North Norfolk Canter

I thought I'd take the SQ4 out for a little gallop along the coast this morning. We had a nice little trip along to Holt, to visit the North Norfolk Railway. This is a most excellent standard gauge line, with steam and diesel engines running most days in the summer, and a variety of special events throughout the year. This is the end of the present line, where trains from Sheringham terminate after a 5 mile trip through Weybourne & Kelling. You can take a bus into Holt, or look around the museum, or take the train back again:

North Norfolk Railway - Holt Station

Then a trip north through the countryside to the coast at the aptly named Cley-Next the Sea

Cley

Then along the gloriously twisty A149 through Salthouse & Kelling:

Salthouse Marshes

Stopping at the Muckleburgh collection on the way home:

Muckleburgh Collection

Twenty-one miles in all, no mishaps, apart from the fact that the front brake is being 'grabby' again. We did some more temperature measurements when we got back, which you can read about here. At the end of the run the oil pressure was reading about 20 psi at 25 mph.

Temperature testing also revealed that the front brake drum was at 117°C when I stopped. Hmm...

Maintenance

Well, the Square is finally in the garage (as opposed to the workshop/shed/summerhouse where I restored it) and is getting into the swing of being a mode of transport rather than a project. Well, nearly...

I'm going to try and ride it a little every day now it is nearby, at least when I am not away working, and that should build up some miles: and of course that means maintenance.

I'd puzzled over the best way to fill the primary cases. The big filler hole is directly above the level plug and I had formed the opinion that dribbling oil into the filler ran down the inside of the case, around the footrest tunnel and out of the level hole, and that my primary case didn't have any oil in it, because none came out of the chain oiler. So I left the drain plug in and poured a decent amount of oil into the filler...

And out it came, pouring from the clutch cover drain! The primary case obviously doesn't hold much oil. I drained it all out again via the level hole, and hoped it hadn't gone all over the clutch plates.

A little trip out, to check the tyre pressures at the local garage, proved that all was well with the clutch.

I adjusted the front brake a little - it is really not very effective. The rear one is good though, fortunately.

  

Trip to the Seaside

After an uneventful run up to Sheringham, North Norfolk.

This may not seem much, as a 27 mile trip, but its the first time that I have been out riding on a route that was not circular around my home - the idea being that as you shake the bike down the radius gets larger. The first trip I do on a rebuilt machine goes out of the gate and I turn left and keep turning left until I get back, 10 minutes later. I increase the radius of the circular route as I get more confident with the machine.

As you all know, I have been having overheating problems leading to low oil pressure; as many people have said, Mk1 engines run very hot when newly built - at the end of this trip, the SQ4 had clocked up 117 miles since rebuild. 

So, following your advice, I am breaking it in slowly and keeping an eye on the oil pressure. I'll run it around each day and build up some miles.

Out & About

This is just an excuse to post a picture... Some more temperature testing today. 5 minutes warm up, some miles around town a bit of traffic, a little open road. Down to 10 psi at hot idle, 20 psi running at 25-30 mph.