Trials and tribulations

[Ian]

Heat would be the way to do it. In fact I have one to do, so will give it a go this afternoon.

Ian C.

The problem I had was with getting the bearings off the little bush afterwards. Before that the bearings pushed out of the alloy carrier very easily, although I have noted your suggestion of using heat next time. I had the blowtorch out when doing the fork bushes last month, it does make all the difference.

[John Wakefield]

It's a fair question, and something that I did consider. However due to a slightly thicker bar there's as much material at the thinnest points as on the one I took off (pictured). Dave Spurgeon built the bike, no doubt Terry Sewell had some input too. It's tuned to be a bit of an animal, and if Dave didn't snap the torque arm then the design is probably ok. I agree it wouldn't be fun unwinding the mess that would ensue if it lets go.

Worth looking through this thread https://www.greeves-riders.org.uk/fo...ht=Broken+rear Not that that disaster was caused by torque arm breaking, but same result

[Ian]

Interesting photo that John!! But even with a steel torque arm you could still end up mashing the hub. Maybe a snapping torque arm would spare the back plate (at the expense of the brake cable perhaps).

[IanCordes]

Ian. It is the even heat given by an oven which does the trick. You may need to do it when your Mum is out..... I knocked the spacer out before removing the bearing, and as you say, that took more effort than the bearing itself. To be fair, they were both pretty easy once heated, and didn't need the press, just a couple of sharp taps with a lump hammer on a suitable drift.

Ian C.

[PeterJGreig]

Worth considering having the new bearing ready to pop in whilst the whatever is still hot so as to only heat it once- I did this on a Challenger box recently, it was difficult to see the number on the old one so I took its picture on my phone & showed it to the bearing supplier ( Spen Bearings, brilliant service) who looked it up & found the equivalent for me. Peter.

[Colin Sparrow]

Putting the bearing in the freezer beforehand means it should just drop in.

[Ian]

My new small-end bearings eventually turned up so I've finally been able to get the TFS back together.

I found a new piston and decided I would replace the existing one which, whilst still usable, was noticeably worn. The bearings turned out to be the right ones, and it is indeed (as I was informed in another thread) a late Alpha one. Terry Sewell told me that the rod originally came from Simon Bateman, so I had a quick chat with him on the phone about a few details and he was very helpful.

As for getting bearings in, this time I took the time to make a lightweight little 'keeper' - light so that it sits on the bearings and doesn't push them out the way, allowing me to get them all in place before carefully using the gudgeon pin to push it out the way...












I'd also taken the time to correctly 'gap' the piston rings, but then disaster struck... I got the rings stuck in the inlet port putting the barrel back on and then immediately remembered that when we last had it apart Dad had explained about turning the barrel before putting it on. I think that back then I was too eager to get it back together and wasn't paying enough attention. And of course lessons like this tend to seat themselves more firmly in your memory when learnt the hard way.

For anyone who ends up in this position it's worth stuffing the crankcases with a rag if you haven't. I tried carefully getting to the ring through the inlet port and pushing it back in but unfortunately there was a ping and part of the ring came out.

Anyway I fitted a different ring and had another go. Looking at the placement of the ports I reckoned it was best to turn the barrel 180 degrees and then at a carefully chosen spot rotate it round to the correct position. Even doing this the rings seemed to catch, maybe on a wear line down the bore (although I had given it a light honing beforehand, and the bore isn't badly scored). However careful perseverance won the day, as it so often does.

She's back together now and running fine. I did try to take the swinging arm off to do the bushes but the spindle is stuck fast. As the bike is due to have a complete rebuild towards the end of the year I decided to leave that for now.

[Ian]

Time to start prepping for the long distance trials, starting with that speedo I mentioned elsewhere. Thanks to those who made suggestions, several of you recommended using a bicycle speedo as they are light and accurate (and don't just mysteriously stop working!). However I am going with a Smiths unit as I have one spare, and also because I want the bike to end up looking as close to something out the comp shop as possible. The works TFS bikes had the same speedos so it fits the look. For now it's not 'wired up' - I still need to sort out the drive for the rear hub.

Since the plastic numberplate didn't look very 1965 I decided to make an alloy one, using my dad's Enfield Bullet one as a template to draw round. He was so meticulous that in the Bullet's documents folder he still has the paper templates for the alloy bits he made back in the 80s!








Also fitted new handlebars and grips, and polished the top of the twistgrip body. Next week hopefully new shocks and sprocket will arrive. Then I just need to learn how to paint the registration number on neatly...

[John Wakefield]

Fit self adhesive letters and numbers, thats what were used originally https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/26446183604...iABEgKX7fD_BwE

[Ian]

Fit self adhesive letters and numbers, thats what were used originally https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/26446183604...iABEgKX7fD_BwE

Thanks John, although those are 64mm high, but I see the same seller has smaller ones: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Self-Adhe...IAAOSwxcRW9C-X

I read your comments in the latest LL, specifically the suggestion about green lanes. I have been out the last two weekends in Kent and East Sussex riding the byways and one of the reasons I'm keen to get this bike done is so that I can use it instead of my modern one! Kent in particular has some really good routes.

[John Wakefield]

Indeed the 64mm are for rear number plates which by law have to be larger than the 45mm front ones. One used to be able to by these for a few pence per letter from motorcycle dealers back in the 60's. But with the advent of reflective number plates there was little or no call for them. The letters never stuck well to the rubber rear trials number plate, so most owners ended of painting them on