FH - building up the miles

 This week, we are mostly decorating in Cromer! The FH now has 205 miles on the clock, and is still smoking a tiny bit and leaking a bit of oil, possibly from the head gasket.

Here it is, collecting caulk from Screwfix and CO2 from Argos...

I've checked the points today and am pleased to record that they haven't closed up.

I also checked the QD hub nuts after an unusual sound began from the back - they had loosened off a lot.

There's no picture, but yesterday I rode a couple of miles along the main road at 1/4 throttle, killing the engine and coasting to a halt. The timing side plug was brown on the centre electrode, black on the outer. I won't be making any carburetion changes for the moment!

FH - points

 Just for the record, I have used the on-board points spanner (with built in 12 thou feeler guage) to determine that the point gap for both cylinders is identical.

This means the ignition timing should be similar on both cylinders.

The lock nut for the fixed point needs a 8 mm spanner, which I've added to the toolkit.

FH - shaking down 3

 Well, the mild spitting and reluctant starting returned with a vengeance today. After the tank pinhole repair, the washer around the speedo cable and some general bolt tightening I fueled up and took the bike for a short commute of about 4 miles.

It was certainly reluctant to start, and was also lumpy as hell but it got me there and restarted when it was time to come home.

The journey back got progressively worse, and by the time I turned into town I had only one cylinder.

That cut out as I turned into the yard.

The engine sounded flat and 'hard' on the way out, just like the W/NG when it's retarded. The blue exhaust pipe in the picture screams 'retarded' too - the bike went straight on the ramp when I got home.

With the plugs out, I engaged top gear to use the back wheel to turn the engine with the magneto end cover off - the points had virtually closed up. Setting that back to 0.012" had the engine bursting into life at the merest tickle of the kickstart!

I greased the point cam, but I must check the gap on both cylinders.

Shame about the blue exhaust. That won't polish out but at least the tank isn't leaking!

FH - getting there

 A few minutes in the workshop moves the project on a little bit: the speedo drive locating pin has arrived from the AOMCC gearbox man:

It fits in this hole:

A look at the carburetter reveals that the float chamber gasket is actually there, but that the drip shield is a little distorted and a bit loose, which probably caused the spitting back. The main issue, staring us in the face (and highlighting the perils of long-term projects) is that the carburetter needle is still in the box of bits!

The engine idles now.

By the way, I have changed the 210 main jet to a 260:

A couple more problems are revealed - the inlet rocker oil banjo is loose, and the magneto earth button doesn’t work. The inlet banjo is an easy spanner job; the cutout requires a bit more investigation.

FH - ignition timing

 Edging ever closer towards first start, I diverted myself from wiring activities to time the ignition.

Regular readers will know the rocker box isn't fitted yet, and I can tell you that it's much easier to set the engine in position for ignition timing without pressure from the valve springs trying to restrain you.

As I've fitted 7.25:1 pistons to this machine, I am timing it to Cyclone specification - 3/8" BTDC at maximum advance in place of the 11/32" for the home market models. Here it is on the ubiquitous Wagamama chopstick, of which I have hundreds:

The timing is set with the timing side piston at 3/8" BTDC on the compression stroke.

With the engine in the right position, I fitted my little clamp to hold the ATD at full advance. The ATD is screwed most of the way on, but is not yet on the magneto shaft taper:

With a green Rizla in the points, I can rotate the magneto until the paper just loosens in the points. It's useful to have a 4 BA spanner available to just hold the magneto shaft on that central bolt while you gingerly tighten up the ATD nut from the other side. With the petrol tank off, it's easy to reach the magneto from the timing side of the bike.

Next, fully tighten the ATD nut. You can then back the engine off and come back up to 3/8" BTDC; if the Rizla is just coming loose in the points (with the ATD still clamped to full advance), you are good to go.

Huntmaster - Missing parts appear

The Huntmaster was always going to be a long term project, partly out of time but also for want of space. It's lurking about in the garage and from time to time something pops up on eBay, or something else triggers the realisation that a part is missing.

Looking at the engine one idle evening I took the points cover off the end of the magneto only to find they were missing! These K2F points assemblies see to make a lot of money on eBay, so I had to wait a while before I could get one at a reasonable price. Here it is along with the fixing screw:



And here it is back at home in the magneto



And here's another one, this time from Adrie deGraff from Holland. Its the front section of the rear chaincase:

It needs a bit of welding, but this is what it should look like:

And this is the other side:

And what it should look like: