PAITENCE

Is not fun when it’s imposed.  Yet when you contemplate a scratch build of any kind, tow or four wheeled, it should become your friend.  And patience is all about waiting.  You wait for better weather because you’re too cheap to put a better heat source in the garage.  After all that’s money that could be better used for parts.  Yes I admit it, not the best choice really.  You wait for trades and deals to be completed.  You wait for the right part to turn up which will allow you to finish a critical assembly.  You wait to sell a part for cash for that other part.  And it all goes on and on.  But I’m willing to admit that the bit of fiberglass on my arm has really soured my outlook about patience and waiting.

Probably because normally there is always something to do while you wait.   Clean parts; find the right nuts and bolts.  Polish bits just right and think about paint color.  It is all of those things that keep your mind off waiting so you don’t have to have patience which I can’t do.  But the end is in site and it’s not a light in the tunnel.  May 23 I get to have the cast removed.

                                        Just a wonderful studio photo of a racing JAP.

Magnetos

Trying not to be too down about not being able to pick up tools I have been doing some information gathering.

The stash of parts I have has four magnetos in stock.  Two BTH dirt track mags, a SEM from Sweden and a PAL which I believe is ESO from Czechoslovakia.   The PAL is interesting but has been promised on a parts trade o a friend in Australia who has an early ESO that needs spark.

That leaves the BTH and the SEM mags.  The BTH as the usual unit used with the JAP engines.  And both of these come with manual spark advance.  What little I understand of the SEM is that it is used for speedway and ice racing and has a reputation for reliability and the traditional Swede quality.

The problem is I have no idea if any of these four actually spark.  Or if they do spark is it good enough to run the JAP.  So off to surf the great information sea I went.  I found little or no help on the SEM magneto.  I may have just been not digging enough or used the wrong search strings.

I did find some reasonable info for the BTH.  These guys Bright Spark Magnetos, http://brightsparkmagnetos.com/index.htm, have an interesting web site and are trying to address some of the problems with old magnetos.  Very interesting bunch of information regarding know problems and solutions using new materials and technology.

I also found this site Racing Vincent UK, http://www.racingvincent.co.uk/.  This is a very commercial site offering restoration parts for Norton and Vincent.  But what I found interesting and maybe useful is they offer a range of bits for BTH magnetos in the catalog.  Go here for the list of BTH bits.  http://s261735181.e-shop.info/shop/catalog/browse?shop_param=shop_overview_pager%3D1%26cid%3D66%26.

I haven’t made an inquiry of these guys but it does seem they may be in business and could provide those hard to get bits for a BTH refurb.  You know like the gaskets and screws and stuff along with new bearing and such.  There is a small interesting note of the parts page.  They indicate that the BTH Dirt Track mag and the TT mag were the same mag; just a different name plate.

So all in all, with some more surfing under my belt, I’m pretty much decided on using the traditional BTH mag for spark.  Now to try and determine if either one of the KD-1 mags spark and what I will need for bits to get them fit to bolt up to the JAP.

So anybody have something to trade for a SEM speedway magneto?

`                                          SEM Magneto

                                        
                                         BTH KD-1 Race Magnetos.  These two appear to be 
                                         of dfferent vintage magnetos.  Just need to wait and try
                                         a test and see if either will work.

In the meantime if anybody has better information to share or has a great easy way to test a magneto please let me know.

The Overland front brake plate.

Here is a shot of the brake plate from the Honda I’m working with for the Overland.  I have gotten the two air holes cut and framed with screens.  Still not sure how much I will do with the cross-over link.  I’m waiting to get some help from my son to get the operating arm set up on the drill press for some holy work.  Still slowly re-profiling both brake operating arms to suit my eye.  I have pretty well convinced myself that I will also drill the brake drum hub for some air out-let holes.  Just not sure when it will get done or even how.

The Final Cast

I got my final cast the other day.  To my great relief it is below the elbow.  However that doesn’t really do much to make it possible to get back in the garage.  Have more movement with my fingers but not enough to use tools, weld or do any of the things I had planned for these six weeks of spring.

Interesting process the new generation of casts.  I have never broken anything that required a cast so I’m new to all of this.  They used a 3M fiberglass fabric that was water activated.  Very interesting process; just wish I had observed it being done to someone else.  It is a decent French racing blue.

So in four more weeks I get this off and can get back to some serious catch-up in the garage.

What’s the frame from?

Since I’m disabled for six weeks I thought a good use of time might be data gathering to finalize the Overland frame design.  I don’t remember where I snagged this image from.  My only excuse for failing to remember is my broken wing.  So any ideas as to what year and type of Triumph it’s from.  More importantly anybody have an idea of what the head tube rake would be?

Enforced Timeout by Stupid!!!!

Spring in Montana is an odd mix of warm and clear days mixed with cool and wet days.  Seems this spring is going to be a mix of Rocky Mountain and Pacific Coast weather patterns. No sooner did I get the grocery trailer finished and the weather changed.  And then the DIY projects got listed; none of which had to do with the Overland project.  But they had to get done.

                                         Spring in the Big Sky Country!

While working on the DIY list I was on the roof doing a small bit with the gutters.  One thing not planned but completed was a test of gravity in a very unscientific manner.  I fell of the roof and of course proved again that I can’t fly.  The pay off on this impromptu test was a broken wrist. 

Now you may think this was not so bad considering.  Well actually it really sucks.  Because the ortho doc is saying six weeks for the splint cast combination. But on the up side I’m in the middle of a trade/sale deal on some JAP spares which will take sometime to complete.  So a timeout isn’t too bad.  Well yes it does suck, it all sucks.  In all reality everything in the garage is shut down till the cast comes off.

In the big picture of things considering the distance over which I conducted my test and the obstacles I missed, it all could have caused much greater damage and things could have turned out much worse.  So all in all I think six weeks is not really too bad.  But it still sucks!

                                          The splint, a cast in two weeks.

Spring in Montana!

Just two days ago we had snow on the ground and temperatures in the 30s and 20s.  The continued cold spells have been in-between warmer days and nights.  Each time we get a brief return of winter it melts away with the subsequent warmer air from the coast.

So everybody around here is thinking spring despite the sporadic snow and cold.  Seed plants are growing in the basement.  The grow boxes in the garden are all ready to go.  The non-motorcycle list of things to do is growing. 

After building a new deck last summer the good idea fairy appeared and my son thought it would be great if we put a hand built wrought iron railing on the deck.  Well as you might expect dad got conscripted as the gopher on the railing project.  Of course each and every bit of the railing has to be considered and evaluated before things get welded up.  Of course that takes time; time away from my projects.  In the big picture of things the CEO around here will be happy and son and dad will have gained favor to be spent at a later date.

Another of those things to do was to get the bicycle trailer finished and up and rolling on tires.  Completed the hitch today and now I have a bicycle trailer all ready to go and get groceries with.   It’s hard to see in the photo but everything but the hitch is recycled from a bike or other sources.  Even the wheels and tires are from old bike projects left in my garage by my ever considerate son.

In a positive way all of this gets some little ankle biters behind me so as the weather gets more stable I can get more things done for the Overland.

As my oldest daughter has said, “It’s all good Dad!”

                                              

                                         The grocery trailer ready to roll out!