all 4 corners as I may be hauling some full dress motorcycles. This trailer came with 2 rear stabilizer jacks so I gave them a coat of gloss black paint before reinstalling them and then went to work on the lighting which was all messed up, but with a few trips to NAPA I have them all straighted away, I stopped by the powdercoater and the fenders were ready so I picked them up and installed them on the trailer, at this point I am working on the plug and securing the trailer wiring at the front of the trailer and I still need to make some diamond plate splash sheilds for the inner fender wells, I have positioned and secured one wheel chock and will wait to install the other until I can put two motorcycles on the trailer for proper positioning, here's a couple of picture's as of tonight.
Lookin good so far!
NOW FOR THE WHEELS
I cleaned and sanded the wheels then gave them a good coat of primer and many generous coats of yellow paint to match the trailer color, I then went online and ordered a new set of Mr Gasket chromed Baby Half Moon hub caps, So now I just had to find another matching rim to use as a spare and some new tires, well finding a spare rim in the same configuration proved to be more difficult than I thought, after some research it turns out they are 15x6.5 mopar steel wheels with a 5 on 4.5 bolt pattern and a 8 3/4 hub cap mounting tabs, after searching many junk yards I finally came upon a used tire dealer that had hundreds of steel wheels, my biggest problem was finding one with the same 8 3/4" hub cap pattern so I could use one of the New Baby Half Moon caps on the spare to match the wheels on the trailer, as it turned out that out of the hundreds of wheels, he had only one! so after a short bartering discussion with the owner I now owned an appropriate and matching spare wheel, now for the tires, since I am building this trailer on a budget I could ill afford 3 brand new tires and after looking at the half worn out garbage tires being sold by used tire stores I decided to check my favorite online ad's ( craigslist ), here i found a ton of used tires available but couldn't quite find what i wanted meaning 3 almost new tires with the appropriate load rating, I finally came across an ad that sounded good, he had two almost new tires so I gave them a call, turns out the were a body shop, so I made an appointment and headed over, there I found he actually had quite a few tires available and in searching came up with 3 tires that were like BRAND spankin NEW in the load range I was looking for and after a little more bartering I now owned 3 nice high quality and matching tires, I had the two mounted and took the 3rd as a spare that I will mount once I get the spare wheel painted, before putting the tires and wheels on the trailer I will pull the hubs and repack the wheel bearings and clean the lug threads.
Here is how the tires and Wheels look with the Baby Half Moon hub caps. With the wheels matching the frame color it should all come together nicely and give the trailer a nice vintage touch.
Here she is in her finished state.
| ||||||
Featured motorcycle
Michael Lathams 1963 Norton. Lots of special parts from a Cerriani GP front end to mating a Commando Primary to an Atlas motor.
~Thats a beautiful ride Michael~
Motorcycle Tie-down Procedure
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
A proper motorcycle tie-down system has these major components:
A means of securing the front wheel from moving forward or turning sideways.
The means to attach the strap to the bike in a secure location without damaging the bike.
A means of attaching the strap to the trailer.
Motorcycle Rails and Wheel Chocks
For any motorcycle tie-down system to be safe and secure there must be a way of insuring that the motorcycle once tied down, will not move. The best means of accomplishing this is by preventing forward motion, preventing the front wheel from turning and by using tie-down straps to pull the bike down on the suspension and forward against the chock.
Motorcycle Tie-down Straps
SportUtilityTrailers.com offers 1" wide straps rated at 2400 lbs. test and 800 lbs. working load. Our 1-1/2" wide straps are made to aircraft industry specs. They are rated at an amazing 6600 lbs. test and 2250 lbs. working load. Tie-down strap with a soft tie loop provides a strong and flexible attachment at the motorcycle. Tie-down straps are available with either ratchet or cam buckles. Ratchet tie-downs let you increase the tension on the motorcycles suspension, which in turn will reduce shock loading the straps when the trailer hits a bump. Shock loading occurs when the motorcycle's suspension compresses to absorb the shock. The tie-down straps go slack and then are snapped tight as the suspension expands. To eliminate shock loading without requiring extreme compression of the front shock absorbers, a fork support is recommended.
We recommend that you tie-down the motorcycle by either the frame or a part solidly mounted to the frame of the bike. Two front and two on the side is adequate for most dirt bikes and small street motorcycles. The use of six ratchet tie-downs per bike, four at the front and two at the back will give you the maximum amount of safety for a large motorcycle. On most touring and sport bikes we recommend using two sets of ratchet straps with soft loops to surround the triple tree. One set pulling the front tire directly into the chock and the second pulling forward and out to the side. On Harley Davidson motorcycles the reversed forks require a different technique. Move to the front of the engine where the frame meets the crash bars (if so equipped, or where it would meet the crash bars if not) and repeat the four strap tie-down mentioned above. At the back of the bike we recommend that you tie a soft loop around the passenger handgrips, the passenger foot pegs, or the rear frame of the bike itself. This will require a little bit of experimentation as your bike may have pipes or other parts that could interfere with the strap's run. Things to watch out for would include dull as well as sharp corners as chafe is a major cause of strap failure and hot pipes or anything that might be damaged if a metal portion of the ratchet contacts a chromed part of the bike. Sometimes interference or contact can be avoided by reversing the strap, which would move where the ratchet sits in relation to the bike.
Finally attach the straps to eyebolts mounted in the frame or flooring. If your flooring is wood use locknuts and large washers to avoid loosening or even worse having the eyebolts pulled through the wood due to shock loading. Always check your tie-down points for tightness.
Motorcycle Tie-down Tips
Tie-down straps should form a 45-degree angle between the bike and floor, consequently the lower on the bike that the tie-downs are the closer to the bike the floor tie-downs can be and still be secure. When towing two or three motorcycles SportUtilityTrailers.com recommend the use of extension tie-down brackets to achieve this angle on the outside tie-downs.
Do NOT tie-down handlebars if they are rubber mounted or not firmly attached to the front end.
Do NOT use rear bag guards to tie-down the motorcycle. They will be pulled right off of the bike.
Never put a cover on your motorcycle when towing it on an open trailer. Grit and tiny movements of the cover will "sand" the paint right off of your motorcycle.
Don't go for the "cheapest" straps when securing your motorcycle. The price to repair your bike will be far greater than the money saved buying economy straps.
Step By Step Motorcycle Tie-down Procedure
Locate and attach ratchet straps to the eyebolts on the trailer. Place back straps in a position where they can be reached from the seat of the motorcycle.
If you are loading two dressers and the handlebars or fairings appear to conflict try reversing one of the bikes positions on the trailer.
Start and warm up the motorcycle then ride or walk it onto the trailer. Insure that the bike is straight in the rail/ wheel chock and then while still on the bike attach the rear tie-down straps and tighten until the bike is firmly in place. Get off the bike and attach the front tie-down straps so that the bike is firmly in place. When you are finished the bike should be completely upright and straight. Shaking the bike should only cause trailer motion and very little bike movement.
| ||||||
| ||||||
| ||||||
| ||||||
| ||||||
End of story ~
