The bike is now finished.

Dated in reverse order so the oldest entries at the bottom and the newest at the top.

Also after replacing the gearbox sprocket I have decided that the mainshaft bearing carrier can not be fitted with an adjuster! The adjuster that I spent time on has now been removed. As if you adjust from the carrier the shaft will never be absolutely straight, and in time the upshot of this may be a snapped shaft.

So this is what I have to do:  Loosen the bearing carrier bolts so they are free to move back and forth, loosen the gearbox bolts just a touch and tap the box to where I think it should be (we are talking trial and error and millimetres here). Tighten the gearbox bolts up nice and tight, now tighten the bearing carrier bolts. The mainshaft will now be absolutely straight. The clutch should just about fit on the main shaft, and the belt should have 20mm rise and fall in the middle of the belt.   So basically treat it as if it was a static box, and if you really need an adjuster then use a roller type (as found on car timing belts) under the belt.

One final thought. I'm impressed with the way the bike shoots up and down the hill so easily, I'm sure it could go to a 19 tooth gearbox sprocket (taking it to 87mph). Also that fan kicks out one hell of a draft, so in the future I'll plumb in the engines air intake to it. This has to have a benifisial effect, even at tick over the thing pumps air out like mad.        

Little did I know that there was an after-market product (not Ruggerini) lurking around waiting to frustrate and trip me up.  It sits on top of the injector pump and the fuel line from the lifter pump feeds in to it.

Anyhow, needless to say that I bypassed this little wonder and the engine sprang in to life with vigour.

 Ok that's it the bikes finished. Well there's still a bit of adjustment here and there but I'm not going to bore you with every polished wheel spoke. So unless there's a revelation, thanks for reading and I hope I've helped.  

 Amended:  This turns out to be part of an electrical fuel shut off device but with the solenoid part missing

I didn't want another flat battery, due to pumping the fuel around the fuel lines, so I had a cunning plan. I loosely attached the fuel line nut to the injector, pushed a plastic pipe over the bottom of the fuel line and filled the plastic pipe with fuel.

Back to charging the battery, and another go tomorrow.  

The wheel now back in I swung my leg over the seat and sat down and gave a bounce or two. The bike went down and didn't come up again, the suspension bottomed out. With a bit of use the bushes will bed in and the whole lot will be a lot freer, but it seems that there is only about 2 1/2 inches of travel in the plungers. So it seems like I've made a mistake in taking 2 inches of the springs, 1 inch would have done it, and now I have to shim it back down until I can get some sort of bounce out of it. Interesting though, the bushes are tight as hell but when I tightened up the back wheel spindle I could feel a bit of play, I'm wondering how good the ride will be in a few years.

The question of will the back tyre hit the mudguard is now answered, there is about an inch gap between them. Phew!

The injector pump is now pumping like a good un after soaking them in cleaner and the fuel is now at the injectors, unfortunately the battery has run down, so I will have another try and start the engine tomorrow.

The plunger suspension saga goes on. The reproduction parts are for a later model (1952 on), which is a better design, but little did I know that there was a key part for this later kit that wasn't available. Bloody typical! Now I have to make my own parts. Again!

The alloy domed disc on the side is a derby cover from a Harley Davidson Sportster, it needed this as the clutch adjuster stuck out just a bit. I think it looks so much better with it. I drilled and taped the fixing holes as I didn't want any nuts shaking free in side the primary cover and wiping out the belt or making a mess of the pulleys. 

I'm in two minds with the primary case, weather to polish the alloy up nice and shiny or paint it silk black.

While I was there I decided to sort out a slight wobble in the back wheel. It turns out that it was the suspension bushes that have been badly worn. So as I have to replace the bushes I've decided to also replace a few of the 1940's parts with brand new reproduction 1950's parts. That's cost me an arm and a leg, but it should behave it's self for a while. Hopefully the sale of the old parts will help pay for the new.

Apparently the Ariel plunger suspension doesn't last too long due to the 12 bushes that wear quite fast. Well it was designed in the 1930's. 

I'm going to have to buy a pipe bending machine to make the exhaust down pipes, I figure it will cost as much as getting a pair of pipes made up, and this way I get to use the machine for other bikes. I don't know what I'm going to do about the primary cover yet, I'll leave that job for last and hope something comes up cheap on eBay.

The brake link bar was a sod to cut a thread in, the metal was a bit odd, almost close to cast iron. Ho hum done it now and that's all that counts.

I'm now looking around the bike looking for things to do to it as I forgot to order some parts, like the nut that holds the clutch on and the back wheel adjuster bolts (doh). True I still have the exhausts to fix on, but they need to be bent to the right angles.     

Also I have made a couple of steel covers for the bearing carrier to protect the bearing seals.

I decided to rip in to my *** ***** clutch as I hadn't completely inspected it from new. What a surprise to find it was going rusty and it had the same open bearing design of the old Enfield clutch. I really dislike this design as the bearings make a groove in the clutch centre and eventually the centre will need to be replaced, very expensive. I have now decided to change the clutch.

Amended: At this point I would like to say there is nothing wrong with *** ***** clutches, if you use the right grease it should give many miles of happy usage. I just prefer a different design, one that doesn't rust and the bearings can be changed in a camp site.

Now I have take it all off, as I need to weld a pipe to the bottom of the frame for the gear change rod to go through.

At the back of the plate I have made two brackets for the bolts instead of four washers, this way there is more surface area to make a better grip. I don't want this thing to slip.

I've made the fixing holes in the primary plate and I just need to elongate them in to slots, so the carrier can move with gearbox adjustment.

  Once the carriers working properly the clutch / primary can be fitted on permanently, then I can think about what cover to use.

Now my question has been answered, yes you can kick over this engine, but it aint easy. I will defiantly use a high amps Harley battery and keep the kick start for emergencies only. 

The frame holes for the gearbox were not precisely at the right angle, nor were the bolts fitting nice and snug, so I had to drill out the holes to the right angles, and make steel tubes to act as the new frame holes.

Needles to say that the bolts do not rattle or move now, but there's a problem with this much precision. Trial and error demands that I have to adjust parts many times, and this means removing the gear box from the bike frame more times than I would like (getting really sick and tired of it), this takes it's toll on the fixing bolts as the threads are taking a battering.         

The problem was the two gearbox fixing plates were independent of each other, and when I tried to shim the gearbox back, it would  just push one gearbox plate further in front of the other, and the gearbox would stay where it was. I have now welded the plates together so they are both exactly in line with each other, now I can shim the gearbox back and forth to the correct angle with some spacers.

I have slowly kicked the engine over with the kick start and noticed that it's not just the main shaft that flexes, the frame that holds the gearbox does too. So I will have to make another gearbox bracket for the back of the box to hold it rigid.

APRIL/12/09 - The engine plate is finished, just needs a coat of paint, and seen here in place. I now have to find a metal block, drill holes in it, and fix the two plates together. Next step, cut the bolt grooves for the bearing carrier and fit adjuster.  

Lucky I kept the old bell housing that came with the engine, as I placed it over the engine plate that I was making, and sprayed it with matt black paint to mark all the bolt holes etc.

When the engine plate is in place I will bolt a steel block between the two plates, this will keep the whole thing well rigid.   

The clutch is an expensive bit of kit, I don't want it bouncing around and wrecking it's self inside what ever primary cover I'm going to use.

By the way, the hole where the shaft goes through will be bigger than it is in the picture.    

It's heavy so the finished article will be cut back and moulded in to shape but at the same time strong and rigid.

In the past I have bought a couple of 1940's Enfield gearboxes, and they had snapped shafts. I always wondered what the rider must have been going through when it snapped. That sort of thing never happens when your at the side of the road, almost always when your giving it a hand full in the fast lane of the motorway. Doesn't bear thinking about.

Amended: Gearing changed to 36x68 (1.89:1), 17x38 (2.24:1), as the 21 tooth sprocket was like pulling off in 3rd gear.

With the gearbox fitted into place and the sprocket spacer removed, the gearbox and back wheel sprockets align up well.   

I have now fitted the longest main shaft available which is 13 1/4 inches, this means that the clutch has been moved even further out, and the engine has been moved out to the left to meet it. This has really made a big difference to where the engine is in the frame.

The thought of the heavy cast iron fly wheel on the right hand side made me wonder about the balance of the bike when it's on the road. Now she seems to be well balanced.

To be done:    Head steady, rear gearbox bracket, primary drive plate to hold a bearing carrier for an additional gearbox main shaft bearing,  foot pegs, forward controls, exhaust pipes, and primary cover.    

I have been trying to get the indicators to work but the flasher relays are not having any of it, I have bought two so far, lets hope it's third time lucky.

Amended: Don't buy cheep flasher box from China (eBay) they don't work, a waist of £10. The one that I have used is from a bike shop, I seem to remember it was £19, and works a treat.   

23/OCT/07 - Engine now back in, rubber mounts gone, one thing I have noticed is the rust that has appeared on the subframe that I put together. This was another mistake, don't use cheep paint, so it now has a coat of Hammerite.

The expanding bolts turned out to be a pain in the arse, they kept moving up the tubes when I  tried to refit the engine  subframe, so I ditched them and welded three nuts together on a bolt, and then ground the edges down and tapped them in to the frames tubes and welded them up.

I tied the string to the back of the wheel sprocket and the other end to the engine. This stuck out a bit so I used a second bit of string to pull it to the right until the string just touched all of the rear sprocket, the string was now in line.

I measured and drilled all the holes in the mounting plates, fitted them to the bike and the sprockets were about 4mm out of alignment. No problem as the gearbox sprocket can be adjusted in by removing a spacer from behind the sprocket.

 Amended:  Alternatively, use a laser just for this job, available from a popular German bike shop chain.  

Amended:

The idea was to get the engine in place then weld up big penny washers over the slots, this will take out the hit and miss of getting the engine in just the right place.

Notice the bottom of the frame is missing, this is due to lowering the engine, I really didn't want to do this but the primary chain cases would have been going up hill. It will be lowered 2 inch, using nuts welded in the tubes and steel plates for the front of the frame.

Amended:

As it happens I didn't use any chain cases, so I could have saved myself the bother of lowering the frame.

3) Neither Enfield, BSA or Ariel boxes / clutches reach the primary drive chain when the final drives line up!  So I have decided to use a Royal Enfield gearbox due to it having a longer main shaft. This should line up perfectly.

Enfield India make a 40mm longer main shaft for the 4 speed box should this be a problem (see gearboxes). 

Amended: 

Available main shaft lengths are:

Std gearbox (petrol) = 11.00 inches / Normal diesel shaft = 12 1/2 inches / extra long shaft is 13 1/4 inches.

The wheel fits snugly, and bang on, I did expect to put spacers one side or the other, but it was just in the right place.