1967 B44 Rear Brake Shennanigans

This is the rear brake pedal arrangement on a 1967 BSA B44.

By 1967 the threat to the British motorcycle industry was not something that was hiding somewhere over the far distant eastern horizon, it was, in fact. a clear and present danger to the very survival of the industry itself.

Including the pedal and various washers there are 27 components that go into this assembly alone! Whilst their passion for maintaining good and solid engineering principles can be applauded, the cost in parts and labour must have been very high, and this is a pattern carried on throughout the bike.

At 441cc this bike was in direct competition with the fabled Honda CB450 "Black Bomber" and, one suspects, had to be sold at a loss to bring the price down to compete on the showroom floors.

We all know what happened 5 years later!

PRE-UNIT TRIUMPH CASES......ON STEROIDS!

The world's strongest Triumph crankcases are being manufactured by Donny Coveney in Australia.

 CNC machined from aircraft grade "6 series" aluminum alloy, rather than cast like others, ensures accuracy and consistency of every pair. These cases are the ideal foundation if you fancy a Triumph that puts out double the power of any Twin that came out of Meriden. Capable of handling the horsepower from big bore cylinders, hot cams, nitro fuel, stroker cranks, and superchargers without coming apart at the seams.

Supplied with a timing cover set up for RH crank seal and RH ignition as used on unit Triumphs, but maintaining the ability to run the original rear mounted ignition, these cases have got most every option covered when putting a motor together.

Designer Donny, has used these cases in roadracers and dragracers that produce 90 plus horsepower, and are capable of taking much more. 

They come Complete with hardware, these cases incorporate many improvements over stock Triumph cases, and are definitely the way to go if building a Triumph to be reckoned with.

Allen bolts are stainless, base stud inserts are 4140 chromoly, and cases are supplied ready to accept 72mm Superblend crank bearings for the ultimate in reliability.

Triumph Of Mystery Lost To History

Scored this great little book from Franz and Grubb a week or so ago, it's full of really useful information that is as relevant today as it was when it was first published in 1968.

This picture appears on page 72 with no more information than that seen in this scan. Searching Google reveals nothing other than one other picture that is shown below.

It seems amazing that such a major piece of modification and ingenuity has somehow been lost to the mists of time, unless anybody out there knows any more.

Rubber Suspenders

Had an idea to make up some rubber mounts for a while, and this is as good a time as any.

The holes in the rear mudguard were drilled 8.2 mm as it was known they were going to be pilotting the 1/2" Q Max hole punch. Punching the hole gives a lot cleaner edge to the hole, not like the hexagon a regular drill can give through thin shit.

The grommets are straight forward 1/2" (12.5 mm) wiring grommets, the top hats have been turned to match the bore diameter and thickness less 0.5 mm, just to snug up the fit.

Punching through......

..................... knocked out..................

................bushed in.

The guard weighs less than the bracketry, so it's difficult to see it not being alright.

I like this shot.

Rear Guard Taking Up A Position

Skankweasel went out for a little trip to Martin's shop yesterday to get a little bit of TIG action going on the rear mudguard mounts. Had these bits water jet cut, nice finish, cleaner than Laser but worth the extra? I'm not so sure.

The brackets were cut with a 10 degree angle to allow for the curve of the guard. The tabs were welded on to the bracket after being bolted to the guard, to get the angle.

The bottom mount bolts to two 3/4" long bosses welded to the frame cross member. Not a thing I'm normally down with, but this rear section has had so much abuse over the years that it's not really heresy to weld extras to it.

The top mount is the same bracketry but picks up on the standard rear guard tapped holes.

There's still the rear loop/stay to sort out, and as it's aluminium a bit of rubber mounting will help.

Skankweasel Loses His Head!

The head is being sent down to Eric at the Historic Engine Company for him to work his magic.

The inlet rocker box mating face has obviously been skimmed at some time, clipping the guides in the process.

Combustion chambers are in great shape, although one inlet seat is sitting deeper than the others.

This picture was meant to show the standard inlet ports but it hasn't quite worked out. In standard form the ports are very smooth and of even cross section down their length. Don't know if Eric will feel it can be improved upon, we'll have to wait for that answer.

Q:, Why Do Americans Run Spool Hubs On Springers?

A:, Because They Can!

Having spoke to a couple of people regarding setting up a drum brake on a set of springers, I came away with a bad impression, they both said that the suspension locks up when the brake is applied! That can't be right, leastways not if the geometry is correct to start with, it is only the most simple of four bar linkage arrangements after all. As long as the relationship between the rocker, the brake plate and the length of the stay form an accurate parallelogram I can't see any reason at all why the suspension shouldn't continue to function......................Bet it does on standard H-D's!!!

Possibly thinking too deeply about it,  I started to convince myself that the brake plate itself also needs bushing to allow it to rotate/float on the spindle to allow for the change in angle between the spindle and the anchor point. Laid out the brake stay arrangement on CAD to figure out how much movement was involved, and whaddya know, in a perfect scenario there is no change in the dimension. The bottom drawing in the horizontal position shows the gap between the stay pivot point and the spindle is 31.68 mm, and at 15 degrees of rise, shown in the picture above that dimension is constant. I did a further check at 30 degrees of movement and the number remained the same. 

Of course that's all well and good in the virtual world of CAD where everything is perfect and lines and holes are in exactly the right place. Bush the plate anyway,.........maybe!

A fully functioning CAD system can be downloaded HERE

Lustful Friday

Pic from  Todds Cycles

Started thinkin' about handlebar clamps to sit atop the TFMW springers on the Tiger Ton Ten, and after a few wrong turnings arrived at a set of these. Got the right vintage feel and should suit the period vibe,  exactly.  These are being made by Misumi out of Japan and look the Muttz Nuttz, the price is the only stumbling block, about  £220 over the counter in the US with shipping and possible customs duty on top of that. The brass is also a slight problem, there's been a conscious effort to avoid the use of "fools gold" on this build, which means a chroming bill on top of it all. Having said all that, there's still no Fat Lady tuning up yet and so there may still be a set slipping in under the radar.

1963 Bonneville..... Ya Live and Learn

Saw this '63 Bonnie up Geoff's a couple of days ago, one owner for very nearly all it's life it has never been messed with until the new owner decided to restore it!

Showing in excess of 83.000 on it's original Chronometric the motor certainly needed a freshen up. Sludge Trap so solid the guy didn't believe there was a hole in there!

I'll post full pics soon but the point of the post is, for the rivet counters, the pump slotted down alongside the gearbox back post.

Only fitted here in '63, the first year of the unit 650's along with the drop down tool roll holder seen just behind it. Not earth shattering information I'll grant you, but a handy snippet to drop into the conversation if you're checking out an early sixties Bonnie.

They all do that Sir.............................

...................... or, screw ya period correctness!!!!!!

You may remember when this was bought for the A7, all new in the box, direct from AMAL and the right spec for the model and year. Fitted a treat and looks so damn fine and, well... correct really. When we got the Beezer running a couple of weeks ago, there was a bit of a drip out of the carb but we was on a roll man, and starting it for the first time was the order of the day.

Stripped the carb yesterday to find the problem, easy enough to see where it was coming from, and that was from a small hole at the top of the threaded section at the bottom of the main body. Not visible in the picture but it's machined in there as a key slot for the main jet block. Took the float bowl off and then the larger "Mixing Chamber Union Nut" above and found a fibre washer in there. Figuring that the washer was at fault and seeing as it wasn't a cheap thing to buy a phone call to AMAL seemed in order. 

Called their Technical Help department today and spoke to a decent enough sounding bloke there. As soon as I started to describe the problem he more or less took the words out of my mouth and told me exactly what it was doing! Apparently they all do that when a) the engine is not running and b) if the carb is tilted over by more than 12 degrees. He was pretty much on the money on both counts, the drips come when the bike's on the side stand with the motor stopped, and the leak stops when the bike is brought up level off of the stand, and the small hole draws air into the pilot circuit when the engine is running. So it seems that there's a strict start and stop procedure  to be adopted with regards to when the old juice is allowed to flow, yeah like I'll remember that on a Saturday night! 

Chopped Triumphs......In The Black

Agonised about doing this for a while, but in the end subtlety won the day, and now I'm glad it did.

Anybody who followed the Beezer build will know that parts that scream for attention don't really cut it around here. But the rewards are there for those that take the time to look a little closer. The black powder coat has not detracted from the high engineering quality of Joe's mounts but on the other hand, the mounts will now, not diminish the overall theme of the bike.

Well that's the plan anyway!

Long Chain Cases.................Back in Black

As promised earlier, here's the chain cases finished and ready for fitting. The picture doesn't  show the full quality of Otto's paint here, it really does look wet. Toying with the idea of running a 428 "O" ring chain on the primary, that and Surflex clutch plates will mean there will be no need to put oil in these. Less chance of the occasional drip of perspiration being left on the floor underneath.

Should be a few steps closer by the end of the day so stay tuned.

Triumph Cast Parts Available From England!

Came across Jon's blog yesterday and was really impressed with what he is doing down in Devon. 

I served my apprenticeship in a steel foundry and have got a good idea what's involved. It's certainly not an enterprise to be taken lightly.

It's good to see someone from England giving it a go for a change, and BIW wishes him all the success he deserves.

Late unit stuff at the moment but Jon promises more in the future, finned timing covers I hope!

Nice one Jon

New Gun In Town

Posted a pic of the primary cases last weekend, still wet and still on the rack.

Went up to collect the finished, dry article today, the finish will blow you away, straight from the gun it takes some taking in, this boy is special.

A perfectionist, that's beyond question, the cases I'll post later but here is a sample of his resto work.

He comes from a custom background and as yet I've not been priviledged to see his more creative style but one look at this, his recent work is enough to whet the taste buds .

Needless to say the paint on Newgate's Knocker is being laid by him and Johnny has already committed to the resto work on his '49 Speed Twin.

Shit Man, I ain't got a Brough, but if you did you would think you'd check out the options available.

I've been 'round long enough to know my opinions are worth diddley squat, but I know what i like, even the little lady likes Otto's work.

If you want paint laying down and rattle cans are not the answer any more contact the man, you will live to be thankful.

Lucas K2F Mag...................NEATO!!!!

No point in running any old Brit that's fitted with a magneto, unless there's some history behind the mag itself. It's no good spinning one by hand and being happy because it throws a spark, it's got to be capable of doing that a few thousand times a minute when it's hot! On the bags containing condensors supplied as spares by The Prince of Darkness himself it states that they have a shelf life of 10 years!

So it was off to see Chip to get the mag and dynamo sorted out, firstly because that's what he does, secondly he's a long time mate and thirdly because the A7 started first kick, good enough credentials there then.

Here's the mag shortly after delivery, solid but somewhat tired and in need of Dr. Chip's love and attention. 

Anybody that's followed this drivel over the last couple of years may of noticed that detail plays a part in the way we operate around here. But, a mags a mag right? a self contained provider of sparks and pretty well sorted for that back in the day, not a lot you can do with it. Well the name of this Tiger 110 is Newgate's Knocker, so let's do it black with bling.

The body went off to the powder coaters and the small detail parts went off to the platers, in the mean time Chip polished up the few natural brass parts. This is the reunion after the various vacations were completed and the bits are ready for some serious Spark City partying.

Ladies and Gentlemen, introducing, in bitchin' black, the finished article.

It ain't a competition mag but the red label looks tougher and it'll fool thems that don't know, and thems that do know probably won't speak any way! 

 If you need a mag that requires reconditioning, and want this treatment, any colour you like give Chip a ring on the number at the top left of the page. If you need a mag for your project and don't have one, why piss about getting a second hand one of the bay, he can supply reconditioned units outright as well.

Triumph..................Class on a Plate

‘Two nations separated by a common language.’  George Bernard Shaw.

Due to a slight misunderstanding between ourselves and Joe at Chopped Triumphs there are now two pairs of the bitchinest front plates in Christendom over here in England, and they are up for grabs.

These plates will fit dynamo type pre-unit Triumph 500s and 650s, they will of course fit the alternator type as well if you don't mind the hole, although alternator types (without the hole) are available.  The fit and finish is second to none and will pop straight on in place of the stock steel numbers. 

Price here in the UK is £100.00 per pair and that includes the postage in the UK.

If you want either of the two pairs available, get in early and claim your's by reserving a pair in the comments box, or take your chances and e-mail.

Triumph Unobtanium, Wrought From The Horn Of A Unicorn

This has just come on the bay here in England, New Old Stock, made in the sixties, post 62 according to the men on JJ who know far more about these things. A racing equipment upgrade for the pre unit Tiger 100, allegedly carved from Unicorn Horn, such is the rarity of these. What appears to be shit is the original factory Cosmoline, used for protection. There can't be many if any more out there like this nowadays. If you're really keen and find it a must have, it's got a buy now of UK£1400. if you're still keen it's HERE.

The same bloke is also selling yet another new example complete with NOS  15/16" GP carbs, and float chamber for a buy now of UK£2700. Check that out HERE

Things of absolute beauty and objects of lustful desire for sure, to have and to hold would be a joy. BUT............. then what would you do, 

• Put it on the shelf and wait for the investment to go up?
• Bolt it on and run it like it was intended, instantly halving the value?
• Drop it in the ecstasy of the unpacking ritual and break a couple of fins? 

Joe Lucas.......Prince of Darkness

This came through earlier today, again not the greatest of pics but you get the idea, it's a tie pin, lapel badge type of deal but it's gonna end up on the dynamo end cover!

Looking For That Period Twist

The underlying theme for the Ton Ten build is to try and create something that looks like a Factory Custom that Triumph could have built in 1955, if such things had existed back then of course. So rather than rely on the usual transfers/decals to spell it out, some original cast badges were sourced to go on the tank sides. A tank scored from Guy of GKM fame by the way.

Barry took the tank and badges and made some small bosses to weld into the tank sides to fix the Triumph logos. Drilled and tapped M3, suppose it should have been 1/8" Cycle Thread really, just to keep the authenticity train a'rollin'.

All mounted and looking mighty fine, he also made and fitted the bosses on the bottom to mount the tank, it will save having to drill or weld the frame rail.