Dave B
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Posts: 240
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Post by Dave B on Nov 1, 2015 10:37:52 GMT 1
It's published in my real name, Dave Boothroyd.
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Dave B
Drag-strip hero
Posts: 240
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Post by Dave B on Nov 1, 2015 10:37:14 GMT 1
Hi Steven, The book is due for publication in March next year, by Crowood Press. It's called, "The Repair and Maintenance of Two Stroke Motorcycle Engines". this is what's in it. Two Stroke Motorcycle Engines
CONTENTS
Chapter One. Introduction
Chapter Two Pre-war Two-Strokes. Transport for the Working Man. Example: - Francis Barnett 250 Seagull (Villiers XIVa)
Chapter Two. The Post WW2 Era. British Two Stroke Twins Example: - Greeves Sportsman (Villiers 2T)
Chapter Three. A Radical Rethink from Italy, Part One:- Example: - Lambretta Li 125.
Chapter Four. A Radical Rethink from Italy, Two: - Example: -Vespa 90SS
Chapter Six. Race Developed! Examples: - RD350LC, 250 YPVS (RZ250)
Chapter Seven. Bigger Engines and More Cylinders. Example: - Kawasaki S2, (350 Triple)
Chapter Eight. The Last of the (Roadster) Line? Example: - Aprilia RS125 (Rotax 122 engine)
Chapter Nine. Off the Beaten Track. MX, Trial and Trail. Example: - Kawasaki KMX 125.
Chapter Eleven. Chapter Ten. On Track: - Popular Road Race Bikes. Examples: - Honda RS125. Yamaha TZ350G
Chapter Eleven. More Power. Modern approaches to two stroke tuning.
Chapter Twelve. Looking after a two-stroke.
Cheers.
Dave
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Dave B
Drag-strip hero
Posts: 240
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Post by Dave B on Oct 31, 2015 15:45:36 GMT 1
It could be worse. This is the story of an RD 350LC flywheel and its adventures. It's one of the anecdotes in my book. At one college where I worked, we had a very useful hydraulic puller, which greatly amplified the force applied to the centre bolt. A student who had been struggling to remove the flywheel of a 350 LC with a conventional puller asked to borrow the hydraulic puller. There was a policy of not lending tools out, but in this case it was no problem because he had the engine in the back of his car in the college car park. We all adjourned to the car park and set up the puller on the engine, which was still in the back of the car. The flywheel showed no sign of moving. More force was applied, again without success. One more turn of the screw and there was a loud bang as the taper finally released. However the whole system now contained a lot of energy, and the flywheel and puller jumped up violently- straight through the tailgate window of the car!
Cheers Dave
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Dave B
Drag-strip hero
Posts: 240
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Post by Dave B on Oct 28, 2015 10:06:57 GMT 1
"Back in the day..." I don't use the phrase- you see, I've seen so many days there's no way to tell which day we're talking about. So which day was that? The days before rear suspension? The days when a 650 British twin was the best you could get? The days when you could not get grippy tyres? The days when the roads were full of Mods with two dozen mirrors and spotlights on their scooters? The days when Japanese bikes were "the flexy fliers" Back in the day, many things were terrible. But a machine with two wheels and an engine, even if it's basically rubbish, is just brilliant fun. Back in the day I rode motorbikes. I still do. It's "the day" now as well. Actually it's better- I can afford more bikes now. Today is the day.
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Dave B
Drag-strip hero
Posts: 240
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Post by Dave B on Oct 27, 2015 12:57:41 GMT 1
According to the Archbishopric, I'm in the North. According to the local government boundaries, I'm in the Midlands. The stream at the end of the garden flows west into the Mersey. The one at the top of the hill opposite flows east into the Trent and then the Humber. We'll call it middle.
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Dave B
Drag-strip hero
Posts: 240
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Post by Dave B on Oct 15, 2015 9:18:18 GMT 1
I bought the Zeel PV controller a couple of montha ago. The bike had already been fitted with a Zeeltronic CDI and controller. When I first fitted it, the PV servo just cycled backwards and forwards by ten degrees or so. It did not respond to the hand controller. I bought another servo, which nearly worked until I actually installed it on the bike- after thoroughly cleaning the valves themselves so that they turn freely. At that point it ceased moving altogether- even with the cables disconnected. The hand controller now shows "Error 1", even though all the cables show continuity end to end. I shall try to cannibalise the two servos before I give up the struggle!
The bike is a very special looking F2 Hybrid, 1985 motor. It's Slovenia, by the way. It's next to Italy, just across the bay from Venice. Slovakia is between the Czech Republic and Hungary. (We were on a tour of that area earlier this month) Cheers
Dave
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Dave B
Drag-strip hero
Posts: 240
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Post by Dave B on Oct 14, 2015 17:48:18 GMT 1
let us know his reply- I have a similar problem.
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Dave B
Drag-strip hero
Posts: 240
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Post by Dave B on Oct 13, 2015 14:38:50 GMT 1
I'll be there on Saturday, mostly to thank al the people who helped me out with photos for my book. I'll bring the cover up to show you Lance. It has got a picture of one of Per's Fizzies on the front. Cheers Dave
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Dave B
Drag-strip hero
Posts: 240
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Post by Dave B on Oct 13, 2015 13:11:57 GMT 1
I know no more than you! I just cut and pasted an exchange of messages on Facebook. However, if you are interested, I'll contact Ant and ask him for contact details for the actual seller and post them on here. Cheers Dave
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Dave B
Drag-strip hero
Posts: 240
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Post by Dave B on Oct 13, 2015 9:44:20 GMT 1
A friend who is a bit of a bike buying addict contacted me yesterday to see if I was interested in another YPVS. He said "I know a bloke from Stockport with a D reg stolen recovered and insurance write off 350ypvs for sale. He wanted £1200 for it, but when once I showed him the hpi report I had done on it he seemed prepared to cut his losses. It's in boxes."
I'm not in the market myself, having a queue of five bikes waiting for me, but if anyone here is interested, I can pass on a message.
Cheers
Dave
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Dave B
Drag-strip hero
Posts: 240
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Post by Dave B on Sept 13, 2015 15:38:26 GMT 1
Excellent, many thanks to all. Now I have test data and a good idea how to go about the job. I was thinking that at this stage I have nothing to lose by taking it apart- since it doesn't work anyway. I'll give it a fair chance to work before it goes in the bin. If i can get it going, fine, if not it was scrap anyway! Cheers and thanks again, Dave
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Dave B
Drag-strip hero
Posts: 240
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Post by Dave B on Sept 13, 2015 10:04:40 GMT 1
I have a problem with a YPVS servo. When the ignition is turned on, it just runs backwards and forwards for ten degrees or so. It does not respond to the "Test PV" function on the Zeeltronic hand controller. Sometimes, it shows an "Error 1" warning on the controller- sometimes not. I'm thinking that inside there is a motor, a train of gears and a potentiometer used as a poition sensor. I suspect an intermittent fault on the Pot. Does the symptom sound familiar? And has anyone ever tried to replace the potentiometer? Help and advice welcome. Cheers Dave
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Dave B
Drag-strip hero
Posts: 240
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Post by Dave B on Jun 21, 2015 9:43:34 GMT 1
Unpacked the new ignition switch that arrived today. The bike has the standard switch installed underneath the battery carrier right now, and I want it to be on the dashboard. The standard switch is very large, and incorporates the steering lock which does not work with the new forks, so I needed a smaller one. Since I have not made the dashboard yet, I need to have the switch so I can sort out where to put the switch. Only about another five million wires to connect up now! Most of those are for the digital dash- only four for the switch, five for the valve controller, eight for the indicators.....then there's the horn(s?). I may be some time.
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Dave B
Drag-strip hero
Posts: 240
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Post by Dave B on Jun 14, 2015 14:00:11 GMT 1
The earlest book I have on two stroke engines is from 1915. Bore and stroke is always given in mm. It may be that the original internal combustion engines all originated in Europe and would be in mm anyway. In the early days UK engine designers would be copying or buying in parts from the Continent. Don't forget that the very first Nortons were powered by Peugeot engines. We just continued the tradition here Books on Steam Engine, dating back fifty years before that. have all the measurements in Imperial units. Americans of course still give bore and stroke in inches and capacities in Cubic inches. But that confusion is nothing compared to what goes on with tyres, where we still quote the diameter in inches and the width in mm- all over the world! Cheers Dave The 250cc 14A from 1938 is not very different!
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Dave B
Drag-strip hero
Posts: 240
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Post by Dave B on Jun 13, 2015 9:58:23 GMT 1
Villiers changed over to flat top pistons for their bike engines around 1940. The deflector type were used in non-bike engines for lawn mowers etc. for many years after that. Outboards made in the USA carried on with that design right up to the 1980s. The brass caps on the gudgeon pin are fine, as long as the ports in the cylinder are small and the pin does not pass over them. This is the piston from my 1938 Francis Barnett. Note the copper strip instead of ring pins. Cheers Dave
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Dave B
Drag-strip hero
Posts: 240
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Post by Dave B on Feb 8, 2015 11:01:48 GMT 1
I've bought a YPVS hybrid built by someone else, and the rear end has been jacked up. In combination with a raised subframe and a race-type seat, it is an absolute PITA to get on and off it. I'm 5'8" and as I stand by the bike, the seat is higher than my hip bone. I know the usual way to go about raising the rear suspension is to fit shorter dogbones. The ones on this bike are 170mm between bearing centres. I can't find any information as to what the standard length is. Does anybody happen to know? The alternative suspect is the pair of plates that hold the lower anchor for the bell-crank link, which are home made from aluminium.
Cheers
Dave
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Dave B
Drag-strip hero
Posts: 240
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Post by Dave B on Jan 24, 2015 11:24:50 GMT 1
You are doing a great job there and hats off to you for running it out of your own pocket. Having said that, it does solve the perennial problem of how to get the money for the countless petty items that you need during a rebuild. I have done a similar scheme in school, back in the day when you could devise and accredit a school designed CSE course, and I connected it with the STEP programme that provided mopeds to teach young people how to ride preoperly before they were allowed on the road. In my next job, as a full time Youth Leader, We actually built and raced a FS1E in the 50cc Class. I was racing a Minarelli at that time, so transport to the races it was no more expensive for two bikes. I have some photos of the SYC racers, but I have not scanned and uploaded them to Photobucket yet.
Well done to you, and very best wishes for the future.
Cheers Dave
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Dave B
Drag-strip hero
Posts: 240
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Post by Dave B on Oct 7, 2014 9:45:21 GMT 1
There are lots of beautifully finished bikes on here, but this is definitely a "before" picture. I saw this bike in a line of restoration project bikes in DK Motorcycles in Newcastle under Lyne, and could not resist it. I've always been a big fan of tiny bikes, and felt jealous of the fact that the Japanese market includes an RG50 Gamma, but I'd never seen one. So here it is. Engine seems good, but there is work to do on the cycle parts, as you see. The great thing is that everything is there,(except the seat cover)
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Dave B
Drag-strip hero
Posts: 240
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Post by Dave B on Oct 7, 2014 9:37:51 GMT 1
Here's another unusual one. It's a Greeves Sportsman, from 1961. It has a 250cc Villiers 2T twin cylinder motor, and has been turned into a race bike by fitting expansion pipes (1960s style, thin ones with no end cans). The best bit is the beautiful Brearley-Smith combined tank and seat unit. I don't own this bike, but I saw it in the paint suppliers I use, and asked about it, thinking at first that it was a Silverstone. It turned out that it had belonged to the business proprietor's father and had not been run for 45 years- which is how the full rebuild on the engine became Chapter two of my two stroke book. It ran like a train and sounded magnificent when it was finished. The owner was delighted!
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Dave B
Drag-strip hero
Posts: 240
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Post by Dave B on Oct 5, 2014 17:55:53 GMT 1
This one could have been an LC, because Villiers did make a water-cooled version of their X1VA engine- but I have never seen one. This is my Francis Barnett 250cc Seagull from 1938. My mother's cousin bought this bike new, for £40.00 in 1938. He passed it on to me in 1978, and I finally got round to restoring it this year. Cheers Dave
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Dave B
Drag-strip hero
Posts: 240
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Post by Dave B on Oct 5, 2014 14:10:19 GMT 1
How about a full race RD80 LC- or maybe it's a hybrid, because it has a YZ80 engine, a Harold Bartol replica fairing and seat, and CBR600 front brake caliper and a floating disk. I got a sixth place in the British 80cc Championship on this bike. www.dropbox.com/s/pdyto1g5nr91rya/YZ%2080%20LC.jpg?dl=0Cheers Dave
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Dave B
Drag-strip hero
Posts: 240
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Post by Dave B on Jul 17, 2014 0:01:52 GMT 1
I agree. They did all the chroming on my Francis Barnett, and made a very good job of it. They are based in Crewe, and I think that they are probably Rolls Royce trained people. They chromed the silencers too, though they are much simpler to clean than a set of Allspeeds. It is expensive, though, but everyone is these days. Cheers, Dave.
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