Joseph Lucas and the Temple of the lost spark

As mentioned in my previous post,  my mixed-bag '58 suffers from something of an identity crisis.
A 350cc with a 500cc barrel and piston and a half-finished magneto conversion.

After much dithering and back and forth, I ultimately decided to return the bike to stock ignition.

This decision was made due to not having the correct timing covers (mine are AJS branded) and not having the correct magneto.  I do have a Fairbanks Morse FM that gives off spark, however it will need some work to adapt.  Further to this, the FM lacks an advance and retard control.


Finding the correct magneto in decent shape is also a challenge.  They usually range anywhere from $100-300 (and up) and buying one is a something of a gamble.  These units are fifty to seventy years old at this point and inevitably worn out.  A rebuild means several hundred more;  Money well spent for certain, but certainly money I don't have to spare at the moment.   Points and condensers are cheap and plentiful.  I have several NOS Lucas sets sitting in my parts bin ready for use.

I managed to find the correct inlet cam and timing covers on Ebay;  The wiring harness came from feked.com.

As an aside, this will be my last order with Feked;  The company and products are fine, however shipping is horrendous and I am always hit with exorbitant customs fees.  


The missing piece is the Auto Advance unit and plate, known as unit  CA1A in the Lucas catalog.

I figured that being a Lucas unit, it would be easily attainable and very likely used on many different makes/models.  I was incorrect!

If you do a google search or eBay search, almost nothing will come up.  Even the individual components yield no result.   I was able to find out that the CA1A was used on three separate bikes;  The BSA C12, Royal Enfield Clipper and the Matchless/AJS single(s).

I spent countless hours scouring articles and forums, looking for answers or substitute units that could be utilized.   Nothing.

Fortunately for me,  I found a photo reference on Hitchcock's website.  They are the leading provider of all things RE in the world.  I received a prompt reply stating that there are no substitute units that can be used, however they would search for a used set for me.

Considering that the coil ignition singles were on the market for eight years, it's a little surprising there aren't more of these about.   I can only hope that means that many of these bikes live on and are seldom broken up for parts.  That would be a ray of sunshine reaching through a cloud of unobtanium.

Until next time.......

Weekend Swap Meet pick ups

With other priorities dominating much of 2017,  I didn't visit many shows or swap meets.
At the 11th hour on Friday,  I happened to be cruising the CVMG page and saw the Kitchener branch would be holding court at the Paris Fairgrounds the next morning.  I figured I should start making up for lost time.

I set out early, as one does to find the best items;  Armed with a modest cash budget and list of essentials in mind, I kept my expectations low.  

Despite the intermittent heavy rain, the number of vendors was fairly high and diverse.  What did surprised me was the lack of project bikes for sale.   Not a concern for me, as the Inn is currently beyond capacity! 

There was one exception and it was certainly something not seen very often, this 1929 Harley Davidson JD project.  Considering the age and how much of the bike is present, someone should be able to restore to former glories.

At the end of the day, I made out quite well and far better than expected.  Below, I humbly present my 'haul'. 

It may not look like much, however these are all items that I had hoped to find and more importantly, needed.  

2 x Shorty/cocktail shaker mufflers (purchased for $2.00!)  I have never seen shorties with flared ends before.  The chrome is actually quite decent.

12 x Tools:  Several slimline wrenches, a NOS American made chain tool, Dunlop tyre spoons, Craftsman wrench, home made Triumph clutch tool, very old flint for welding and a mystery tool.  

1 x Bag of random British fasteners with nuts, always handy.

3 x original handlebar switches, all in excellent shape.  1 x Ducon, 1 x Miller and 1 x Lucas.

2 x Ewarts fuel taps with new components.  I was really surprised and delighted to find these as mine are but trash.  

All in all, a very worthwhile Saturday morning and I will be sure to attend next year.

My next post will reflect some project updates, until next time! 

To Ragtop or not to Ragtop, that is the question!

At least that is the question on my mind today.

Yes,  I am finally getting back to the poor old Volkswagen project.  This August marks the 10th year anniversary of my sister's passing and I want to get her tribute back on track.

Over the next two days I am doing a list of all the jobs required to get this car running and back on the road.

One of the items I have been seriously considering is the addition of a sunroof kit.  It would be a shame to decide to do this after body work and paint were applied.  This is supposed to be a fun vehicle for weekend or the odd drive to work, probably seeing the most use in the spring/summer/fall.

Many VW enthusiasts source an original Golde sunroof with the surrounding metal from a donor car. While I am enthusiastic about this car, I can hardly say it is original anymore so that might be a touch extreme.

There are a few kits available and this one currently has my attention.

Ragtop Kit

At $720 U.S. (including shipping) the kit is just works out to $1000.00 Canadian.

If you haven't seen it already,  Max Wilson has a wonderful Youtube video of his father's Beetle restoration.  In the video, he installs a kit (making it look much easier than it probably is).

The video can be found here and is worth every minute of viewing time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNv0fI-qzP8

I hope to have a decision made within the month.

I think this looks pretty sharp!

Firth Motorcycle 1950 Catalogue

Time seems to be getting away from me this spring!  I have been busy working  (thankfully!) Riding (gratefully!) and spending time with family.

I have quite a bit to post over the next little while, however I will be spacing it out a bit.

 Today I have another neat catalogue, still in the original folder acquired from the owner's son.  It amazes me when a piece like this survives;  when I consider the amount of paper I recycle every week I couldn't imagine something like this lasting 66 years in my house!

I apologize for the scan quality for some of the pages; I didn't want to ruin the book by flattening out the centre.  I hope you enjoy it.

In a couple years Firth would assume distribution of Matchless for Manitoba as well (as per later catalogues)

I am told that many of these bikes were sold to learners (where did they all go?) as Firths were reluctant to sell large bikes to new riders.

No mention of AJS this year at all...

Interesting to note that the engine in the picture is actually an AJS Model 20 distinguished by the timing cover.

I am curious as to what the difference is between a 'Firths British Battery' and 'British Standard Battery' $2.50 was significant pocket change then! 

Firth did actually patent several accessories which I have found online, The Streamliner can be found here: patent. 

Not a Chinese part in sight.....those truly were the days.

Promised updates are forthcoming! keep an eye on this spot..

Ride Safely!

Slip Sliding away...

I am astonished at how quickly this summer is flying by!  Trying to catch up with everything is akin to keeping up with the speed of sound....impossible.

I have found myself wanting to post for a week now, at each interval something else requires my attention more immediately.  For that, I humbly apologize.   In short, I am working every day running a small business, restoring bikes and spending time with the family.  To add to this, I am working on a novel!  

On to the catch up;

I received a second set of Bridgestone rear shocks that had much less play and much better chrome than the ones I had to work with.  I started to strip them and clean them, this is what I came up with;

There is a little hole in the back of the shroud that let in some moisture over the years.  I suspect this was from a low mileage bike as the shocks were barely broken in.  The main spring was rusty, which bothered me.  I looked around my shelf and decided to leave them to soak in this:

After a couple days, I hung them up and let the excess oil fall into a bucket which was then properly disposed of.  That should keep the springs in decent shape for a few more years!  

I have a confession to make.  I said that I would make a seat cover for this project and I meant it.  I really did.  That was until I found a new cover for less than $50.00 with shipping.  For the price, I decided the DIY seat will have to wait until next time.  Of course I did say that a few bikes ago now....

The old foam was absolutely ridiculous to get off.  

I soaked it in hot water over night in the hopes that some of it would come off.  Some of it did, however most remained.  As I write this, it is covered with paint stripper, which seems to be the only thing that works!  

These seats are quite a pain compared to a British bike of the same era.   As you can see, the seat has a sprung saddle (the Japanese seemed to love these in the 60's)  rather than foam which one would have thought would be more economical.  Foam surrounded the sides and back and a piece of molded plastic sat atop the springs, atop which more foam.  The seat trim is also interesting.  Rather than a simple piece of molded strip around the bottom, they instead chose a strip of chrome that slid over the ends of loose bolts.  These bolts are attached on the inside of the frame.  I can't see any practical way of reusing this or getting it to look right without tremendous difficulty.  The DIY aspect may play a role in how this seat goes back together.   My thought right now is to use my handy cutting tool (as seen in the last post) and cut off the little bolts as the nuts are seized on them.   I think some rivet replacements would keep the seat cover tight to the frame and give it a good look.  I plan on tackling that this weekend.  

Sometimes I truly love Canadian Tire...key word sometimes.   Today however was one of those sometimes days.  While looking for rivets this item happened to catch my eye.

Cool idea, right?  I was intrigued.....

At $4.99, even more intriguing!  In theory, this should save a lot of time and prove invaluable with stripping and restoring bikes.  So yes, I picked it up and will give an in depth review in the future.  

As I made my way to the cash I saw this;

Apparently walking 30 feet entitled me to a further $3.00 discount!  It boggles the mind how an item that was $39.99 is now less than $2.00.  This is why I NEVER pay full price at this store, because I come back three weeks later and the item is almost always deeply discounted.  I am very eager to try this thing out now..

 If you didn't already know that Thailand has the best postal service in the world, here is the evidence.

This is the padded envelope that my NOS carb cover came in.  This colourful fellow seems to be thanking me for my patronage, when was the last time your local post office did that for you?  Oh well, sometimes in life you just have to say Phuket! 

Crunching the numbers...

Much of what I've learned about bike restoration evolved  from my first real project, a 1969 Triumph Daytona. I bought the bike in pieces dragged it home with all these fantasies of bringing it back to glory.  2 and a half years later, the bike was together but never really worked the way I wanted her to.

The mechanic who rebuilt the engine (a true craftsman with British motors) took the bike and fixed many of the errors that were made.  Before relieving me of it, he looked at her then me.  'You took too long with it'. he said plainly.

I nodded and agreed with him, not fully understanding what he meant until many years later.  I figured that some restorations take many years and for a newcomer, I did pretty well.  I suppose I did, but with lots of help from some generous old timers who assisted me.  On my own?  God only knows.

With motorcycle restoration, I have always been guilty of romantic fancy.  I would describe it as Quixotic really, the desire to see great beauty in these forlorn and forgotten beasts.  With romantic fancy often comes poor planning and forgetting the reality of one's situation.   Skills, tools, space, money for instance.

The old adage 'Those who fail to plan, plan to fail.'  really rings true in these situations.  Have a look in any online classifieds site and you will find a long list of forgotten or abandoned projects.  Where did these builders go wrong?  Did they run out of money or just give up?  There is usually a good story in the ad, but who really knows.

The best approach I have ever seen was that of  a friend of mine.  He had a penchant for small capacity 2 strokes and would usually take a new project on every December.

Why December you ask?  My friend used to base his entire project on what he estimated his tax return would be.  This included the bike, the parts, the paint, the whole thing.   This kept him on track and more or less kept him from dipping into his coffers.

Experience is your biggest ally, even with it you still need to do your homework.

Before even thinking about buying that project ask yourself the following questions:
-Does the bike run?  Will it run?  what will it take to run?

A bike that doesn't run is essentially a boat anchor.  If that's what your after, have at it!

Look around you.  Where will you work on this bike?  Do you have the tools to do it?
Metric sockets and wrenches for Japanese bikes, Whitworth tools for older Brit bikes, for example.

Figure out the availability and prices of parts, including shipping.  Nowadays, shipping will almost count for half of your budget!

Another part of my philosophy; 'Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst'

For instance, if a bike has sat for ages, you can pretty much guarantee that every rubber component is dried out and has cracked.  Electrical components tend to age poorly, a rusty bike means moisture; the arch enemy of electrics.

Are the tires odd sizes? are they available?  Many vintage bikes can be oddballs in this fashion, another thing to be aware of.

While forums should be taken with a grain of salt, they can be a good source of information and a good way to find vendors and services.

The next part of my restoration mantra;  'Have a vision.'  Determine just what it is you want.  Draw sketches, find other pictures on the net that you find inspirational.  Once the vision and budget has been determined, it is much easier to stay on track and attain your goals.

My final note is about budget.  Can you afford this?  by which I mean realistically?
If it's a dream bike, perhaps the money and time you spend is worthwhile.  When you look at the money involved and envision the end product, ask yourself.... 'If I saw this bike for sale at $X would I pay that much for it?'  If you wouldn't pay that much for a restored bike, why would you pay that much to restore it?

As for my Dual Twin,  I am pleased to say that I am pretty much on budget (by today's calculation I have $150.00 left to play with) though I am certain I will go a little over.  I am sad to say that I haven't gotten as far as I would have liked due to time constraints.  This is the other bit of number crunching to consider.  Time is money as they say;  Most of seem to have money and no time; no money and lots of time or end up the poor bastard with neither.

One day I will tell you about an added philosophy I call the Christina Hendricks test.....a story for another time! (you have imaginations, I'm sure you can work it out)

As I descend from my soapbox I leave you with a Japanese Cyborg that resembles a grasshopper riding a motorcycle to an epic theme tune.

They just don't make 'em like that anymore...

Working on old bikes sometimes puts me in an interesting state of mind.  I often work to older music (bands like The Pretty Things and some of The Nuggets albums in particular) and muse about the secrets these machines could tell if only they had the words!  Sometimes I watch movies on my little DVD player in the garage that also reflect the era.   One of the discs I often play from the 1960's is Bronson.

No, I don't mean Charles Bronson, though he was pretty epic in his own fashion.  I am talking about a series that few people remember today called 'Then Came Bronson' that ran from 1969-1970 on NBC.

The series revolved around the adventures of Jim Bronson (Michael Parks), who quits his day job as a reporter and takes to the open road on his Sportster After the suicide of his best friend (early appearance on TV by Martin Sheen).

Each week Bronson would take on a different job, making enough money to eat, sleep and get to his next stop on the road.  Steve McQueen stated that the reason he made 'On Any Sunday' was because Biker films of the era had set motorcycling back about "300 Years".   TCB was produced half a year before Easy Rider in a period  when the films McQueen loathed were on every Drive In screen across America.  There were no violent beatings, drugs, 'Old Ladies' or leather vests to be found here.  It was just about a man, making his way, working hard, making friends and even finding love on occasion.  If it poured rain, he rode.  If his bike broke down, he wrenched it.  It truly was a story of the human spirit and reflected a time when one could run free, when one could pick up work without 3 different interview phases and a plethora of university degrees.

Parks brought a tremendous amount to the role and actually sang the theme song.  Filmgoers nowadays would most likely recognize him from his work in several Tarantino films such as Kill Bill.  He played Bronson as an intense loner, with a desire to take the high road, both morally and figuratively.

I had read about the series many years ago in passing and it always seemed interesting.  It was only a couple years ago that I found it on DVD.  It has never been officially released, but if you want it, it's out there.

Sadly, TCB only lasted one season.  Perhaps viewers had a negative view of motorcyclists or conversely, preferred a motorcyclist to be something other than a thoughtful man on a more gentle path.  To me this defines the charm of Bronson.  He is very much a complete character who runs into real issues and encounters other real characters.  Each episode was different, not always with a clean or happy ending and the list of guest stars was quite impressive.

More often than not it feels like someone is telling these stories, like a trusted mentor or an Uncle rather than watching a TV show.   With the wasteland that television has become these days, it would be nice to see something like TCB make a resurgence to balance out Sons Of Anarchy.

The best online resource for the series can be found here, I highly recommend it to anyone interested!

http://jimbronson.com/


In other news, a package arrived in the mail containing this;

I love NOS stuff.  Here we have fork seals, swingarm bushings, wiring harness, speedo and coils (in the box).

It's amazing to think that these have sat all this time, waiting for an opportunity to be put to use.  I love the Japanese writing on the box and the fact these parts are still sealed in Bridgestone labeled bags.

I am not building a show bike or doing a concourse restoration but I strive for  period Authenticity where possible.   Being able to get these pieces, especially for these prices is a real boon.  Something tells me there will be more Bridgestones in my future along with the British machinery.....I need a bigger garage!

I will end this post with one of the songs I was listening to earlier today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3qJ-KPlt4M