W/E 17th May 2015

Guest mechanic

Thinking of having a new section called ‘Guest Mechanic’ – the garage has seen Cor Dees and Scott Potter in the past and this time round it’s Dean Young who dropped in for a chilli and ended up with some spanners in his hand!

Alloy inlet stubs

Took delivery of the replacement inlet stubs produced by Stefan Huber http://www.or600.laverda-club.com/index_e.html. At the moment neither Atlas needs them but I thought it wise to plan for the future – I doubt they will be available forever. Excellently made they are supplied with all the o rings + a heat insulation plate to stop too much heat transfer to the carb’. Dean was keen to fit ’em so who was I to stand in his way?

Originals

Fitted proved straightforward. The right hand oil feed pipe banjo had to be removed to refit the manifold nut and the carb’ support arm that previously stopped the carb flexing on its rubber inlets didn’t line up. We decided that as the carb’ is now held rigidly it wasn’t essential so didn’t open up the hole for it to be attached. A bit of road testing will tell if this was wise.

Replacements

I didn’t check but apparently the inlet are slightly larger in places than the diameter of the inlet track in the head. Tom Eatman smooths the passage with alloy paste whereas Andy Bartlett who has just done the same fitment decided the ‘step’ would make little or no difference. As a fan of the ‘line of least resistance’ I’ve gone with Andy. Again let’s see what happens out on the road.

While Dean worked on Atlas #2 I tried to get Atlas #1 to work by refitting the ignition. Got a spark but it wouldn’t start. I fear the engine is in need of major work but before I decide what next I will have another go – I know this might be a bit ‘head in the sands’ but I really don’t want another engine in pieces.

Broken speedo tang

My focus has to be on Atlas #2 as the countdown to the LCF rally commences – just two more weekends to go…I checked the speedo drive for reasons why the speedo has stopped working and sure enough the drive has seized in use and the tang that drives the cable almost sheared. It is a cheap way to make a cheap speedo work and this problem happened on Atlas #1 when I first got it. First time round it cost me €60 with the result that the damned thing broke shortly after it had been repaired. I will get my thinking cap on before repeating the same futile exercise this time round.

I had feared that the rear shock had popped a seal on its first outing in years. Atlas #2 is fitted with a high class Ohlins item and fortunately this seems okay with the oil coming from somewhere on the engine. Not quite sure where but did notice the seal behind the ignition spinner ‘weeps’. However all this is okay with only a new rear sprocket, tyre and headstock bearings requiring replacement for me to be confident of making the LCF bash. I do however have limited time over the next two weeks so fingers crossed this can all be achieved and that the pannier frames can also be transferred over.

Nick 🙂