Journey into the unknown..

baz said:

Just looking at your bike photos i didn't realize you have exactly the same setup as me
With the extra isolastic built into the gearbox cradle
Do you know who did the conversion?
Does it have the rubbers in it? What do you set it at?
I also have the maney outrigger and a norvil belt drive, and I'm about to fit an Alton
How do you find the starter chain life? I was thinking of going for an iwis if it stretches quickly
(Oops I just read you already have an iwis chain)

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84ok said:

what's the front brake setup?

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cliffa said:

Hi baz, no idea who did it, but it seems to be well done. The bike was around the Bristol area for some time, so maybe someone in that neck of the woods. I don’t know if it has rubbers, but I suspect it does as the engine sits high. It has Hemmings ISO adjusters all round which I set to standard clearance. I bought the IWIS chain for the starter but it’s slightly wider than the ALTON one, and rubbed on the armature mounting points so I used the ALTON one. I need to swap out the worn out clutch centre soon so will check on the chain when I have it open.

Are you going to keep the outrigger? Have you already bought the Starter?

I love the starter, it has transformed the usability of the bike in my view.

Cheers,

cliffa.

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cliffa said:

I dislike the the caliper adapters available from the usual suspects and over here they attract the attention of the modification luddites, so I made my own. I wanted to make it look like it could have come from the factory so replicated the Z plates. I can send or post some pics if you are interested. The disc is from RGM, the caliper is from a Yamaha V-Max, which I chose because it’s quite compact and mostly because the pads have over twice the friction area of those in the standard Lockheed caliper. Coupled with an 11mm Nissin master cylinder from a Honda scooter it’s not a bad brake.

Cheers,

cliffa.

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baz said:

Has the sprag been ok running dry?
Do you put chain lube on the starter chain?
Cheers

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cliffa said:

Hi Baz, I have to admit I've done nothing to it since I finished it last May. I have a Boyer as well, and a couple of times whilst doing carb related work (fitting a Phoenix S.U.) and compression testing I have run the starter so the battery got pretty low - no kickback issues, no sprag issues. The only problem I has was the wire from the starter button on the solenoid broke off. I was able to solder it back on, but it's something to watch out for. Like I say I will be opening the primary to replace the clutch hub, but at the moment I'm re configuring the Lucas handlebar switches, and replacing the Lucas bullet connectors with Japanese style versions. As says in my moniker - Weekends are never free with N-V-T.

Regarding the Maney outrigger I would definitely keep it if I were you. I spoke to Paul Hamon at Alton before I cut into my Alton inner case, and he had no problem with me doing it as it would not affect the actual starter mechanism. So they stand buy the warranty.


Cheers,

cliffa.

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cliffa said:

I dislike the the caliper adapters available from the usual suspects and over here they attract the attention of the modification luddites, so I made my own. I wanted to make it look like it could have come from the factory so replicated the Z plates. I can send or post some pics if you are interested. The disc is from RGM, the caliper is from a Yamaha V-Max, which I chose because it’s quite compact and mostly because the pads have over twice the friction area of those in the standard Lockheed caliper. Coupled with an 11mm Nissin master cylinder from a Honda scooter it’s not a bad brake.

Cheers,

cliffa.

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cliffa said:

The weather was amazing here today, so I decided to do the work outside. The back of my neck is now glowing like an LED stoplight.

Anyway, I digress, As you good folks told me the 1/2" WW for the crank, and a 3/4" a/f (19mm) were the correct for the clutch nut ( which was already fitted with a pushrod seal nut) Hey - Ho. I have a battery impact driver (rattle gun) and that made short work of getting those off. If you don't have one already I can highly recommend them. I have now identified the belt drive as a Norvil variant. This of course is the most difficult to fit, as the front pulley needs to have recess machined in it Anyway there was no hardened steel washer under the clutch nut, and when I went to bend back the tab on the tab washer it just fell off !! Before removing the clutch I did notice quite a lot of "wobble" on the outer body. has anybody else noticed this on a Norvil setup? Once I got it off and span it the bearings seemed to be smooth and silent, so maybe this is to be expected? One thing that definitely looks like it need replacing very soon is the clutch center, as it's quite grooved.

Anyway here are some pics of today's progress..












Cutting the case for the outrigger was a pain, but looking at the length of what would be an unsupported mainshaft I really think it's worth keeping it.

More updates tomorrow...


Cheers,

cliffa.

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baz said:

Just got to this stage with fitting my Alton kit
I have cut the chain case to clear the outrigger and I have noticed the outrigger is cracked at the top!
I can weld it back together but I'm unsure what has caused it to break
One step forward and three back oh well!!

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cliffa said:

Oh Gawd, that's not good.
Like you say, I wonder what caused that?

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cliffa said:

Thanks Auldblue. I cut the disc by hand using a fine fretsaw. I find it very theraputic.

As I mentioned at the end of the last post, I was modifying the Norvil front pully...

For those not familair with the Norvil setup, the outer belt keeper plate is normally held in place by the rotor being pressed against it, but as I needed to machine a 43mm diameter hole in it and the pulley in order to fit over the Alton spacer I decided to drill and tap the plate, fix it on and machine the plate and rotor together. Now by this stage I'd had a couple of sherberts, which explains the following. I drilled and M5 tapped the rotor & countersunk the plates then applied Loctite "forever" liquid to the screws and really tightened them, then called it a day. The next morning I realized I'd forgotten to mark the centers of the puller holes, and they were now completely hidden. Anyway as (sort of) luck would have it, when I started to machine the spacer recess it slightly broke through the walls of the tapped puller holes, so I knew where they were. I machined the spacer recess in stages and at a depth of 14.85mm the new Alton chain pulleys lined up. I then used an end mill mounted in my pedestal drill to uncover the puller holes. Pulley finished.

And now onto the drive chain and sprag clutch / alternator. I'd already bought an IWIS chain from Andy "The Chain" but when I fitted it, and turned the crank by hand I could here it fouling on two of the mounting points for the alternator armature. The IWIS chain is 1.3mm wider than the Alton chain. That's not a lot I know, but it's also very close the the drive belt behind it. I could have shimmed the mounting plate out But I din't have anything suitable, I could have machined the recess in the pulley deeper, but that would make the chain run slightly out, and the belt may have touched it. In the end I took the decision to use the Alton chain for now. I put the clutch back together & tightened the crank rotor nut then went to fit the the alternator armature. In the video it shows a guy just popping the plastic plates in between the coils and the rotor, then tightening the three fixing screws.Try as I might, I could not get them evenly spaced. As soon as the screws were tightened the coils to the far right would really grip the plastic, but on the left they were a loose sliding fit. I thought maybe that is within tolerance and left it at that as I was beginning to flag (I'm doing all this on the ground in 27°C). To round up the day I got the battery from my Yamaha TR1 and connected the solenoid etc, and the motor span the engine over with gusto I'm pleased to say. It's a bank holiday here tomorrow so I plan to do all the wiring and get this project finished. (just in time for the weather to break).
















Cheers,

cliffa

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cliffa said:

Finished (at last).

I think trying to squeeze everything into the left hand panel has been the biggest challenge.

I made an aluminium plate to hold the Boyer Powerbox and the Alton solenoid...




The battery was still too close to the solenoid for my liking, so I used a piece of 10mm plywood in the battery carrier which allowed me to move the battery higher and further back. I had to remove the chain oiler, and as luck would have it I found that a sidestand rubber stop part number 06.3324 is a perfect fit...



It's a tight squeeze...



but all the wiring reaches nicely..



One push on the button and I was off into the sunshine..



Cheers,

cliffa.

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baz said:

Hi cliffa
Is there any particular reason you used a Boyer powerbox ?
Cheers

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cliffa said:

Hi Baz,

it was already fitted whn I bought the bike.

Cheers,

cliffa.

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baz said:

Ok cheers
I was wondering if the built in capacitor was the reason you chose it

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