W/E 26th June 2016

Posted the LCF Rally report – you will find this in the ‘Trips’ section.

Back to the daily grind and finally the gearbox return spring went. Got a really floppy feel in the gearlever so knew what had gone on. This is a real pain in the arse to fix because to fit the spring you have to remove the clutch drum. You can see the main tensioner spring looks ‘stretched’ wide but infact it is broken. I’m guessing that all those clutchless changes in France took their toll.

Suffice to say I didn’t have the tool to lock the drum so jammed an old tyre lever between the inner and outer – the picture speaks for itself. I’m sure I’ve done this before but it took a call from Andy Bartlett before I realised the centre nut has a left hand thread…Stupidly even after Any told me how to get a tool made up using a spare clutch plate I went back and had another go…

So now the chunk taken out of the drum is even bigger! The drum in question is on a spare motor not Atlas #3…+ although it looks bad it won’t affect the clutch working once the chunk has been dressed – there are lots of other teeth to take up the slack.

So time to take a couple of steps back and get a tool made and do a ‘proper job’. It has to be fixed during the week as next weekend is the National Rally…

Nick 🙂

 

W/E 12th June 2016

….just back from the LCF rally…more to follow…

Nick 🙂

W/E 5th June 2016

So Atlas #3 is ready for France!

Used the bike for work from Wednesday and she’s running well – that is after the bike decided to destroy the rattly old plastic chain guard. I was sure I could hear some kind of racket and when I got the bike out on Friday noticed the missing chainguard! Hey ho – stole the one off Atlas #2…which of course had stolen the chainguard off Atlas #1.

The chainguard incident however is all part of the road hardening process – in this case both for the bike and my hand – after a week of riding and exercises I can now (just) get my thumb and little finger to ‘kiss’ (note oil from the garage).

Road hardening showed that if I keep the revs below 2,500 I can go down the box so the clutch might just be for pulling away if my hand cramps up. This hand situation means I am likely to do more highway work than normal just because it saves changes.

The clutch on a Mk 1 – 2 is cable operated. It doesn’t feel any heavier than the hydraulic unit but having not bought a spare cable (come on OCT reply to my email) this is an area that could see us stranded by the roadside – fingers crossed…

Aside from the chainguard, riding showed up how twitchy the off road style tyres make the bike feel – it might also be running the standard 120/90 rear speeds up the steering but whatever it was back to Atlas #2 to swop onto road rubber – a fresh front goes on Tuesday.

I’m sticking with the standard disc up front as the warp in the 320mm unit is a bit pronounced and might have contributed to my tumble?

The standard shock had to be replaced. The MOT station had been generous saying it had ‘light misting’ so I knew it had to be changed for a 1500 mile two up tour. Sure enough it was leaking quite heavily – Atlas #2 came with a White Power unit which I’d taken off and had put a stock unit on…so Mrs A and I will travel in comfort suspended by WP – the shock just soaks up the bumps unlike the cheap Marzo fitted as standard.

Pannier rails from Atlas #1 complete the touring package – these always appear too wide on a Mk 3 Atlas because that runs slimmer bodywork so with the exception of the front fairing which will need thinking through to fit we’re good to go!

Nick 🙂