W/E 2nd February

Let’s get stripping!

Wheeled the RGS into a good position to work on it. I guessed it is going to be in this position for a while because the front engine mount looks well seized. Yep my guess turned out to be good and it is in their solid. I therefore took an alternative route which is the trick I pulled with the RGA and went to work on the small bolt and stud that attach the engine to the silentbloc. On the RGS the bolt heads are not in such good condition and the stud nuts aren’t moving. I foresee a couple of weeks with Duck Oil and a blow torch.

Time to walk away

I got the forks off and decided to leave it there for now. The thing is left in an accessible position so over the next week I will just give it a daily squirt of Duck Oil and see how we get on.

12mm dowty washer

My attention turned to the Atlas. The VFR popped the seal on the rear shock so will be out of service for a couple of weeks so if the Atlas will work that’d be helpful. Commuting to London in a car is no fun. When I woke on Saturday my heart felt a bit heavy because I didn’t believe fixing the Atlas to be road ready would be easy. Last weekend it ran but oil leaked out of the banjo junction to the nearside of the cylinder head. I fitted new 12mm dowty washers and it seems to be holding tight! I was really pleased with myself for not only ordering up the washers but getting the size right – the 12mm size is a nice tight fit – as the picture shows the old washer is very slack on the bolt.

I couldn’t quite sort out the banging in the exhaust but almost. The remote petrol reservoir so you work on the carbs with the tank off is really helpful – should’ve got one 30 years ago and saved a load of messing about. Anyways twiddled the pilot jets until I got it to the point where it affected the tickover and left it on the sweet spot (just after the engine picks up and just before it starts to die), adjusted the cable free play and tightened the inlet manifolds to get rid of any air leaks. It is now responsive and I hope riding in and out of London will maybe settle it all down i.e. the banging may go if it is caused by dirt in the carb’ where that has sat in a box for many moons.

I took it for a 10 mile test ride and it was fun! The little 600 twin rasps away and over 4,000 rpm it has a kick in the tail. The bike feels light and agile through the bends compared to the VFR and the upright, high riding position is a plus. Carburation is still out – if anything maybe a bit too rich as a spell just on the pilot jet made it bog down and awkward to start. The bike also smelt ‘hot’ which might just be all the oil still around the motor after the banjo sprung a leak.

So tomorrow (3rd Feb) will see the Atlas return to active duty so fingers crossed…

VMCC registration nonsense…

Turned my final attention to the new Atlas registration. Thought it would be easy but no. Try getting ‘rubbings’ of your engine and frame number it’s not as easy as you think…Still here is the Atlas with a copy of Murdoch’s finest to prove what I’m not sure…

Nick 🙂