abk engineering: July 2012

Thursday, 26 July 2012

Final bits arrived for Gordies sporty so it was all hands to, its been a bit of a story, the magnets flung off smashing into the stator, two damaged parts, which if you buy from the UK are +£700. Now when you're spending this amount of money on a four speed it makes you thing about if its best to put the money in say another motor or even another bike. I'd spent the best part of a night looking for a low cost solution and found nothing, its that old 80/20 rule. Mr Gearhead arrives and within sixty seconds he has located a clutch hub(with magnets) in the states coming in at half the price including postage and tax. To boot the magnets are retained with a stainless band, winner. Buy button pushed, ten days later posty is knocking on the door, well not quite, Gordie has to pay the tax first.

Gordies work shop has a number of specialised tools, this one shown here is a calibrated torque wrench using a 1966 triumph Daytona fork leg, before you correct me, I don't have one that they actually raced in '66, its a '66 fitted with Daytona engine bits, head etc, but not carbs, you've seen it here before.

As the little hand reaches nine, we push the starter and check the charging, jobs a good'un

Sunday, 15 July 2012

Fixing stuff

The last few days have been about mending stuff, Gordie snapped a bolt in the cases, we expected to have to helicoil the bitch, we had to drill out the broken one so we chanced our luck. Well the lady was on our side, after grinding flat the broken bolt, center pop, and carefully drilling the old bolt with ever increasing bits, Chris (off the llama garage fame) peeled out the old thread. Job done. Then tonight I came across a posse(not sure if a posse is the collective noun but it fits) of 16 year olds standing around a scooter. trouble boys I say, yeah air filter has come off, two minutes and a bit of spit later, sorted. I stood listening to the need for speed and ever increasing jet sizes, what about the air I said blank look, well you need both dont you, they agree. I leave with a quote which has been around my head for the last week. Remember boys "you dont get speed out of a box"

One of these bikes is Lemmy from Motörhead and the other is Brad Pitt

Thursday, 12 July 2012

Shed Built by llamas

Sent from Samsung Mobile

Monday, 9 July 2012

Time to celebrate

An ironic picture to title "Time to celebrate" but fitting none the less. 2 down and two to go, shovel sorted no leaks and going like a train, a steam train may be but still a train. The joy I got from getting Tims text on Saturday night put tears in my eyes, yet seeing him at work today summed it up, a man shattered, a week of mad building followed by a round of racing racing visibly showed, never the less there was still that far away look in his eyes, you know the one you get when its all worth while. Over at Ammo's it was a warm welcome of coffee and a look around his "museum" of working bikes. I took a picture but you know what, I'm keeping off this page, those that know know.

And two to go? bits for Gordies and the need to sort DD's bonnie just drop into the back ground last week, and the best bit, they didnt care, there was only one bike getting sorted last week.