Four museums and a party...in one weekend. Part 4

 

Most of us have them…..The Haynes manual…A worn greasy copy covering BSA A65`s or the Ford Cortina`s…With the classic quote “contact your local dealer” when you were looking for the really need to know answers…scary if you live in a heavy neighborhood…..

Anyway the Haynes International Motor Museum, Sparkford near Yeovil in Somerset have a great collection of cars (about 400) and a large speedway bike collection.

 

 

 

 

1930 Norton.

 

1937 Ok Supreme Silver Cloud.

Clearly a man build for speed…….

 

http://www.haynesmotormuseum.com/home.php

Four museums and a party...in one weekend. Part 3

 

 

 

 

The Famous AJS Porcupine



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mitchell 50cc. The only 50 cc four in the world. 12cc per cylinder:

The last post from   http://sammymiller.co.uk/

And there are still two more museums to go…..

First ride on the Ok Supreme.

This moment is long overdue. The firs ride on the OK Supreme.

When we first got the Ok I thought that it would be on the road in a few months……But positive thinking is not always enough. The bike looked much better than it was…..

Well, we wanted a usable machine with most of the unrestored look it had got over the years. It had not been on the road since 1973, so damp storage had also made some damage. Some welding/painting/new parts where needed.They will blend in after some use. But that is also a part of the bikes history now.

I look very worried before the first test ride…..Are the brake wire soldered good enough?

Looks like I have a stalker in leather pants behind my back……Scary!

I had no time to wait for the registration plates to arrive….pizza boxes are very useful.

Do you know what make the steering damper wheel was made for?

And how did the test ride go? Well, this is real life, not a TV build off where everything is good on first ride…..The exhaust got valve stuck after a few miles….

Time for timing.

I have just timed the ignition on Hans T`s Ok Supreme. Why are you looking for blue smoke? The bike is OK. It`s running supreme……

JAP worm drive

The OK Supreme is nearly ready, there are only a few more things to do. I have been waiting for this part for a long time. The new crank parts where different from the original so a new worm drive had to be made.

First class mail from Sweden.

If the parts fit at first attempt there must be something wrong. I had to grind down the nut, too big for the oil pump housing.

Timing time.

A JAP in the kitchen……

This is the kitchen floor…….A perfect place to spread out a JAP engine.

Now most of the work has been done and only the assembly remains. Hopefully I will get it done this week, it`s going to be fun.

You probably gathered that my wife was out when I used the kitchen….

Big end trouble 2.

Well, it is not all about sitting on the back side reading books……. Some of you might remember the post on the Ok Supreme/JAP crank:  http://beveldrive.blogspot.com/2010/09/big-end-trouble.html

And now It`s back, looking good!  What a great job!

 

New big end, small end, left and right shafts. Straightened rod.

A new type needle bearing replacing the old rollers

Excelsior and its Racing Rivals.

I bought this book because of the mention of Ok Supreme.  Today the book arrived in the mail……and what a great book. Racing photos from the twenties and thirties that I never seen before. The book is printed in only 500 copies. I got mine on E bay.



Rusty pipe.

Where do you find a 1933 OK Supreme exhaust pipe? Well there are not many OK dealers left.....But there are still some people who master the art of pipe bending. We went to Sweden last weekend to pick up the pipe. Thank`s Anders for a job well done

The metal worms have been feeding......

BIG end TROUBLE.

I have been working quite a lot on the Ok Supreme. My first plan with the engine was to overhaul the magneto and check the cylinder and head. I wanted to leave the bottom halve alone.

But it is not supposed to be easy, so when I saw the state of the cylinder and head I knew that the crank cases had to be opened…..

The engine has not the usual main bearing set up of ball and rollers. There are long rollers straight on the shafts.  So when you have worn shafts……you have trouble…..

The shafts has too much damage for grinding and “spray” welding don`t work well with rollers. New shafts are the only solution. 

The JAP speedway engines have the same set up but not the same size…..So where can I find new shafts? A Swedish friend pointed me in the right direction…..There was a place that could help…..After a phone call we agreed that I took the crank apart and sent the shafts and bearing rings to get the everything to the right sizes.

Need some pressure to keep the crankshaft in place when unscrewing the big end nuts.

Time for wood and mallet.....Hit me baby, one more time.....

 

There were more problems…….The rollers of the big end bearing had “eaten” a 3mm groove in both sides of the crank weights…..Another phone call and everything are on their way to Sweden.

Need a good washing.......

Skåne Rundt 2010

We are going to Sweden on Friday:  Skåne Rundt rally, http://www.mchksyd.com/index.html.

So carbs and ignition have to be tuned, new inner tubes and chains.........