W/E 27th September 2015

Do not fix your bike on the Eurotunnel!

Just back from a weekend flying around the Ardenne region on the Atlas rally – fantastic company and weather…another report to come.

Nick 🙂

W/E 20th September 2015

Customer Atlas sprocket

Took delivery of the replacement sprocket for the Atlas. As you can see this has a boss on the back which will hold the sprocket in the right position by butting up to the end of the gearbox bearing. The wider load surface and tighter fit will also prevent the sprocket chattering and therefore wearing the gearbox splines.

The downside is that once the sprocket wears out that’s a lot of work in the scrap bin and the engineer who made it up is retiring. What I plan to do is run this and when the teeth go get a new set of teeth welding in. After this I will then use the boss (which is where the work is) to produce a spacer that can be over again. So that problem is almost solved…

Have had a lot of chatter over the weekend from the front brake so had a look on Sunday. The pads have worn unevenly with the outer more worn than the inner. Is one of set of pistons not working? Anyways with Mrs A on the brake side she managed to pull the lever back to the bars without the pads moving! Bled through fresh fluid and it seems like it is working but can’t tell until I do some roadwork on Tuesday.

Inevitable…

Did a quick 24 trip to the Laverda Belgi rally near Hoogstraten. Family birthday meant we had to be back for Sunday so we left Friday evening and caught the Saturday 21:40 train home – all tucked up for 23:15 local time. The Atlas performed well except for a minor breakdown at the Hotel in Gent. 0.7 kilometres out from the Hotel it cut out and then cut back in. Next morning went to fire it up and ‘click’ then nothing. No lights, no ignition meant no power at all which is the easiest thing to deal with. Sidepanel off and a dirty and loose contact to the positive side of the battery was the cause.

We met the rally goers at a bike museum at Kalmthout   en route to Hoogstraten. What a place rammed full of Belgian Sarolea motorcycles from the turn of the 20th century – some interesting stuff like shaft drive and front suspension struts on bikes from 1910! Always amazed that we think modern bikes are full of innovation whereas they’re just updates from the past.

Shaft drive from 1907

The rally at Hoogstraten is hosted by Ad and Wilma. Ad sold me Atlas #2 so it was nice for the bike to go home. Will it ever be my bike or forever below to Ad? He seemed pleased to see it up and running albeit a bit grubby…

Lots of nice Laverda’s to be seen – some very nice SF’s which seems to have been a feature of 2015 – but the star of the show goes to a very nice 3C which just stole my heart!

What a bike!

The Atlas responded well to the 750 mile round trip which was mainly motorway cruising (I expected it to need oil) and as ever the impressive tank range made touring a joy.

Next weekend is the Atlas rally in Vielsalm so for the week ahead it’s a case of keeping the bike and leave any repairs ’til we get back.

Nick 🙂

 

W/E 13th September 2015

Scottish National Rally

Rode over 1500 miles between Tuesday and Sunday to ride the Scottish National Rally at the weekend. Atlas #2 completed all three national rallies to achieve a ‘Three Nations Award’.

Full account will be posted soon.

Other news is that the 320mm disc seems to be working albeit I may have warped the disc – this’ll need investigation but the concept seems sound. I’ll put details including a copy the adaptor plate with dimensions up by next weekend.

Took delivery of the prototype final drive sprocket so will be offering that up during the week with a view to trailing it and then putting the solution into small scale production.

Nick 🙂

W/E 6th September 2015

Gospel Pass

This weekend saw the annual ILOC Rally at Baskerville Hall. I try and pop in on the Saturday to catch up with friends – it’s only a round trip of 200 miles so a nice day out. I took the opportunity to ride the Gospel Pass just outside Hay-on-Wye as it’s down as one of the highest roads in Wales. Tricky coming from the Welsh side due to all the rubbish on the very narrow road but from the English side (Hay-on-Wye) it’s cleaner and more open. Great views into Wales from the top. I’ve put a few pictures on:

http://1drv.ms/1ISdvED

Still the week has seen preparation for next weekend’s Scottish Rally. I’ve put on the o ring 530 chain and inspected the front brake which moaned a bit when engaging. I found that running the bike with the incorrect 300 mm disc had worn a groove in one of the pads meaning it only worked on the final 10 mm of pad.

Note groove on upper pad

The good news is that the calipher appears to be working fine so maybe the new disc will now not only look the part but perform way better than the standard setup. The final thing with the brake was that there was no split pin retaining the brake pad pin…and it had started to loosen. Caught it just in time.

I loosened off the headstock bearings which I new were too tight but also in an attempt to correct what felt like vague handling. I think tho’ the true cause was low tyre pressures of 10 psi front and 20 psi rear! Not sure how that happened as they were both sorted when the front tyre was replaced. With the front I am wondering if there is a slow puncture. Something to keep an eye on but too late to change just now.

I’m off to Scotland on Tuesday so just an oil change and we’re done. The bike is running really well with the only niggle being a slight amount of clutch slip but I can live with that.

Bird Strike!

Strangest thing tho’ has to be the owl that flew out of a hedge and hit me full in the face (visor down luckily) having taken out the little screen! You’ll be pleased to know the owl was a bit dazed but then flew off leaving me to pick up the tab for the damage!

Nick 🙂