Bit by Bit

I know I'm an absolute shit about getting this bike going, but I've again made a bunch of life choices that have made it impossible to focus on the bike, BUT I'll getting back to it very soon.

I listed my house for sale, so the last 3 months have seen me working my ass off to get it all ready.  The good news is that over the next few weeks, I'll be out of the house while it shows, so I'll try to get stuff finished on the bike.

I just ordered the bit and tap for the head bolts, and it should get here in a few days.  Here's the info for posterity:

bolt 68-338: 5/16" x 4 1/8" BSF - bit 6.75mm (17/64") - tap 5/16-22
bolt 68-337: 3/8" x 4 1/8" BSF - bit 8.33mm (21/64") - tap 3/8-20

What we are doing is drilling out the smaller bolts (5/16) and replacing them with 3/8" all around for strength.  Then, we can put it all back together and I can relax.

Bring On The Spotlight

This weekend is the Indiana Motorcycle Expo, which is gearing up to be quite awesome.  In years past, I hadn't really heard my buddies give it much notice, but it seems that everyone is going to show up this year.  Maybe it's because this winter has been absurdly dismal, and there's been only a single non-gray day in months.  Maybe it's because the hosts upped their marketing budget.  Maybe it's just that there's nothing else going on that weekend.  Whatever the reason, I'm getting excited.

There's a few things that I'm REALLY stoked about - Norton is going to be there.  I've been drooling over the new Nortons for almost ten years, and haven't yet seen one in person.  At $25k for the bottom model, it's no wonder.  I'm still going to sit on one and pretend that I have unlimited disposable income, 'cause why not?

The international bikini team.  Bikes and boobs go together like pork chops and applesauce.

There's a great lecture about riding in the smokey mountains and the Tail of the Dragon, which is perfect for my ride in April.  That's actually a talk I could learn something from.  There's a couple other talks about early dealerships and the future of motorcycles on Sunday, which look to be interesting, too.

The vendor area is always interesting, and even though I've put together a hell of a decent kit for my bike trip, I might happen upon something fun that could be useful for my trip, like a solar powered seat warmer or fancy flashing brake lights.  I can't help but admit - I get excited about stupid gadgets.  I'm definitely in the market for a tank bag, however.  That's big sauce.

The big thing about the show for me, however, is the biker showcase.  This year it's all about vintage bikes, and even though the BSA isn't ready yet, the motor is pretty damn sexy, and Mark wound up getting in touch with one of the organizers to display his hill climber in the concourse.  Even better, is that we are bringing his Triumph motor and MY BSA motor, which will go on a big engine stand as part of the display.  How awesome is that?  There's supposedly going to be a little plaque with my name on it and all that stuff, but I'm 99% sure that it's all going to wind up being 1 little sign with Mark's name on it, and I'll probably have to pay for my own ticket to the show, but whatever.  To be fair, without Mark's guidance and patience and expertise, none of this would have happened, so even though it's my motor, and I physically did all the work and put in all the hours, I still feel that it's a "SwemBuilt" bike.  If I get a nod, all the better.  If a certain young lady who plans on being there sees it, and it makes her swoon a bit, that doesn't suck either.

All in all, I'm ready for a good weekend.

Super Awesome Boring Notes

No intro, just go:

Bolt sizes for top end:

• Rocker cover & carb intake: 1/4-26 Whitworth
• Inspection/points covers & boyer ignition: 10/32 SAE
• Barrel to Case nuts: 5/16-24 UNF

Bolt size for new center head bolt: 3/8 BSF (need tap)

Plan of action:

1. clean & paint exhaust for show
2. paint stand for show
3. go to show
4. check existing bag of taps & dies for 3/8 BSF (& order if needed)
5. disassemble motor, drill & tap case holes, reassemble motor
6. build an electrical board for the boyer and a fuel/oil feeder IV for testing
7. dial in ignition timing
8. connect electrical, add oil, start motor
9. take rolling frame to Mark's and install the engine CAREFULLY
10. connect up rear wheel and rig temporary (read: duct taped) solution to test if bike will roll.
11. start mocking up placement of seat, tank, battery, oil reservoir, and electricals

With my summer trip, it may come to pass that I'll only be capable of getting the rear wheel turning before I head out for a few months, but if everything comes to pass as planned, I'll ideally be back in Indy around the holidays and looking to crash for a while with family and friends.  I may rent-a-wreck and bribe Mark into letting me abuse his shop every day over the winter and learn to weld, creating a super-awesome frame and getting every last piece of the bike built, then torn apart and off to paint and stuff.

OR, if I can get in touch with Cliff Meyer, maybe I'll end up dropping the whole bike off with him for the summer, to fab the metalwork while I'm on tour.  That could work, too.

Anyway, it's smooth sailing from here, right?

Pretty Bird

The show is a week away, and I've still gotta clean and paint the exhaust, paint the display stand and do a final chamois shine to the case, but right now, I've finally gotten all of the nuts and bolts worked out and the motor buttoned up (at least, good enough for display).

After the show, Mark & I are going to have to take the top end back off the motor and drill out the center head bolt holes for the larger WW bolts.  It's not done right until you redo it three times, right?  Still, getting this far still feels like a major accomplishment.  Technically, if I was willing to do anything inferior to the bike, I could run it as it, since the bolts in it are actually stock.  However, they're a known weakness, and it's worth it to do things right, rather than watch it blow oil all over the place in 2 years time.

So, if anyone out there has a set of whithworth taps, hook a fella up.

When the King Speaks, You Listen.

Well, the news isn't great, but it could be worse.  Mark went out to Earl's place today and told him all about my issues with the head bolts.  Earl told him that it was pretty common for this type of crap to happen with these bikes, and in fact, the thin bolts that BSA used had a tendency to stretch over time, and the wise thing to do would be to pull the motor apart again, drill out the holes and tap them with the next size up bolt, which is thicker and sturdier, and less prone to distortion.

Ugh.  What a damn pain.  However, for now, I'm just going to button the motor up and get it all shiny for the show, then deal with all that crap next month.  Besides, we're going to have to track down the proper bolts anyway.  Again.  That's $30 down the drain.

The funny story is that after all the fuss that we've dealt with on my 500 motor, Mark told me that he's looking to get another one to work on with his son.  Some folks will never learn.  ;)

5/16" - 26

After 2 years of struggling with locating the proper head bolts, last night I had a eureka moment.  I was thrilled because I was finally able to procure the correct whithworth bolts that were always out of stock, but it seems that they're being newly re-manufactured again (at $15 each, yeesh!)  I dropped one in place and started to thread it when my heart sank.  It didn't fit.  Again.

I set the offenders aside to work on later, and put together the new carb instead.  When I came back to the head bolts, I decided to just try dropping one in again to start taking measurements.  All of a sudden, it went right in perfectly.  Weird.

I backed it out and tried putting it into the other hole, but with only a few turns, it jammed up and wouldn't thread.  I backed it out, and sure enough, the threads were jacked.  HOWEVER, this was a blessing in disguise.

What we deduced is that at some point, someone had re-tapped only one of the holes for the head bolts, leaving the other in its original shape.  When I tightened the ww bolt into position, I had turned it far enough and with just the right amount of vigor for the threads to reshape perfectly enough to show me exactly what bolt size I would need.  Turns out, it's just a regular ol' 50-cent 5/16"-26 bolt from the hardware store.

So, basically I've spent 2 years trying all sorts of expensive bolts to find out that my problems all stemmed from some shithead pulling a slack job in 1971.  Toothless bastard.

I picked up the new bolts (in every possible length, just in case) this morning, and should have them installed and delicious this weekend.

What else is new?  To start, I finally ordered my 626 Amal carb, and it's a beauty.  It went on without a hitch.  I mocked up the Boyer, and it seems to fit quite well, so I'm good to wire up the test board before long, and there's a chance we'll see this pig shoot some sparks in the near future.

Lowbrow customs totally rules, by the way.  They've been able to hook me up with tons of whithworth nuts and bolts and a lot of what I need for WAY less than the folks at the other brit spares shops.  I'm swimming in sexy new stainless allen cover bolts and acorn nuts.  They've also got a bunch of great standard stuff like cloth spark wires and old school niceties.

I picked up a pair of NGK B8ES spark plugs and will drop those in for the show, but definitely not going to put the sexy bakelite plug caps on 'em yet.

Oh yeah, the show!  On the 20th, Mark and I are going to show off his monster hill-climber, an old Triumph engine and my BSA motor and the big motorcycle expo at the fairgrounds.  (I'll be sure to take photos with my new camera!)  Mostly he chose to show off mine because my engine is so dang pretty, and will make all the boys jealous.  With the assumption that the new head bolt fits, here's what I'd like to get done before the show:

• sand blast the ugly chrome off the old finned rocker cover and do a quick polish
• polish the big side cover once I've gotten the new side bolts sorted.
• polish all the badges and inspection covers and install.
• mount boyer electronics to a wood panel for testing.
• get a battery and a switch for testing (or if I'm ghetto, steal the one from my Honda and just touch wires together.
• Oil.  Lots of oil.
• Mock up a fuel and oil feed system so I don't have to hook up the tanks to test the motor.

For now, I really don't give a squat about brakes, frame, forks, lights, etc.  It all about getting the motor running and dialed in.  Boo-yah!  

$240 Worth of Pudding

Not gonna elaborate too much because I'm tired, hungry, and just need to sleep, but just know that I'm back up on that horse, and the build goes on!  Bought some parts, rocked some socks, and as soon as the expensive-ass bolts get here, we're back in business, son.