Me And This Motorcycle

This blog is becoming redundant. I am shifting everything over to Smoke and Throttle

2011-08-26T05:09:00.000-07:00

Two blogs about the same thing, basically. Starting now, I am posting all my updates on my bike projects on my primary blog, Smoke And Throttle. Make sure you check that site, and link up with us on facebook for regular update notices, plus additional thoughts and comments: Facebook.com/smokeandthrottle.

My other blog also has interesting articles on other bikes, shops, events and other vintage motorcycle news. Please add us!

Wheel building

2011-08-20T11:46:00.001-07:00

Got the rear wheel laced up and ready for the truing stand, I'll let you know how that goes. Being stainless steel, which has a lower tensile strength than regular steel, the nipples and spokes must be greased for proper seating and preloaded with a much higher torque to allow for stretching. The end result is a nice clean wheel that won't rust. The 66 Bonnie is slowly coming together though!

Finding the drive side of the wheel involves measuring the nipples in place. The largest gap between the indicates the drive side.

Greasing the spokes so that they don't bind up.

First set of outer spikes go anti-clockwise.

Next set goes in clockwise.

Drive side done, next is the right side (shift side)

All laced and ready to true! More to come as I fumble my way through this.

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Location:S High St,West Chester,United States

New motorcycle in the shop, 1966 Triumph t120 Bonneville

2011-07-06T18:38:00.000-07:00

Not to be confused with the T120r, this is the UK spec bike with different paint, fender, tail light and tag holder, bars tank (though I don't have the original larger tank yet) etc... Heres what it could look like.

cleaned up a few parts with the bead blaster

they call em basket cases for a reason.

not sure what these are for, they looked ground...

Engine in good shape with compression

coming apart for powder coating

66 tr6r tank, us market, not correct, but will do for now

1958 BSA b33 tins stripped and sent off for paint

2011-06-05T04:56:00.000-07:00

I finally collected ALL the correct trim for the B33. Front and rear fenders, new tool box and oil tank, Nacelle etc... I stripped them all and sent them off to my friend Brent Combs, who will do his magic with banging out the dents and laying down the paint. All the brackets will be powder coated in my shop and the bike will get a thorough cleaning and polishing before rewiring. I hope to have this on the road sometime this summer!

BSA B33 bits getting a chemical peel.

paint-less, ready for bead blasting

Rear fender. Correct front fender came last week and is already stripped .

51 Triumph Bobber coming together

2011-06-05T04:47:00.000-07:00

Now that I've moved a few bikes out of the shop, I finally have time to get tom my 51 speed twin. A quick mock up shows a few issues I'll have to deal with. Pillion pad a little high, saddle a little low etc... Once together, I'll ride it, tune it, work out the kinks - then tear it down this winter for boring, valves, pro paint job etc....

1951 Triumph Speed Twin Bobber

BSA stripped of non b33 parts and carefully examined

2011-03-22T17:16:00.000-07:00

The rougher looking of the two bikes turns out to have the better motor and frame. Once I removed the Harley rear mudguard and the honda front mudguard, I the bike started to look less of a mess and more of a classic. I swapped the ape hangers for a set of triumph bars - not correct but more inspiring while I wheel it around to work on. The motor still has compression, and theres still oil in the tank so it turns over pretty nicely. I just need to figure out the wiring of the alternator contact breaker set up so I can see if she'll start. Wouldn't that be a change - A running motorcycle!

Looks better already!

Wiring nightmare.

1958 BSA B33 project

2011-03-18T15:07:00.000-07:00

Picked up two 1958 barn fresh BSA B33's, pretty complete, albeit not all original or pretty. The 1st bike I plan on getting running, then do a full restoration when I get time. I'll ride her ugly I don't care. The second is for sale, a little rougher, or if no one wants it, it'll be parted out.

Seat is from an older b33, not sure if it's correct or not.

bars look like old italians, not original, kinda cool, but not very functional .

black and white pipes, haha.

This ones for sale, ignore the ape hangers and sportster tail.

Loose chain wheel due to damaged mainshaft

2011-03-12T03:41:00.000-08:00

After discovering there was a lot of play on the primary chain wheel on the clutch, I pulled all the guts from the primary case and discovered a badly work mainshaft. I called up a friend, who I recently met, that has a massive inventory of triumph parts. I asked him if he had the 5 speed mainshaft, which he did, so I drove over (20 minutes!) and picked it up along with new nuts and washers. Brilliant. Didn't have to go to ebay or wait for mail order, plus my friend charged a very fair price. An hour later I was rebuilding the trans - which only took three attempts.... the key is to gob lots of grease on the shift-dogs to hold them in place until you can get all the gears in place and the spindle through the three dogs and lock it up. Next up is inner and out gearbox reassembly and gear indexing. Thenreplace primary chain and alternator. If I don't find any other major problems I should be getting VERY close to having thi on the road. I really can't wait to ride this bike - OIF Triumphs aren't my favorite, but with a few aesthetic mods this bike is beautiful and hopefully should be reliable... well as reliable as a brit bike can be.

Lots of wear on taper.

New Main shaft in place.

Transmission rebuilt. All gears look good!

One Step Forward two steps back

2011-03-08T16:09:00.000-08:00

The crank in the donor engine was so rusted that it was impossible to get it out of the cases without doing damage to the threads and splines. Not a major problem, I knew the donor was seized up so I wasn't counting on the crank to be useable - though it would've been nice. I took the timing side engine bushing and compared it to the new "5ta" crank I snagged on the 'bay, but oh no, whats this? It's no a match. I think the crank I bought, listed as a 5ta is actually a 5T pre unit model, which is totally different. Argh!!!!!!!!!!

The bushing should be flush with the Crank spindle.

A good cm or so longer.

Gathering parts for the 1960 T100a

2011-02-22T16:17:00.000-08:00

Quickly gathering all the parts to get this sweet little ride together. Transmission arrived today. Picked up the bathtubs and front fender from a fine gent out west (who shipped them very fast). A huge thank you to Al Hartman who supplied me with a donor engine to salvage parts from and a SPARE FRAME! After comparing the two, I realized that my frames rear section was missing all the key tabs for the seat and bathtub. Fortunately I can swap the two rear sections and still have the correct numbers on my frame. I also made a very fair deal on a top nacelle (still need the legs) as well as some parts for my speed twin. Thanks for everything Al, I can't wait for our two T100's to meet! Triumph Come Home Rally 2012 will be all about bathtubs!

Bathtub, fender and donor crank case.

Forks on bench, spare frame, shiny wheels.

Nacelle and engine bottom and top ends.

Donor engine soaking in Parts Blaster, waiting for pinion puller.

Front fender. Box full of my dads old number plates. Viva 25.

Bathtub is for a 3ta, so sadly, the original paint will be stripped.

Pulled apart 1960 Triumph T100A project. Waiting on Bonnie Parts

2011-02-07T16:16:00.000-08:00

Still waiting on a few parts for the Triumph, so I took some time to clean the shop. My neighbor, Woody, contributed his skills with carpentry to help make this sturdy work bench. Plenty of work space now!

I have a number of projects on the back burner. One of which was always intended to be on the back burner, a 1960 Triumph T100A. This is one of the first Unit Twins Triumph produced. The engine is set up very similar to the Tiger Cub T20, complete with a Lucas Distributor (one of the few years this was ever used on a 500.) This will take some time finding the right parts. Ideally a basket case 500 unit engine will find it's way to my garage... If anyone has one get in touch. Plus I need a donor primary side crank case to fix some damage to the one pictured below. Gotta keep those numbers matching you know?

Some pictures of the progress:

Sweet Ape Hangers. Check out the hose clamps that keep em on!
Don't worry, I'm saving those bars for something else...

Chrome Oil tank looks like it goes to a bigger bike.
Chrome was not stock and will be replaced.

Yikes, major gap above chain case, this can be fixed,
but I'll need a donor case to chop. Got a broken spare?
Get in touch, any 500 unit case should do.

Chrome swing arm, brake stay and brake plate... hmm.

Plastic "chrome" wrap on speedo cable.
The cable is in great shape amazingly.

This wheel should clean up nicely - it did see below.

Stanchions are rusty but were originally covered by the nacelle. Forks are stock.

I need parts! This timing cover didn't have the points plate...
thats in the distributor.

Somewhere in those leaves are the correct cams

Chrome is badly peeled on swing arm, no worry, should be black anyway.

Buggered threads made the removal of this nut tough,
but I got it off. It's nice having a sturdy bench that doesn't shake
when using the vice for jobs like this!

Inside of brake looks nice and clean, no rust.

Dirty parts laid out for evaluation.

This serial confirms its a 1960. This would be a "bathtub" model.
Google it.

Cleaned up NICE! Original paint on rim looks pretty good.

Forks disassembled, cleaned and ready for rebuild. Need seals.

Crankcases after the auto parts washer. No other damage.

Wow, a pile of parts is turning into...

2011-01-21T16:42:00.000-08:00

a motorcycle! A few missing bolts are being ordered - had them but lost them (never fails). I mounted the Boyer power box (which eliminates the zener diode, the condensers and rectifier) under the battery tray. This box eliminates the need for a battery all together, but the battery helps when starting the bike so I'm keeping it. Spring can't come soon enough!

Bonnie is coming together!

2011-01-18T15:01:00.000-08:00

Got the rear wheel on, front forks rebuilt and on, headlight, clocks, chain etc... Next up, front wheel, wiring and carbs. plus a laundry list of little things that need to be buttoned up.

Timing gears lined up, oil lines hooked up. slight snag.

2011-01-14T18:48:00.000-08:00

One step forward, two steps back. I hooked up the oil lines and with oil in the reservoir, I kicked it over hoping to see oil entering the rocker boxes. Nothing. I'm worried that because the guy who owned this bike prior to me, powder coated the oil feeds to the rocker boxes and they may not be lining up properly.

Snag number two: It appears that the Gear box cover is from an early 60's unit and has no oil plug. Where does the oil for the gears go? Plus the bottom gearbox cover screw wont go in. It's also missing the dowel that lines it up on the inside. that is probably the reason it won't go together. My dilemma is since the covers were all chromed (poorly) do I buy a later gearbox cover and chrome it? At that point I'd probably want to re-chrome the others since their already pealing. Remind me to never buy someones halfway finished projects ever again...

Trying to shoehorn the engine back in the Bonnie

2011-01-06T17:29:00.000-08:00

I wrestled the motor into the frame while on it's side. I couldn't seem to get the front engine mounts to line up with the bolt hole in the engine, so I attached the back side brackets loosely and righted the bike. Still no luck. I got the engine tightened up hoping the back side brackets would line up the front but still no luck. I loosened all the mounting bolts to see if I could wiggle the engine into alignment and guess what... No dice. This is probably a two man job. After 2 hours of sweating and swearing, I called it a night. The motor looks nice back in the frame though!

TriBSA Update

2010-12-31T12:11:00.001-08:00

I'm feeling a little in over my head with the tuning of this motor. I've decided to scale back a bit, start with a solid running, fine tuned, Pre unit engine and make it fit the frame. Tricking out the engine will come, possibly on the second 650 motor I have cases for. That way I can do the heavy mods and possibly do billet con rods new crank and do it right from the ground up. It's going to take a lot of time and money - both of which I don't have much to spare at this moment.

This morning I took my barrels over to a local machinist who specializes in performance engines. My neighbor Woody knows him from way back and is having him do the total engine rebuild on his A10. I am having the one hole in the engine case repaired (its right where the dynamo attaches. They are also boring the cylinder out to fit the .06 oversize pistons. Hopefully I'll have those back in the near future...

Push Rods are in, clearances are set

2010-12-30T15:30:00.000-08:00

After wrestling with seating the push-rods into the tappets for another half hour, I finally got them in. I reset all the bolts to 10lbs of torque and set my valve clearances to .05mm inlet and .10mm exhaust. Gaskets are en-route, so once they arrive I can button the engine up, and reinstall it into the frame.

Dealing with the known problems

2010-12-29T16:56:00.000-08:00

One of the issues I discovered back in the summer right before I parked this project, was the fork stanchions were mangled and stripped at the top, preventing the fork nuts from catching a thread. I ordered new stanchions but never installed them because right after that I found the sand in the oil reservoir. I laid everything out, pulled the guts out of the old stanchions, assembled the new set but decided new fork seals were in order. I ordered them as well as a handful of other bits I need to finish this bike up. The other issue was in the inlet rocker box. One of the push-rods was not seated on the tappet. I pulled the cover off and found the push rod wedged between the tappet and the base of the tube. There was also a nice gouge in the metal rocker cover which I ground down to avoid rubbing against the rocker arms. These things are a pain in the rear to get back together. The BSA A65 is so much easier to see what your doing. I successfully got the push rod into place but not before the other jumped out. I decided to call it a day since it was getting late and the dogs needed dinner.

Triumph Bonneville Update

2010-12-28T15:47:00.000-08:00

I bought this bike back in April of 2010. It was advertised as a 99% complete restoration. Powder coating, chrome, rebuilt engine, just needed a seat and a few bits to get it finished. The guy said he needed money and at 2500, it seemed like a steal. I saw it at night and it looked great...

Over the next few days I found chipped and peeling chrome, chipped and "orange peeled" powder coat, areas where grey powder was used without cleaning the black out of the gun leaving a dirty look to the finish etc... After finding the oil reservoir was full of sand blast grit, this project went on the back burner. I tried and tried to flush the sand out of the frame but it just kept coming. This week I've had some time off so I broke down the bike, pulled the engine and did what I should've done from the get go, a complete teardown and rebuild. I flushed the frame with an auto-parts washer at different angles for 24 hrs, than rinsed it with water until I didnt see anything coming out of the frame. After that I rinsed it another 5 times. I quickly dried it with compressed air to avoid rust and it's ready to go.

As for the frames powder coat,I decided to touch up the areas by removing any rust from the bare spots with sand paper, cleaning with acetone, and using some gloss black touch paint and clear coat. Its barely noticeable and I'm so over the fact that this isn't the show bike I thought i was buying last spring.

using the lathe to make longer fork bushings

2010-12-20T18:37:00.000-08:00

This is for the speed twin. I want to compress the forks slightly to keep the frame angle the same with the new 21" front wheel as it was with a 19" front wheel. The lathe is old and i'm still learning how to use it, but this bushing has taken 8 hours to turn so far. It's almost done, but theres got to be a faster way.

Removing the BSA A10 swing arm and silent block bushings.

2010-12-15T03:16:00.000-08:00

Currently I have two A10 frames in my shop. One is mine for my future TriBSA and the other is my neighbor Woody's. who is restoring his. My frame is the later type which has the hollow swing arm spindle for a right hand side rear brake. Woody's is a 1955 and it is still seized up inside those silent block bastards.

Anyway, I applied some parts blaster around the nut on the right hand side of the frame to help loosen everything up. I removed the nut as well as the small bolt on the left side that holds the flat side of the main spindle-bolt to the frame. I rethreaded the nut to the spindle (just a couple of threads so that there was an inch of thread exposed below it), propped the bikes left side up off the floor with a 2x4 and with a piece of scrap wood as a buffer, I gave it a few sharp taps with a mallet. Eureka! It eased down an inch. I removed the nut and using a spare socket (I believe 14mm was a close match) I tapped the spindle though the swing arm, adding spare 14mm sockets as the spindle sunk deeper and deeper until it popped out the other side. Now the 1st thread on the spindle was a bit bodged up, but I took it to the grinder to bevel it out and the nut went right back on.

The bushings are two metal sleeves, one inner and one outer, separated by a rubber layer. Using a torch (outside of course) I burned the tip of the swing arm where the rubber was exposed. The rubber soon caught fire and with the continuous flame of the torch the rubber bubbled up and burned out in a few minutes - all from the tip of the swing arm - as the rubber burned off the rubber deeper inside expanded and bubbled out. after a few minutes I pulled the inner metal portion of the bushing out with some vice grips. I repeated this to the second side. With both inner sleeves removed I torched through the swing arm tube and burned out the rest of the rubber and scraped it out with metal rod. I kept waiting for the fire company or the EPA to show up as flakes of burning rubber embers were swirling around the ally and toxic fumes from the burning rubber surely offended at least a few neighbors.

The outer sleeves of the silent block bushings are the real bitch. They are two, roughly 2-3 inch long tubes pressed into the swing arm very tightly. I tried using a Dremmel with a cutting tool to score a line across the metal sleeve. The bit wore out before I got too far. I ended up spending the next hour and a half swearing sweating and breaking tools (2 files a hack saw blade and two screwdrivers, but I finally got a couple of cuts into the inner sleeve where I could pry it out with some channel locks. Not a pretty job and there's still one more inner sleeve to go.

Burning just the tips allowed the rubber to bubble up.

With vice grips I pulled the flaming inner sleeve out with ease.

The inner sleeve.

Burning out the excess rubber. I then scraped out the rest.

Voila!

Pulling the mangled outer sleeve from the swing arm.

I really had to butcher the sleeve to get it out.

Next up is Woody's older model with the solid bolt-spindle. This one is really seized.

all the kings horses and all the kings men...

2010-12-12T16:09:00.000-08:00

...couldn't get that goddam bolt out of the swing-arm. Silent block bushings were not the best thing the Brits ever came up with for motorcycle technology.

long term project year 2 TRIBSA cafe racer

2010-12-12T04:44:00.000-08:00

I started collecting parts about a year ago for some sort of ground up build. I wasn't sure at the time of what I wanted, only that I wanted to use a triumph 650 pre unit engine in some frame other than a standard triumph frame aka a special. Well after helping my neighbor rescue his 55 A10 from 40 years of deep storage, I started thinking about the beauty of the A10 frame. TriBSA cafe's are much less common than the Triton (which everybody seems to be building these days - most of which are not done very well). I have a frame and swing arm, a stock oil tank if needed, a possible set of forks, though I'm thinking Norton Roadholders, a massive twin dual lead front brake from a GS750 and a basket case pre unit 650 with trans with an extra set of cases, gear box case and the option of cast iron or alloy jugs. I need to figure out the rear tire, the gear ratio, carbs (thinking going balls-out twin AMAL GP's which will require a different cylinder head) Lucas competition mag and an assortment of engine mods and tuning to make it a road racer aka high compression pistons, race valves and springs race cams etc.... basically anything to make this run well at high speeds. This bike will NOT be a daily rider, but more of a street legal competition bike that eventually will see the track. I need to figure out the rear brake situation. I see a lot of people using conical brakes of OIF Triumphs or BSA's, and some using Norton Commando brakes. I know manx brakes and other super rare and expensive braking systems would be awesome, but short of a really great bargain find, I doubt I'll drop that kind of dough on the rear brake. Something later will be fine with me I have a rear wheel thats period correct for this frame but with the mother of all front brakes, the rear brake I have seems wimpy. As far as styling - I guess it'll all depend on what type of tank I can track down. I could go for a beefed up Goldie look, or more of a Manx style like the botton bike - though I'd probably use a manx seat at that point. The trim is the last thing on my mind right now. I want performance!

Any advice?

And now begins the tedious process of cleaning EVERYTHING

2010-11-20T05:04:00.000-08:00

Just started bead blasting all the little parts. Looking good so far, but this will take a while.

Hodaka power washed, ready for paint stripper

2010-11-18T13:56:00.001-08:00

Got all my parts laid out on a table. Everything with paint gets stripped and blasted, any usable chrome gets polished or blasted and powdered. Engine will be cleaned and rebuilt. New parts on the way to replace all the unusable stuff. My lift is now cleaned and ready for my bonneville rebuild.

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Hodaka tear down.

2010-11-15T18:49:00.000-08:00

I finally had a chance to tear into the Hodaka I picked up last week and it's been an adventure.

1st glance, the bike looks complete minus the gear shift side engine cover, tail light and coils. Heavy surface rust on most parts.

The surface rust on the forks came up withg a little WD-40 and some light buffing with steel wool.

Good enough for me, I want this to be a rider, not a show bike.

Aircraft stripper applied to some of the first loose parts that will be repainted. I bought some "early Hodaka red" paint from Strictly Hodaka.

I powder coated the replacement tail light bracket I bought on ebay. So far so good.

Tail pipe had a fair amount of soot inside. I took the outside to the wire wheel to clean off the rust and then gave it a fresh coat of high temp flat black paint. Nice.

Headlight bucket and tabs have been stripped and bead blasted.

Bike is starting to make my garage smell like Parts Blaster. Lots of rusty nuts and bolts. I'm finding that most of these will need to be replaced since their so rusted. For every one bolt I remove successfully, two break.

New engine cover arrived. Needs some cleaning but looks ok.

The battery must have leaked acid because everything in that area is rotted out. New Battery Box has been ordered.

Every time I tap the bike dirt and rust rain down from parts unknown. It seems like rust is whats holding most of this together.

Dead soldiers.

Tool box is rough, but clean replacements are scarce. I have an Idea for this, more on that later.

The seat cover is amazingly intact, but the foam is dry rotted underneath and part of the seat pan is rusted through. The seat cover is brittle and probably should be replaced with the foam. The pan I may try to repair. You can see one tab needs to be welded back on.

With a sharp blow from a mallet, I knocked the fork bolt (partially unscrewed and sticking up a half n inch) down to loosen the forks from the clamps. Looks like I need a new top clamp now as well. Doh.

Frame down to just the lower fork clamps. Need a special tool to remove those. Hopefully I'll come up with some other way to remove that part. I have to remind myself that there are loose bearings inside the fork neck. Can't lose those....

Engine needs a cleaning, but turns over and has compression, I'm hoping for the best but bracing for the worst.

More coming soon.

Winter project number TWO! 1970 HODAKA Ace 100

2010-11-08T03:58:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting a Hodaka Ace 100 for quite some time, and finally a very reasonably priced 1970 bike came up on craigslist. It has the title and the engine is free. Some part were robbed and some are too rusty to use, but I ordered everything I need including the official Hodaka Red (more of an orange really) for the frame and the badges for the tank. I'm not looking for factory finish, just a well sorted motor in a clean body (patina intact). This bike WILL be ridden.

51 Speed Twin winter project.

2010-11-05T12:11:00.000-07:00

After sorting out most of the issues with the BSA thunderbolt, I decided it was time to get into the 51 Speed Twin. The ugly seat had to go, so I ordered a vintage 60's era Bates Style solo seat and a repop pillion pad. I need to get the fender stays for the rear before that goes together. The front wheel was in bas shape, so I pulled that off and polished the rim before adding a new Dunlop k70 (3.5x19). The forks bottom out, so I dismantled them and found some pretty skanky fork oil inside. Waiting on some parts, but I'm trying to decide if I want to keep the 19" front wheel or go 21 with an Avon Speedmaster and drop the forks a couple of inches similar to the Salt Ghost. I need to play around with this for a bit.

Timing is set. Rode bike for the first time in 5 months!!

2010-10-17T17:00:00.000-07:00

It still leaks like a sieve, but I'll address that later. Just need the new levers and I can pull those big switches off the handlebars for a minimalist look. There will be a small switch to kill the motor and switch from low to high beam. when I wire that up, I'll also pull the rocker cover off and try to seal it up better, then mount the gas tank with new rubber and mounting bolt. Hopefully that will be the end of the major overhauls for this bike - for now.

BSA wired to run!

2010-10-16T14:05:00.001-07:00

After a short somewhere in the old harness melted the wires together, I decided to start from scratch using mini sealed 6v batteries wired in series to eliminate the bulky 12v battery. This allowed me to tuck everything neatly under the seat on a wiring platform ala cafe racer style. I rerouted all the wires to run behind the frame so they're out of sight. The bike runs now, but I haven't wired the headlight or stop light yet, that's next. First I need to sort out the timing.

I picked up a couple of shop chotchkies at a local garage sale for a buck. Old Americana eagle painting, and a beat up framed Marlon Brando poster from the Wild One. Nice, my garage is gaining soul!

I also took the Triumph for a fall race through the back roads of west Chester with my buddy Justin (who just finished up his 1974 CB450f cafe racer. More on that bike soon.

I hit a few bugs along the way. Always a good sign of a fast ride...

under the seat wiring board

2010-10-11T18:19:00.000-07:00

I cut out this 1/4" pice of plywood to fit directly under the seat of the BSA. The metal brackets will bolt directly to where the battery box used to go. The slim, sealed battery will sit on top along with the Boyer ignition box. The coils will be mounted horizontally to the bottom along with the Boyer power box allowing them to be air cooled. The whole thing will eliminate the need for the ugly OIF side covers that came with this bike. I will have this done in the next day or so. Check back soon!

BSA has new wiring and runs again!

2010-10-09T09:24:00.001-07:00

I mocked up a new wiring system that eliminates all the unnecessary features I don't use (blinkers etc...) which will allow me to tuck everything under the seat cafe racer style. The timing needs adjustment, but she starts right up! I just need to make a platform to fit where the battery box used to hang to mount everything.

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Periscope DOWN!

2010-09-29T17:42:00.000-07:00

Had to lower the head light. It just looked odd sitting up so high. I made a temporary bracket out of an old copper pipe that I hammered, drilled and ground into shape.

I kinda like the way it looks but it is only temporary. Kind of steam-punk don't you think?

I mocked up the rear fender which I'm making steal fender stays for this week. More to come soon...

New toy, 1951 Triumph 5t Speed Twin Bobber

2010-09-28T19:31:00.001-07:00

Every once in a while, a rare motorcycle pops up for sale in my area that is just too good to pass on. AD: 1951 Triumph 5T "Bobber" in running condition with T-I-T-L-E. Clutch sticks fenders included but no fender stays.

I've been collecting parts to build a 58 650 rigid for a while, but it seemed the more I hunted and gathered parts, the further that bike seemed like reality. Plus I have never owned a Pre Unit bike that was complete, so I really had no reference as to how they fit together. This cycle seemed like the perfect bike for what I needed (don't they all though?) it was basically running and complete. a little fiddling with the cosmetics and I have a really trick classic motorcycle - plus I have a reference for my 650 build.

As for this bike, I plan on making some temporary rear fender stays (unless they turn out nice, then they may become my KUSTOM stays! The front tire has to go (it has square edges, like a car tire, in fact it might be a car tire), it just feels dangerous, and not in a good way. I kinda dig the headlight, it looks like it might have been from a Ford model T, but I feel like it's way too high, kinda like a periscope or something. I'd like it to be lower than the bars. I also have a set of lower bars that I think will make it look cooler. I like the tank, not sure what it's from, but its bolted on the frame nicely and its free of dents and rust. I'm not married to the color. It looks like a rattle can, albeit decent rattle can paint job. But that will probably be my last step.

Today I'm going to give her a good look-over, check to see if theres any wobble in the wheels (it felt wobbly) change the plugs (it kept cutting out on the left side, though it has been sitting for 5 years) and I'm making a list of things I need to order like new front brake cable, clutch cable and While I'm at it, throttle cable.

Then, out comes the engine brite aerosol, and a can of Mothers and thecleaning begins!

Unless I happen across a pile of 51 5T parts for dirt cheap, I doubt I'll be restoring it to showroom condition. My minds eye see's this bike as something that one of Johnny's crew might have ridden in The Wild One.

Matt

BSA ready to reassemble

2010-09-18T14:16:00.001-07:00

I bead blasted the rust and what little paint was left on the triple trees. I then hit them with two coats of diamond clear satin finish. They are hanging in the shop overnight to cure. I rebuild the front forks with new seals. The timing cover is all sorted out and ready to go back together. Just need to spend an hour to put it all together, and maybe another half hour of adjusting/timing and I'm all set.

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Location:West Chester,United States

BSA find on craigslist. Small bike in a small world.

2010-09-11T08:59:00.001-07:00

As a certified vintage motorcycle hoarder, I find myself constantly browsing sites like Craigslist and Ebay in search of great deals. Usually I find nothing, but from time to time I run across something interesting that I simply must have. Friday night was one of those times.

The caption simply read BSA parts, Downingtown PA. Now I grew up in Downingtown and it's only 15 minutes away so I checked out the photos and discovered a BSA frame, some tanks, a wheel and some other stuff that was hard to make out. The price was right so I responded.

I made a deal over email and arranged to pickup the unidentified pile of parts the next morning. Oddly, the address given to me was right up the street from the house I grew up in. I fantasized that maybe this was left behind in my dads garage when we moved (17 years ago), finally put out for trash by the current owner, then trash picked by a neighbor who figured they could make a quick buck on craigslist. This turned out to not be the case, but it was a neighbor who lived up the street from us, who was into motorcycles. When I showed up, it was the wife who was selling these things. She recognized my make from the email and was also curious to see if it was the same Matt Smith that grew up on the corner. We had a nice chat for a while before going into the garage to see the pile of brit iron. Included in the sale was a 1951 rigid b31 frame with what appears to be the correct gas tank for the bike. An oil tank which I have yet to identify, a rear tire that looks british, but I'm not sure if it went to this bike or not, a BSA two passenger seat that looks fairly decent (looks like it would have gone to the plunger frame version of this bike) and lastly an old fiberglass racing fairing which I think needs to be painted up for Team Smoke and Throttle to be proudly displayed in the S&T headquarters (my garage).

One BSA badge still intact. Surface rust and only a few minor dents to pull. A very good candidate for restoration.

The B31 Rigid.

Race fairing from who knows what.

Oil Tank, still unidentified. Maybe from the B31?

Rusty hub, but it will clean up nicely. Looks like a standard Dunlop hub.

BSA seat, B series> Looks similar to the goldstar seat, though they were probablky the smae or very similar to the b-series anyway.

Couldn't resist making a mock up. The front tire (leaning against a gallon sized can of WD-40) is from my 71 Thunderbolt, but I like how the front and back wheels are similar sizes.
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Now I need a motor. Someone suggested a J.A.P. side valve. I like that Idea, though I think a BSA B33 500 would be easier. No rush, I have to bikes being rebuilt and a 58 Triumph project to think about. So in the meantime, I will continue searching out and hoarding parts for my various projects (both existing and future ones).

BSA fork rebuild part 1

2010-09-08T15:43:00.000-07:00

Pulled the forks apart and I wasn't surprised to see water oil and mud along with the obvious bad seals. I put new rubber on everything that needed it and it's going back together when I get a chance to sneak out to the garage next.

BSA is getting the attention she deserves

2010-08-30T17:25:00.000-07:00

As of right now I'm waiting on a new inner timing cover seal after replacing the gear shift selector. I drained all the oil while I was at it and cleaned out the selvedge trap.

Since I can't do much until the gasket comes, I decided to pull the font forks since they were leaking gunk from the fork boots when compressed. I opened up the fork oil drain plugs and found that one was empty while the other contained just a small amount of sludgy oil and water. Rebuilding forks is not my favorite task, but I well sorted front end is key for performance. Believe me, the bike rattled and bottomed out so badly before I was scared to go over 50 mph. I am hoping to have the bike back on the road before the season is over. Cosmetics will come later on. Mechanics first!

Despite the beezas oil leak....

2010-08-27T15:33:00.001-07:00

It feels good to be wrenching on good old Brit iron again. Let the challenges begin.

Me And This Motorcycle

This blog is becoming redundant. I am shifting everything over to Smoke and Throttle

Wheel building

New motorcycle in the shop, 1966 Triumph t120 Bonneville

1958 BSA b33 tins stripped and sent off for paint

51 Triumph Bobber coming together

BSA stripped of non b33 parts and carefully examined

1958 BSA B33 project

Loose chain wheel due to damaged mainshaft

One Step Forward two steps back

Gathering parts for the 1960 T100a

Pulled apart 1960 Triumph T100A project. Waiting on Bonnie Parts

Wow, a pile of parts is turning into...

Bonnie is coming together!

Timing gears lined up, oil lines hooked up. slight snag.

Trying to shoehorn the engine back in the Bonnie

TriBSA Update

Push Rods are in, clearances are set

Dealing with the known problems

Triumph Bonneville Update

using the lathe to make longer fork bushings

Removing the BSA A10 swing arm and silent block bushings.

all the kings horses and all the kings men...

long term project year 2 TRIBSA cafe racer

And now begins the tedious process of cleaning EVERYTHING

Hodaka power washed, ready for paint stripper

Hodaka tear down.

Winter project number TWO! 1970 HODAKA Ace 100

51 Speed Twin winter project.

Timing is set. Rode bike for the first time in 5 months!!

BSA wired to run!

under the seat wiring board

BSA has new wiring and runs again!

Periscope DOWN!

New toy, 1951 Triumph 5t Speed Twin Bobber

BSA ready to reassemble

BSA find on craigslist. Small bike in a small world.

BSA fork rebuild part 1

BSA is getting the attention she deserves

Despite the beezas oil leak....

Back to the beeza

Garage has been decluttered!

Thump thump thump! Tiger cub purrs after a long cat nap!

Project 72 Bonnie update

rode to the beach and back (lived to tell the tale)

Been a while since I've posted (good reason too)

Front fork problem

Triumph preunit engine project

White Smoke, Oil Leak and a broken down Beeza....

New lift should help my back.

Drizzly mild morning, great for a bimble on the beeza

Rebuilding Lucas handlebar switch

Triumph bits are all in. 1st job: Amal Carb rebuild

Not just a wrencher but a seamstress too!

Polishing bits for the 72 Bonnie

Tried on some clubmans for size

1971 cb450 all original.

And so it begins

Hmmm, this could be a prblem

New bike, another project!

New conical wheel rebuild part 1

Oley 2010 highlights

Lots of spacers correct pipe balance

Chadds Ford Moto-Auction

Pipes still don't line up at cross section

Pulling Dents from my 4 gal. tank

Installed the Boyer Electronic Ignition

BSA is waiting on parts but the cb360 is running!

Chain guard resurrected

4 gal tank stripped

Changed the handlebars to a lower profile set

One new pipe fitted, one old pipe refitted

New headers are crooked

Gear shift lever fixed(?)

New exhaust headers arrived!!!

whats in a name?

The Bleeding Beeza

Took her out for a spin

Bike buttoned up and running again

Torque nuts and bolts in propper order