Velocette Generator Speed Up

Machining At Sheddington

The generator (dynamo) on the Velocette was reconfigured to 12V before I bought it.

When I last rode the bike I noticed that it did not charge well at low RPM.

A bit of research at the University of Google suggested that the 12V generator needed high RPM before it would charge correctly.

The sheaves (pulleys) were measured and the following ratio was found.

Driver 3.125 Driven 3.000

Giving a step up ratio of 1.13:1.

I decided to aim for a step up ratio of 1.25:1

So the following sheaves were required.

Driver 3.125 Driven 2.500.

The tough part seemed to be finding a drive belt that would accommodate the difference in diameters.

A search of the usual places, Amazon, McMaster Carr etc, did no turn up any suitable candidates.

By chance, I was in the ACE hardware store nearby (Madam does not think that it was chance, as I go there every day)

They had drive belts of the correct cross section and suitable length. I bought the one that seemed to fit the dimensions calculated.

The next step was to make a new driven sheave.

However after some careful calculations, I thought that I could make the new sheave out of the old sheave.

This is what was determined to be the best option to reuse the existing sheave.

A mandrel was made out of a bolt to mount the workpiece and set it up in the lathe chuck.

It is shown here set up in the lathe with the outside diameter already machined to size.
Check the link below.

Machining The Sheave

Here you can see the finished article.

Do you think that Velocette used Mitsuboshi belts?


The installation of the new belt and modified sheave was completed and the results are to be found using the link below.

Up and running.

In this video, the speeds are a bit of a problem due to the reflectivity of the driven sheave.
It throws the measuring device out of whack.
I'll try that again after dulling the surface somehow.
Overall the goal has been accomplished.
More soon an an exciting (well not really) new development in the world of bikes and travel blogs.
As I told a finance guy that I know when he was expounding the excitement factor of tax protocols,
"Pretty girls and fast motorcycles are exciting, tax is just BLAH"

Ciao Bella
Norm

Tuesday Challenges

BMW Modifications

My brother Jimmie has been taking issue with the BMW he recently acquired because of a little annoying safety feature.

If you put the side stand down it shuts off the engine.

So when you roll the scoot out of the garage and need to park it whilst you go back and close the garage door (I know old school, who does that any more, press a button to close the garage door)

So we checked the circuit diagram and found the color of the wires we needed to locate.

After removing 17 screws, I kid you not, we were able to remove the left side fairing and access the side stand switch.

After a brief consultation, we decided to add a jumper in the circuit ahead of the switch but leave the switch in circuit.

The idea being that if the jumper falls off, the bike will still work as intended. Whereas if you cut out the original switch and your jumper falls off you are up shit creek in a barbed wire canoe.

The umbrella is an essential part of our equipment otherwise you risk sunburn on the back of the neck.

The day ended well with the fairing installed and the engine running with the side stand down.

Our only problem was that a nut plate fell off and disappeared somewhere inside the fairing.

Off we went on a trip to the hardware store, where we purchased the necessary bits.

We managed to install a big fender washer and a standard nut on the inside of the fairing, 

We just need to remember that piece of information the next time we take it apart.

I can't figure out why, but the arthritis in my hands has been really bad for the last couple of days, the weather has been really warm and dry so there must be some other reason.

Lack of beer maybe, no probably not, too much beer, no such thing, so maybe it is just old age...

So I got out the hand machine that Barb and Leon gave me.

Looks like I need to go back to using it every day instead of once per week.

Man does this thing do a number on you, but it really works very well.

Thanks again to Barb and Leon for the machine.

Next week we plan to ride a couple of the old bikes down the coast, watch for an update.

Ciao Bella.

Norm

Quick Update

Panther Clutch Update

Once the clutch was apart and cleaned, I looked at the plates.

They do not seem to be bowed but they have obviously been hot.

If you look at the color spectrum on the edge of the plate it shows that it has been around 

500 degrees F at some time. Could have been that the clutch was rotating with little or no lubrication and heated the outer edge.

The springs were a mismatched set with three of one size and two of another, that makes it hardly surprising that the nuts were not set in the same place.

I have a new set of five springs winging their way from the UK, no the POC has not had a change of heart. I got them from Draganfly.

Fortunately lots of those older bikes used the Burman gearbox and clutch arrangement.

More soon as it progresses.

Ciao Bella

Norm

Panther Progress

It May Be Reverse Progress!

 Last weekend the first test ride did not go as planned.

The clutch would not release completely which made coming to a complete stop a bit tricky.

"No officer you can't give me a ticket for a California stop, it's the clutch honest"

The clutch cover has been removed and the clutch inspected.

The first thing of note is that the clutch spring nuts are all over the place, they should all be just flush with the end of the stud.

The first thing I needed to do was make a tool to remove the nuts.

As the measurement  was a bit tricky with everything in place, I made a best guess.

The first piece was good enough to remove the nut which had least tension.

Once I had the first nut I could make decent measurements and remade the wrench.

As you can see the Panther was previously owned by Mr. Phil I. Stine

When I was an apprentice millwright, the manager of the engineering department Mr. Dodds, called vise grip or pipe wrench damage the marks of the Philistines.

Translation to UK English:

Vise Grip = Mole Grip

Pipe Wrench = Stillsons 

These were made by guys who were either too lazy or too uneducated to use the correct tool.

OK once in a while you have no choice, but you need to do your best to avoid them.

But even worse, beat the crap out of everything in sight with a hammer and punch or chisel.

Grrrrr.

Once the nuts and springs were all removed with the Mk II tool the cover and clutch plates were removed.

Now I have a conundrum, The assembly has the correct number of friction plates, which is three as per the addendum note on the Burman drawing of the clutch and gearbox.

The problem is that instead of one plate in the back of the set up there are two.

Both plates in question are seriously scored, now this cannot be from friction / slip between each other as they are both internally splined with no chance for relative rotation.

More research is obviously required.

I'll update the blog when I find out something, or maybe just give up and become a Philistine.

NAH, never going to happen.

Ciao Bella

Norm

Second Sunday

Not What We Had Hoped For!

The Panther started up well on Sunday morning and a test ride round the tract was decided upon for a proof of capability.

The clutch drags and will not fully disengage, the brakes are less than perfect and therefore need some adjustment.

It was decided that discretion being the better part of valor we should defer the Second Sunday meet for one more month.

All in all I'm happy with the progress, the bike starts fairly well, the electrics are working as they should, the new magneto connector and HT wire produce a consistently strong spark.

The bike was ridden on the day for which we aimed, just not to the place we had hoped.

Not a failure, more a realignment of goals.

So, we took the Velocette and the Triumph instead.

The Triumph performed really well but the Velo decided to be a little petulant when I tried to start it for the return trip.

We had lots of advice from the Velocette "Experts" but ultimately we started it ourselves..
Experts 0 Amateurs 1

It was a picture perfect day for So-Cal in February, clear and warm, about 80 degrees.
A pretty good turn out for Valentines Day 90+ bikes.

As the organizer said, a good group of guys who brought the love of their life, and some of them even brought their wife or girlfriend!

Rick rode the Triumph and I rode the Velocette.

I have to say that the more I ride the Velo the more I like it.

As with most of these older bikes, when you kick start it the momentum from the kick start mechanism passes through the clutch. After a few hard kicks the clutch warms up and slips.

Today we adjusted the clutch, a not very scientific method was illustrated in the manual, but we'll see what happens on the next ride.

I'll send an update on the Panther when there is something to report.


Ciao Bella 
Norm

Panther Progress and Sucess

Mission Confidence Is High For The Ride On Sunday!

This was the bike at the last stage of reassembly, before it decided to be a complete pain and backfire every time you tried to start it. (Click on the link below)

Panther Probs

After a lot of head scratching and conflicting opinions, Jimmy and I decided to give the Panther the old college try today.

The gas tank and seat were re-installed.

A gallon of new gas was added along with a new spark plug with just 2 degrees more heat than the one installed when I bought the bike. It is the exact plug specified by Phelon and Moore for the majority of bikes they produced in the Cleckheaton Works.

My brother Jimmy came over after his stint at a local hospital where he writes marketing scripts for the edification of knee replacement recipients. 

We had quite a crowd to observe our efforts.

Leon and Barb are in from Arizona, Linda was here to work with Anne on the Uke lessons.

(Progressing very well)

After some research and cogitation, we decided that we would try kicking the bike.

We had the same result that discouraged us the last time, violent kickback.

More cogitation, we retarded the ignition slightly, still kicked back, retarded even more, no sign of life, advance just a hair "VOILA" it starts.

We then added a mark on the A/R lever showing the correct position for correct starting.

Leon was there right with us giving moral support.

Then the cheer leaders came out to see what all the smoke was about.

Speaking of smoke, the bike looked like it was running real rich, and with  gas at 2 bucks a gallon, we didn't want that.

So we took the carburetor off and dropped the needle by one notch.

We'll see how that goes.

Jimmy the kicker is to be congratulated for his Stirling efforts and for bringing his kicking boots.

Both stands are still proving to be a bit of a challenge.

The center stand has been all bent out of whack some how.

However the side stand is so far wrong that it is not even funny. If you tried to set the bike on the side stand it would be almost horizontal.

After some review, I decided that the easiest fix was to machine the mounting face for the side stand.

Machining the side stand.

The stand has been attached to the bike and will be tested on Saturday. (Tomorrow)

Ciao Bella

Norm

More after the bike meet on Sunday showing the Panther (We hope)

Panther Update

More on the Panther

Hey, talking about Panthers, how about the Carolina Panthers making it to Superbowl 50?

I know who madame will be rooting for, I mean a Panther and a Leopard are pretty similar creatures, right?

Any way, back to the plot.

Earlier this week, I went to the California DMV to register the Panther.

DMV 1 Norm 0

On to round two, I needed a vehicle inspection, so instead of loading, unloading, reloading, unloading the bike on my truck, I paid $75 to a licensed contractor to come and inspect the Panther at home.

Once done, I headed to the DMV for the second round.

"No your appointment from earlier does not count you have to wait in line"

I got ticket B340, they were serving B290. I timed the progress, about 1.5 minutes per number.

About 75 minutes, at the DMV!!!!

Well they picked up the pace and it was only about 50 minutes.

I now have the registration docs and the license plate

with tags. The pink will come in the mail.

Much to my chagrin,  Jerry Brown, AKA Moonbeam, Governor of this great state of ours can sleep easy tonight knowing that I have made a significant donation to the state coffers.
It also helps keep the guys in Folsom gainfully employed.

Even though I registered the bike in February it got January tags as that is when I bought it.

In the words of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, "Stiffed Again Moriarty"

Well he would have said it if Sherlock had to deal with the DMV.

Oh well, you can't fight city hall or the DMV.

The tech stuff is progressing and a further blog will give updates on that real soon.

Ciao Bella 

Norm