TW wrecks a perfectly good Commando etc.

This was from when I built my DR780.
Notice all the holes are either countersunk (or soon were if not) or in some cases have a counterbore from the factory.
The faces do the sealing with sealant, the fasteners do the fastening independent to each other.
Fantastic and leaks are all but never.
Why do British bikes have the myth of being leak prone ?

TW wrecks a perfectly good Commando etc.


TW wrecks a perfectly good Commando etc.
 
Whats the filter on the breather? I assume rhis isnt for a Commando bodge, else ground clearance is in the negative...
 
Whats the filter on the breather? I assume rhis isnt for a Commando bodge, else ground clearance is in the negative...

That was a Moto Guzzi bodge with some JC influence (the shape of the reed valve body) so is a breather/ separator and seems to work well.
It took a while to make on manual machines.
The filter is an oil filter from a roller bearing bevel drive Ducati, the oil return (wet sump) goes to below the oil level (submerged)
A modified version would probably work on a 20M3S engine at the timing side with a check valve in the oil return.

I really need a CNC being elderly and the clock ticking that little bit faster.

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Total height is around 160 mm.

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This bike ran like a champ from the first start but still have to weld some bungs into the old headers so it can be fine tuned with the dual read out wideband unit.
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This should have the next keeper scratching their head one day.
What do you do if the original red one is broken on your Mk2a, replace it with a shorter black one from early 750 spares?
Buy a kit if one was available @ $68 + post.

I think not, you fire up the mill and 4 axis DRO, good for another 46 years.

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You are only to old for regret.
Buy a small lathe used even.

I would not be able to do much without machine tools, that includes getting new parts fit for purpose not just modifications so those six Lucas buttons and levers can continue the journey they started in late 1973.

I bought this Sunbeam S7 Deluxe gearbox off a Scotsman who has a large breakers (eBay/UK) and asked if he could remove the clusters and shift forks along with sundry parts.
He agreed and after phoning him for a how to remove the bits call they duly arrived.
To easy.
eBay pic.
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I had a set of brand new bushes from the UK experts Stewart Engineering who have supplied parts for decades.
They sent one bush that had been drilled incorrectly with central holes so the bushes would have got no oil and most likely seized (Oil enters the shaft itself and centrifugal force uses grooves and shaft drillings to feed them)
The darker bush is correct and around 65 to 70 years old.

Machine tools made it easy to rectify with accuracy.

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With new bushes, bearings and some time it was like new again. (Finish is via a wooden handle brass bristle wire brush)

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Fantastic British engineering.
 
Well I also have lathe and mill, both with DRO but a good ultrasonic cleaner is 3rd on the list of must haves after using a 30L one for 2 years.

Crankcase after 20 mins partially submerged to see what it could do.

TW wrecks a perfectly good Commando etc.
 
The later you leave it, the more you need to start closer to the top but yes a decent drilling rig is better than not having one.

I do have a 30 litre ultra sonic which works OK, on Norton alloy parts I fine Duragloss 851/853 or the brass brush as good for a factory finish look.
An old picture but that is nothing more than the brush and CRC808.
I prefer the shine to be on the inside.

TW wrecks a perfectly good Commando etc.
 
Ludwig was right when he said you cannot own a brit bike and not own a lathe/mill.
Im too old to get one now. :-(

Plenty of people do fine with basic tools.

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My job is making things (when I work) so machine tools were just a continuation.
When I first started using a lathe (at a good friends toolmaker shop and use that using term loosely) he suggested, instead of machining up to pencil marks, using the incremented dials would obtain better accuracy.
He was right and progressed a little from those days.
 
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Well the toolmaker on that one failed because he used a carpenter's hammer head....
 
Today I will do some drilling.

Unless suggestions otherwise, I will not drill at that usual lower (blue) location for the timing side oil level but higher up.
This of course will break into the deep factory drilling for the fastener (beyond the factory Helicoil) of the oil pipe junction block and between the passage ways for the inlet and return for the oil pump so will need some extra care and work.
I don't like that super low oil level, what could go wrong.

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Yet another order to AN, good bye to only $873.71.
Maybe I will get a complementary AN coffee cup by now.

Edit.
Some investigation with the mill DRO suggests a drain hole there although possible would be close to the oil passages and perhaps one reason the three holes (oil and fastener) are not drilled perpendicular to the vertical surfaces.
 
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Good luck, anticipating how this turns out...
 
Plenty of people do fine with basic tools.

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My job is making things (when I work) so machine tools were just a continuation.
When I first started using a lathe (at a good friends toolmaker shop and use that using term loosely) he suggested, instead of machining up to pencil marks, using the incremented dials would obtain better accuracy.
He was right and progressed a little from those days.
The mechanics should have carried one of these around on a German U boat.
 
Good luck, anticipating how this turns out...

Done now, it passes through the mid point of the two oil galleries and the right hand side of the new hole is in line with the bottom of the central fastener hole beyond the Helicoil.
I will plug the pressure relief return above it and machine the outer cover so it goes to the timing side cavity instead.
No word yet on the SRM pressure relief unit.

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