1952 Vincent Black Lightning

Sunday 29 November 2009

A new member of the family

Please put your hands together for.....

.....Pip!

Full name Pippa, she is a four and a half year old ex-race dog that joins the dray from the Dogs Trust. So far so good with her house training, though she is a little fretful at bed time. But she seems to be a very happy, soppy pooch and a welcome member of the family.

More stories to follow, I'm sure.

Monday 23 November 2009

Weekend's work

I set about the little jobs that came out of Lucy's MOT on the weekend. First one on the list was the front wheel bearings. With the bike on a jack and the front wheel off the ground, it took all of a minute to whip the wheel off. I knew that was going to be the easiest part of the job and I was right. Trying to get a drift behind the bearings to knock them out was a right mare. But eventually one bearing was teased out, and with the centre spacer removed, the other baring was a doddle. As you can see, the old ones were rusted with little grease left. The replacement ones are the double sealed type and should hold out better than the originals. Knowing the wheels have open slots in the castings that allow water out (and in!), it's amazing that Suzuki use open sided bearings. I mean, what did they expect??

Next was the rear disc. No need to remove the rear wheel for this, just withdraw the spindle enough to allow the calliper to slip off, then an allen key can remove the 5 screws and release the disc. Piccie shows the replacement disc ready for bolting down. I picked this up from a scrappy delivered for less than half the cost of a new item. Plenty of metal (and life) left in it, in fact, according to the vernier callipers, it's nearly new. Result.

Once everything was bolted back on it was time for a quick spin around the block to make sure everything was running smoothly. That done, a quick cuppa to celebrate my hard work and good fortune. All in all, a successful day in the shed.

Wednesday 18 November 2009

Abigails' shiney bits.

Finally finished the outer casings to the level I wanted them. I like to think they're clean and tidy rather that 'show bikey'. I'm not going to lacquer them, just spray with ACF50 and keep on top of things with the old Autosol.

All I need now is enough spare cash to buy the stainless bolts and gaskets to put everything back together again. That could be a problem this side of Christmas, but I'm not worried. 2010 is the big year for Abigail. That's when she must start making serious progress.

Tuesday 17 November 2009

Happy day

Lucy passed her MOT today!

Chuffed to beans as I thought the rear disc would fail. Too be totally honest she didn't get a completely clean bill of health as I've been advised of slight play in the front wheel bearings. But that and a replacement rear disc will be sorted by the weekend and the pink piece of paper the nice man at the garage gave me means the wheels can keep rollin'.
Love my bike me :-)

Sunday 8 November 2009

Hippy burpday to me

45 years old and don't look a day passed 44! Looks like it's all change again as I've just got myself another job too. This is going to be yet another interesting year with the new job, a return to college probable and the extension build on the house! Fitting in bikey bits could be tough, but I'll give it a damn good go!

Saturday 7 November 2009

Lucy gets a new swingarm

Today's the day I replaced Lucy's swingarm with the replacement one I've sprayed with hammerite. Too be fair, dismantling the backend was quite straight forward with no nut or bolt being too awkward and putting up any sort of fight. Even the swingarm pivot bolt came out easily. Here's a veiw of the resulting gap.

My plan to repair the original swingarm was quickly forgotten once I gave it a poke with a screw driver. Totally rotten and not worth the effort.

Fitting the replacement was no bother either and I'm chuffed with the completed job. Very smart. The new item does have a dent in it on the RHS, but it doesn't notice too much.

The only problem throughout the job was the discovery that a previous owner had bodged the rear caliper. Looks like the bleed nipple had been sheered off and a bolt, complete with some silicone was used to effect a repair. I've tapped out the caliper to 8mm and ordered a suitable bleed nipple, but for now I've bodged it wth another bolt. I have a working rear brake so I can use the bike for now, but will have to do a proper job before the MOT. One more thing done.



Sunday 1 November 2009

Work on Lucy's swingarm continues

Not much to report, but I de-greased, rubbed down and sprayed the replacement swingarm today. Gone for black hammerite for now. Looks good too with only a few runs. It can have a week to harden off while I organise any other bits I might need. Next weekend should hopefully see things swapped over.

Everyone should travel by bus once in a while

I took the bus into town yesterday and can highly recommend it to all. Travelling by bus offers us several very important things.
Firstly, you view your route from a different prospective. Sitting high up and able to look over hedges and fences at the things that would normally pass by on the periphery tells a whole different tale of the places you travel through. What once was a grim and dismal road can become a path through meadows and fields.
Secondly, you are forced to relax. The pace is set by someone else, someone you have delegated responsibility too. There is nothing for you to do now except enjoy the journey. Any motorcyclists will tell you riding a bike, although enjoyable, is a constant task of reading conditions, evaluating risk and managing manoeuvres. On the bus all that is forgotten, all you need to do is look at the world passing by.
Finally for me at least, is the opportunity to watch and interact with other travellers. All types of people travel by bus and the bus itself forms a mini, self contained community for the duration of the trip. I always seem to get involved in conversations with other travellers on the bus. Not life and death stuff, but never the less important tiny glimpses into the lives of others. I always think these are precious moments that reinforce in me the belief that we are all bonded in our humanity. Something that can seem totally opposed by the typical scene of commuters sitting one behind the other, each in their own vehicle, avoiding any kind of contact, even eye contact, with the other commuters around them.
So I say to you all, take the bus once in a while, look at the new world outside the window, talk with the person sat next to you and enjoy the ride.