FH - stripping the back wheel

 Finally, and it seems to have been a long time coming, it's time to start on the wheels. I've got the tyres now though I have had to compromise with a 90/90-19 front tyre rather than the 325-19 that I wanted, but at least I have everything.

It doesn't take very long to remove the rear wheel from these bikes despite the fact that I have complicated matters by fitting indicators, and these need to come off before the rear of the mudguard can be unbolted.

The first step is to measure the offset using a straight edge across the bearing housing. With that in place we can measure 7/8" to the edge of the rim.

These are quite common wheels so finding someone that could help with the lacing pattern of the spokes wouldn't be difficult. Nevertheless it is good practice to photograph your wheels before dismantling such that the peculiarities of the spoke pattern can be recorded for the rebuild to come. These Ariel full width hub wheels are simple in that the spokes are of two types - those that fit from the outside, and those that fit from the inside; this results in similar lengths but different head angles for the two types. For the half width hubs fitted to all my other Ariels, there are four types of spokes in each wheel.

When you have all the components delivered, and you have recorded your spoke pattern and your offset you can dismantle the wheel. I've done this a few times now and have discovered the quickest and easiest methods to my mind.

Let it be known that we are not going to reuse any of these components other than the hub. Therefore the best way to remove the rim is to cut through all of the spokes on both sides; Iuse a bolt cutter for this job which makes short work of snipping through each of the spokes.

There we go. The tyre has not even been deflated yet!

Here is the hub with the remains of the spokes. It's sensible to cut the spokes as near to the hub as possible because it is much more difficult to remove the full length of the spoke from the hole in the hub.

You will find most of those little bits of spoke are stuck in their holes through corrosion and dirt. Just wiggle them a bit to release the gunge, and thread them back through their holes.

Removal of the rim and tyre is equally brutal. All I have done here is to take a hacksaw to the tyre, lubricated with some WD40 and sawn through both the tire and part of the rim such that I can cut through both beads and the tyre will just fall off.

And that's it. Apart from a trip to the dump with this scrap metal and rubber the next job is to start polishing the hub.

FH - dashboard again

 A job I had been putting off for a while involved pulling the instrument panel off again. It involves fiddling around behind the headlamp, a particularly inaccessible area, and removing the handlebar clamp. It had to be done though, the indicator relay bracket was threatening to fret through some wires and the ammeter was popping out - not to mention the fact that I couldn't get the screws in to fasten the thing to the nacelle.

One of the problems with removing the dashboard is that you have to lift the handlebar clamp completely off. This is because the dashboard has been repaired where it sits under the handlebar clamp, and the slots are not really the right shape. One in particular fouls the stud in the handlebar clamp:

I marked the offending area on a bit of masking tape:

A few minutes with a file sorted that out, and now the clamp fits much more smoothly. You still have to lift it to remove the dashboard though.

The main job was to move the indicator relay. In a previous incarnation, I had it fitted under the rearmost speedometer nut and it was preventing me getting my hand in to fit the speedometer cable and to reconnect the wires to the headlamp switch.

What I've done today is make a new bracket for the indicator relay so that it's mounted under the ammeter in a corner of the nacelle that's out of the way:

I can get my hand underneath the dashboard now to reconnect all the wires and the speedometer cable. I made the main battery feed cable quite long when I built the wiring harness and this helps to reconnect it to the ammeter when you are fitting the dashboard.

SQ4 - trip around the block

 A nice February morning saw an opportunity for an 18 mile round trip to Holt, via the coast. I filled it up before I left, and calculations show it's still doing 50 mpg. This is Cley church:

The Square Four has been on the road with me for 10 years now. She's looking fine, if a bit grubby!

It's going well, though it seems to pink about when you crack the throttle open...

FH - fuel line

 Here it is, burbling away at the top of the road looking marvellous:

The brakes are a little better but still don't inspire much confidence. I have adjusted them again but it's likely that we will re-line them when the wheels come off again. I've also corrected a slight misalignment in the rear wheel.

Keen eyes will note it's still wearing the temporary fuel tank in this picture - it's time to make a fuel line. These are the bits we need - some 1/4" fuel pipe, two ferrules, fittings for each end of the line and the little swage we made years ago from two bits of 1/2" square bar:

Fit the ferrule over the end of the fuel line and push the fitting in, being careful to orient it to suit the natural bend in the pipe:

Put the two halves of the swaging tool around the ferrule and nip it up in the vice. When you are happy that it's all in the right place, give it a little squeeze but don't fully close the swage; then turn the ferrule through 90° and squeeze it again. Doing it all in one go will probably split the ferrule on two sides.

There we go - nice neat job:

And back on the bike. The pipe could probably have done with being 1/4" shorter but it is tidy enough for now.