mike wilson

If you look on the right side (rider seated looking forward) of the engine, just back from the pushrod tunnel, there is a cable termination attached to an arm and spring. I suspect this is the other end of that cable. Try it and see if it moves. It may just need slack taking up. I say "almost" because this is _not_ a 1938 motorcycle. It has been restored at least once. It has, at least, modern tyres, paint and probably loads of other stuff. We really have no idea if this is how it looked when it came out the gates. It is a very pretty and desireable machine but it is no longer of any interest as a real historical artefact. It just looks like one. So, to my way of thinking, you should use it as it was intended. If, however, you could prove that it had gone to that shop in Libya and never moved from there until now I would have a vastly different opinion.

Thanks for the tip. What strength acid are we talking about? It comes in a range from something not quite as strong as vinegar to something that has corrosive fumes that will damage your eyes and lungs in a very short time. As you are talkiing about dipping a Qtip in it, I assume you are talking about something like 2molar (2normal). The sort of stuff you play with at school.

Extra lever (the end plug one) will more likely be a decompressor. It usually inserts a wedge on the exhaust lifter, keeping the valve open for ease of turning the engine over when starting. Good to use for engine braking at slow speeds in the dirt, too. Neutral finders are usually found on the gearbox itself. Almost too nice to ride. Almost......

Not only. There is also the litigation angle. If, as a manufacturer, you do not supply an easily bolt-onable part for repair, you are increasingly leaving yourself open to litigation from the sort of mouthbreathing dunderhead who will bollox up a job and then blame _you_ for not making it cretinously easy. A friend tried to drive from Alaska to Chile some decades ago. Apart from the Jeep falling apart on the way (it finished somewhere in Central America with all doors welded shut and other bodges to prevent it expiring completely - unsuccessfully) one of the most difficult things was finding ways of repairing it. In the dealer: Duff wheel bearing? No, you can't get a bearing but we will sell you a hub to exchange. Want to do it in our workshop? It's over four years old? Take a hike. In the auto spares shop: You want a puller? Are you professional motor engineers? No? Sorry. All (allegedly) due to fear of litigation.

Motorcycle servicing as a spectator sport? You colonials....... 8-) I'm only jealous.

Now there's a name. In the early/mid70's I bought an album called "Flash Fearless vs the Zorg Women" (nowt on Youtube, sadly) a group effort co-ordinated by John Entwhistle and featuring Elkie Brooks, Alice Cooper, Jim Dandy and others. A parody Flash Gordon concept album, it featured a ballad sung by James Dewar. I couldn't find any reference to him anywhere. Took quite a while before I realised I was looking for the guy out of Stone the Crows. Sadly gone before by the time I did find him. http://www.scifi.com/sfw/sound/sfw9367.html

Anything that's markedly _different_ to the other engines would be useful. Many thanks in advance.

Time you had a shillelagh. Will try to get it in the post in the next week.

Wait for it........ If you search the forum, you will find a wealth of information (much more than you could possibly want) on how to dial in your suspension. I strongly recommend you do that and _then_ start asking questions.

Not according to their lights......

That got my attention, too. Bent frames don't "get worse" generally. A cracked one probably will - until it fails catastrophically. From the limited description, I get the impression that there is something wrong with the spine of your bike, which is getting worse. You need to stop using it, now. Or, preferably, sooner.

Manifestly a parody of a parody. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEJDDcTz0TA Sorry, I can't find a decent version. You will have to use headphones to get the best out of it.

Not reason, reasons: 1. sound 2. feel 3. to a lesser extent, until it becomes the norm, appearance. Amenable in what sense? Form? Power output? Exhaust noise?

Tyres are hotter coming out of the mould than they ever will be in normal use. If there was going to be terminal degradation from heat alone it would happen then. Your link is the same as my first one. Who is Jim Allen?

So I google "heat cycle" with "tyre" and "race" and one of the first things to come up is this thread... Then: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/tec...e.jsp?techid=66 A race tyre heat cycling system. Quote "Avon, Hoosier, Kumho and Yokohama all recommend that their competition tires be "heat cycled" before being run in competition." More advice from Avon: http://www.avonracing.com/tech/advice.htm A few other interesting sites in the list but nothing to really get your teeth into. Although it's _possible_ that race tyre chemistry is so dramatically different from the road version that it can only tolerate a much more limited number of heat cycles, it seems , to me, that the real reason for retiring a race tyre after very limited use is that it is completely shagged out from other causes.

It's that article that triggered the question because nowhere in there does it explain why a race tyre will only tolerate one heat cycle. Plenty of explanation of the other factors involved but not the heat cycle thing. My curiosity has been piqued. I smell an urban legend....

Sorry, I was hibernating.

Roper. 'Cos he's in Canberra.

In the Porky thread, Ratchet said (amongst many other things) I can understand that a race tyre should be at its expiry point as the race ends, having given its all in the process. But I can find no evidence for the above. In F1, for instance, tyres are often used more than once. Admittedly not used to their full potential at first but they are certainly heat cycled more than once. Can anyone explain the chemistry involved?

Hmmm. Now, who could Fritz Egli (of VINCENT-Egli fame) possibly owe the idea of a spine frame to? Clue: not Vincent....

Ooooh, I think you've been "got" BFG. I took the "big headed" reference to be a pun on Small Faces. Sadly, my "fire" reference was indeed an indication of my twisted sense of humour. He really doesn't need a doctor any more. http://www.stevemarriott.co.uk/stevestory4.htm (second to last paragraph) Is it a coincidence that my favourite Small Faces track is (seriously, for once) "Afterglow"?

Excellent news! When does the t-shirt come out?

More like bare-faced boasting. The voices are rather similar, though..... They have a certain fire in them.

Indeed not. I would need a _much_ bigger tank.

If they've gone green you are braking too hard or need a bigger set of leathers.