The Audio-Talk Motorcycling thread.

Subjects that don't have their own home
User avatar
Ray P
No idea why I do this anymore
Posts: 6294
Joined: Thu Nov 22, 2007 5:18 pm
Location: Somerset

#526 Re: The Audio-Talk Motorcycling thread.

Post by Ray P »

Nick wrote: Mon Oct 21, 2019 12:38 amIf I remember they were only luminescent after being exposed to a light source. So given they needed a source of energy I think we can safely say they were not radioactive.
Yes, and rather disappointingly the glow didn't last very long in the dark. I had the dungeon skeleton and Dracula kits; they were fun and made a change to the Spitfires, Lancasters, etc that I had hanging from my bedroom ceiling.
Sorry, I couldn't resist!
User avatar
Mike H
Amstrad Tower of Power
Posts: 20157
Joined: Sat Oct 04, 2008 5:38 pm
Location: The Fens
Contact:

#527 Re: The Audio-Talk Motorcycling thread.

Post by Mike H »

The oil pressure in XT's is not high (I'm basing this on my 2003 model). The engine is mainly (I understand) rolling element bearings (ball, roller bearings) which do not create high back pressure. The pump is a low pressure unit
This true. I'd forgotten the Japs are rollers. Ural is the same. All ball and roller bearings, so all the oil pump basically does is squirt oil at various places. There's even a little bent tube to direct a wee jet onto the timing gears. Not enough pressure to hold off your average pressure switch. So there ain't none. :D

The only exception is the small ends, and they're done by splash, as they normally would be anyway.

:D
 
"No matter how fast light travels it finds that the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it."
Baggy Trousers
User
Posts: 164
Joined: Mon Jan 01, 2018 11:53 pm

#528 Re: The Audio-Talk Motorcycling thread.

Post by Baggy Trousers »

pre65 wrote: Sat Oct 19, 2019 1:57 pm Hi Baggo, I'd say worry not about coil ignition, it's been proven over many years.

Re the battery charging indicator, I'd be looking at something like this.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LED-MOTORCYC ... 0010.m2109

read the details and see what you think.
Thanks for this, Philip.

I've bought one - the £15 example, not the same thing from the same vendor at £1,100! - eBay can be confusing. I have to say that it works very well. Accommodating the nearly 2" depth of the gadget is proving awkward so it is attached only temporarily at the moment. The headlight shell would seem the obvious location but I have discovered that the Japanese like to fill this space with half the contents of Battersea power station - there's barely room for the light unit. But I'm coming to like the bike.
Last of the late brakers.
User avatar
pre65
Amstrad Tower of Power
Posts: 21373
Joined: Wed Aug 22, 2007 11:13 pm
Location: North Essex/Suffolk border.

#529 Re: The Audio-Talk Motorcycling thread.

Post by pre65 »

Baggy Trousers wrote: Tue Oct 29, 2019 1:32 am

Thanks for this, Philip.

I've bought one - the £15 example, not the same thing from the same vendor at £1,100! - eBay can be confusing. I have to say that it works very well. Accommodating the nearly 2" depth of the gadget is proving awkward so it is attached only temporarily at the moment. The headlight shell would seem the obvious location but I have discovered that the Japanese like to fill this space with half the contents of Battersea power station - there's barely room for the light unit. But I'm coming to like the bike.
Glad you are getting to like the XBR Baggo, It's been a modern "classic" for some time now.

Re the "gadget", I've ordered one for myself to check if my car charging system is behaving itself.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

Edmund Burke

G-Popz THE easy listening connoisseur. (Philip)
Baggy Trousers
User
Posts: 164
Joined: Mon Jan 01, 2018 11:53 pm

#530 Re: The Audio-Talk Motorcycling thread.

Post by Baggy Trousers »

pre65 wrote: Sat Nov 02, 2019 12:07 am
Baggy Trousers wrote: Tue Oct 29, 2019 1:32 am

Thanks for this, Philip.

I've bought one - the £15 example, not the same thing from the same vendor at £1,100! - eBay can be confusing. I have to say that it works very well. Accommodating the nearly 2" depth of the gadget is proving awkward so it is attached only temporarily at the moment. The headlight shell would seem the obvious location but I have discovered that the Japanese like to fill this space with half the contents of Battersea power station - there's barely room for the light unit. But I'm coming to like the bike.
Glad you are getting to like the XBR Baggo, It's been a modern "classic" for some time now.

Re the "gadget", I've ordered one for myself to check if my car charging system is behaving itself.
At last I've found the time to fit the alternator/battery monitor in a permanent and discreet position. I'm finding it sort of useful, providing I can remember how to decode the dots and dashes it flashes at me. Colours are red, amber and green. I thought the gizmo was malfunctioning when only red and green were emitted. Turns out that not only do I have cataracts but I can't see amber either!

I have wondered why Honda did not fit an idiot light but then it occurred to me that perhaps Japanese stuff must be so reliable, such is not needed. This is my first Jap bike so I have yet to acquire this level of confidence. More than 60 years of riding Britbikes has made me nervous.

Philip - have you fitted the device to your car and does it work?
Last of the late brakers.
User avatar
Mike H
Amstrad Tower of Power
Posts: 20157
Joined: Sat Oct 04, 2008 5:38 pm
Location: The Fens
Contact:

#531 Re: The Audio-Talk Motorcycling thread.

Post by Mike H »

I bought this!

-
1955 D3 150cc
1955 D3 150cc
-

It's a Bantam.

Shut up! It's good! Well mostly.

However the original expectation of checking oil and tyres, getting it road legal and then putting petrol in it and riding it has been thwarted by several silly issues. Basically it's been abandoned in a shed or garage so long ago that it dropped off DVLA's records, so had to be registered "as new" in 2017. This was when it had then been taken out of the shed to be disposed of (clearance, house move, owner deceased or whatever), then it had been basically whizzed over with a wire brush in a Black & Decker, and some green paint chucked at it. TBH the paint itself is not too bad. But absolutely no actual mechanical maintenance has been done at all, apart from new tyres and possibly a new spark plug. So it seems to still be as it was when first abandoned in the shed; both primary and rear chains are shagged (the rear wheel adjusters so far back the tyre was rubbing on the mudguard), possibly clutch plates are shagged, there was just a teacup of oil in the gearbox, all the cables are totally bone dry, and the electrics are straight out of that Frankenstein movie starring Boris Karloff. So "dangerous" that the rear bulb (a dual filament in a new, more modern, Lucas L525 pattern rear light, an "improvement" over the original, so that we now also possess a brake light) is 12V, instead of 6V, to stop it blowing. Raw AC lighting does that apparently. No regulator you see.

So many issues, this is why I've been a bit quiet last couple of weeks, as this has now become a "project". Latest "issue" is I've only just noticed the number plate is on the piss, also too narrow for the (original) fixing holes, so the rivets are right on the edges. So I'm now looking at getting a better number plate. This is typical of the sort of things I've been finding last couple of weeks.

My postman's also getting one and we've both joined the club.
 
"No matter how fast light travels it finds that the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it."
User avatar
pre65
Amstrad Tower of Power
Posts: 21373
Joined: Wed Aug 22, 2007 11:13 pm
Location: North Essex/Suffolk border.

#532 Re: The Audio-Talk Motorcycling thread.

Post by pre65 »

Baggy Trousers wrote: Wed Nov 27, 2019 1:09 am
pre65 wrote: Sat Nov 02, 2019 12:07 am
Baggy Trousers wrote: Tue Oct 29, 2019 1:32 am

Thanks for this, Philip.

I've bought one - the £15 example, not the same thing from the same vendor at £1,100! - eBay can be confusing. I have to say that it works very well. Accommodating the nearly 2" depth of the gadget is proving awkward so it is attached only temporarily at the moment. The headlight shell would seem the obvious location but I have discovered that the Japanese like to fill this space with half the contents of Battersea power station - there's barely room for the light unit. But I'm coming to like the bike.
Glad you are getting to like the XBR Baggo, It's been a modern "classic" for some time now.

Re the "gadget", I've ordered one for myself to check if my car charging system is behaving itself.
At last I've found the time to fit the alternator/battery monitor in a permanent and discreet position. I'm finding it sort of useful, providing I can remember how to decode the dots and dashes it flashes at me. Colours are red, amber and green. I thought the gizmo was malfunctioning when only red and green were emitted. Turns out that not only do I have cataracts but I can't see amber either!

I have wondered why Honda did not fit an idiot light but then it occurred to me that perhaps Japanese stuff must be so reliable, such is not needed. This is my first Jap bike so I have yet to acquire this level of confidence. More than 60 years of riding Britbikes has made me nervous.

Philip - have you fitted the device to your car and does it work?
Yes, and yes.

I fitted a cigarette lighter plug on the wire so I can swap it to different vehicles for test purposes.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

Edmund Burke

G-Popz THE easy listening connoisseur. (Philip)
User avatar
pre65
Amstrad Tower of Power
Posts: 21373
Joined: Wed Aug 22, 2007 11:13 pm
Location: North Essex/Suffolk border.

#533 Re: The Audio-Talk Motorcycling thread.

Post by pre65 »

Mike H wrote: Sun Feb 02, 2020 9:05 pm I bought this!

-
Bantam_2985.jpg
-

It's a Bantam.

Shut up! It's good! Well mostly.

However the original expectation of checking oil and tyres, getting it road legal and then putting petrol in it and riding it has been thwarted by several silly issues. Basically it's been abandoned in a shed or garage so long ago that it dropped off DVLA's records, so had to be registered "as new" in 2017. This was when it had then been taken out of the shed to be disposed of (clearance, house move, owner deceased or whatever), then it had been basically whizzed over with a wire brush in a Black & Decker, and some green paint chucked at it. TBH the paint itself is not too bad. But absolutely no actual mechanical maintenance has been done at all, apart from new tyres and possibly a new spark plug. So it seems to still be as it was when first abandoned in the shed; both primary and rear chains are shagged (the rear wheel adjusters so far back the tyre was rubbing on the mudguard), possibly clutch plates are shagged, there was just a teacup of oil in the gearbox, all the cables are totally bone dry, and the electrics are straight out of that Frankenstein movie starring Boris Karloff. So "dangerous" that the rear bulb (a dual filament in a new, more modern, Lucas L525 pattern rear light, an "improvement" over the original, so that we now also possess a brake light) is 12V, instead of 6V, to stop it blowing. Raw AC lighting does that apparently. No regulator you see.

So many issues, this is why I've been a bit quiet last couple of weeks, as this has now become a "project". Latest "issue" is I've only just noticed the number plate is on the piss, also too narrow for the (original) fixing holes, so the rivets are right on the edges. So I'm now looking at getting a better number plate. This is typical of the sort of things I've been finding last couple of weeks.

My postman's also getting one and we've both joined the club.
Wow Mike, something slower than the "urinal". :lol:

I don't know if he still trades but a chap called "Bantam John" used to be ace for bantam bits.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

Edmund Burke

G-Popz THE easy listening connoisseur. (Philip)
User avatar
Greg
Social outcast
Posts: 3198
Joined: Wed May 23, 2007 11:14 am
Location: Bristol, UK

#534 Re: The Audio-Talk Motorcycling thread.

Post by Greg »

You’ll enjoy leaving a cloud of nice smelling smoke down the country lane before in future, it’ll not be allowed.
User avatar
Nick
Site Admin
Posts: 15708
Joined: Sun May 06, 2007 10:20 am
Location: West Yorkshire

#535 Re: The Audio-Talk Motorcycling thread.

Post by Nick »

If you have the original reg number you should be able to get a log book for it and keep the original plates AFAIK. If you don't have the original reg, then if you have the engine number and frame number you may still be able to find the original reg number.
Whenever an honest man discovers that he's mistaken, he will either cease to be mistaken or he will cease to be honest.
User avatar
Dave the bass
Amstrad Tower of Power
Posts: 12273
Joined: Tue May 22, 2007 4:36 pm
Location: NW Kent, Darn Sarf innit.

#536 Re: The Audio-Talk Motorcycling thread.

Post by Dave the bass »

Phwooooar, nice one Mike, that'll keep you busy for a while but I'm sure it'll be worth it when you're pounding the local streets on awethumne style! :)
Nick wrote: Sun Feb 02, 2020 11:34 pm If you have the original reg number you should be able to get a log book for it and keep the original plates AFAIK. If you don't have the original reg, then if you have the engine number and frame number you may still be able to find the original reg number.
I pretty much the same problem with the 1960 350 Redditch Bullet I've rebuilt.

IME just having the original plates wont necessarily get the original number back. The DVLA rules were tightened up a while ago I've been told.

1st , Mike could check that no one else has 'claimed ' the original reg number it was issued with in the 1950s. The DVLA website has a search facility to check such things.

If there's no record of it on the DVLA system (as it was in my case) the next step is to get a Dating Certificate from the owners club. Again, the DVLA has an approved list of owners clubs it recognises as adherence to the DVLA rules and criteria. If the frame number and engine number match the factory archive then the OC will be probably issue a certificate to confirm it is what the bike is and not a bitsa. The Royal Enfield OC needed detailed photographs and frame and engine number rubbings to assist them in making the right decision.

If you get a Dating certificate you can then apply to the DVLA armed with all the evidence needed to get the original number back. If you do get it back a V5c in your name will be sent to your home and given the bikes age should qualify for historic vehicle status meaning no road tax or mot is required. The original number will be non transferable ie. You won't be able to sell it for millions!

If the OC says its a bitsa then they might be able to help you get an 'age related ' plate. I haven't had to go down that route yet so dont know the process beyond that.

Hope that helps.

Flippin awethumne fun playing with old bikes innit. I'm on the look out for an old moped next, I want a complete saveable project, summat like a Norman (from, Ashford, Kent, whahey!) Or a Raleigh Runabout . 49cc or even a 98cc big-boy mean machine...
"The fat bourgeois and his doppelganger"
User avatar
thomas
Old Hand
Posts: 910
Joined: Sat Sep 26, 2009 1:52 am
Location: N.W.Kent

#537 Re: The Audio-Talk Motorcycling thread.

Post by thomas »

Sweet looking Bantam, well done!
Back in the day servicing my Puch m50 was never on my high list of priorities, more use and abuse, it was only my runaround after all..... guessing a Bantam might have been treated likewise?! Good fun project tho, and yes DTB's right, owners club for a dating certificate to get the reg.

Norman Nippy! Now there's a thing!

Quite fancy a Honda c90 myself...
User avatar
pre65
Amstrad Tower of Power
Posts: 21373
Joined: Wed Aug 22, 2007 11:13 pm
Location: North Essex/Suffolk border.

#538 Re: The Audio-Talk Motorcycling thread.

Post by pre65 »

thomas wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2020 2:06 pm
Quite fancy a Honda c90 myself...
You might not believe how much half decent ones sell for. :shock:
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

Edmund Burke

G-Popz THE easy listening connoisseur. (Philip)
User avatar
jack
Thermionic Monk Status
Posts: 5493
Joined: Wed Dec 29, 2010 8:58 pm
Location: ɐılɐɹʇsnɐ oʇ ƃuıʌoɯ ƃuıɹǝpısuoɔ
Contact:

#539 Re: The Audio-Talk Motorcycling thread.

Post by jack »

pre65 wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2020 2:29 pm
thomas wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2020 2:06 pm
Quite fancy a Honda c90 myself...
You might not believe how much half decent ones sell for. :shock:
Not that I'm a biker now, but in 6th form, I had one of those for zooming around London... hated it.
Vivitur ingenio, caetera mortis erunt
User avatar
Mike H
Amstrad Tower of Power
Posts: 20157
Joined: Sat Oct 04, 2008 5:38 pm
Location: The Fens
Contact:

#540 Re: The Audio-Talk Motorcycling thread.

Post by Mike H »

Greg wrote: Sun Feb 02, 2020 11:05 pm You’ll enjoy leaving a cloud of nice smelling smoke down the country lane before in future, it’ll not be allowed.
Actually, they don't make much smoke, if there is a lot usually means summat is wrong. Started it up in the shop when I went to view it and there was hardly anything, even in an enclosed space.
 
"No matter how fast light travels it finds that the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it."
Post Reply