Greenford Police LE Update 6

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Greenford Police LE Update 6

Finally the Greenford Police LE is back at the Museum. It took all day to put the body back over the engine and transmission and provided much entertainment for the visitors on Monday 25^th February. With Brian and Fred around and even Martin lending a hand the bike grew in the Minter Cafe and by the end of the day I had the wheels in place with front brake working after a fashion and throttle cable in position but with a spacer missing that I had to find in the box of bits still remaining at home. Here is the pictorial progression through the day.

The following week the 4^th March it was time to finish some things off fitting the correct bolts that I had not found the week before and getting leg shields and headlamp attached fitting the clutch cable and realised I didn’t have the speedo cable around anywhere. There was not much more I could do as I needed some 2BA bolts of the right length and the ones I had were too long. That would have to wait for next week. For some reason we had a busy day with 11 people and the international flavour was kept going with a couple of guys from Malaysia. As I was assembling the LE there was one keen visitor who wanted to know more about the Police LE. I said that it was stationed just up the road at the local Police Station on Oldfield Lane South. He said that his Father had been posted to this particular station and probably road this machine regularly during the course of his duties. Later he had been posted to a remote district in the wilds of Yorkshire. I ask if he would send me some details about his Father’s time at Greenford. Who would believe that a visitor would arrive on this particular day and have some information about a specific machine to add to its history. Life amazes me in that such co-incidences happen and at this museum. Unusually three guys arrived as we opened and stayed all day viewing the progression of the final assembly with much interest and helpful comments. It is just fun to have days like this. I think I will need to do more assemblies in the Cafe, however with so many people around at once it did get a bit crowded. At the ned of the day I tidied up and put the LE in the little barn scooting it across the yard and trying the brakes that kind-of worked. They will need a bit of fettling to get them working properly and perhaps next week we might try a fire-up to see that the engine still runs.

Now with all the bits bolted on and with wiring still to do.

Greenford Police LE Update 5

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Greenford Police LE Update 5.

It was so close to being finished then trying to put the rubber around the fuel filler neck catastrophe with a few scratches and then I saw a dent in the rear mudguard and in a place that just drew your eye. You may not notice it but I kept seeing it to the point of having to do something about it. A few minor dings can be ignored, but not this one. 

So where have I got to? I laid out all the bits I needed to fit, took a photo and then started to put bits back on. I found that I was not strong enough to pull the 3/16 stainless pop rivet and bought a stronger gun with more leverage to finally get these things to pull. This took about week to arrive from an E-bay purchase as did the rubber grommets for the filler neck and as I was about to fit the number plate bracket the rubber fitting strip disintegrated and I had to get a new one. It is 6mm diameter with a 1mm slot just right for going over sheet metal and around curves. Again waiting a few days for it to arrive and then ran out of 2BA stainless bolts to fit that with more delays in the assembly. I have knocked the dent out and prepared the area for repainting and now the weather is intervening and it is too cold, even for two pack to cure with heat in my garage and until the paint goes on I’ll not be fitting the tail light bracket. 

I did fit the side strips and touch up the stainless rivets so they were no longer shiny. I’ll do the same with the other rivets when I crack the last can of aerosol 2K. I have spent more time sitting at my computer than I have in the garage and the house needs decorating so while waiting for the weather to get warmer I’m decorating living room, kitchen and about to start the stairs to fill in the time. I have a car project on the go as well and that has meant trips up and down the M4. I have the urge to finish off this LE but things are just getting in the way. 

I had planned to get way at the end of February but have not managed to book anything so I’m at the Museum every Monday enjoying the international feel of people visiting from the far flung corners of the earth and this last Monday was no exception with visitors from China and later in the day from France enjoying the Fabrique en Angleterre. The Home of Triumph is freezing as the heater is broken and there doesn’t seem to be a replacement part for it. The Minter Cafe is toasty when I remember to put the heater on. At some point during the day all us volunteers congregate to discus the woes of the world and a motorcycling history lesson. Two threads to this both looking at the BSA M20. I have had this comment before that I presented to the BSA owners club referring to the god “Gold Star” the starting point for this is the OHV version of the M20 the M23 in the late thirties. Suggested by the BSA owners club as the revered first “Goldie” the Empire Star being that origin. The M20 engine has a massively long stroke of some 106mm and the real Goldie was almost square 85mm bore 88 stroke. I’m sure you would never get the revs from the long stroke motor. 

The other conversation was about how successful the M20 was during World War two. We have the Germans to thank for that. Triumph was doing really well until one dark night in Coventry an incendiary fell and set fire to the Triumph works that adjoined Coventry Cathedral. Not only did Triumph get ablaze so did the Cathedral. Everyone remembers the Cathedral going up in smoke but there is no remorse for the Triumph factory going the same way. This got Triumph a new factory at Meriden and BSA had to build more bikes. Unlucky for some of the squaddies as the military recognised after the war the M20 was not really fit for the job and in 1947 when things settled down a trial for a new military bike was set up and all manufacturers were asked to submit machines for testing. The criteria was a 500cc side-valve twin with good ground clearance, light weight, reasonable speed and inaudible at 400 yards. The M20 was none of these. The trial was over three days with entries from BSA, Douglas and Triumph. The BSA was a look-alike Triumph the Douglas was the transverse twin the DV60 and Triumph had the TRW. Day one the BSA failed, Day two the DV60 failed with a gearbox problem and last man standing was the TRW and was in production from 1947 to 1964.

Greenford Police LE Update 4

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Greenford Police LE Update 4.

Around this time of year I get the treat of having bike magazines arrive through the post along with the Christmas cards. I recently received my copy of Road magazine that is the bi-monthly print of MAG. I know a few of the members among those from Reading and Wycombe and I was able to get to the Stag at Flackwell regularly but not the new venue of the Dashwood Arms in Piddlington. I know Paul and Anne as they have supported my efforts in getting people to the Museum and helped out with the distribution of flyers at Chinnor Byke Dayz. A fantastic event with more entertainment, food and booze than I can cope with but I remember that Paul didn’t look quite as fit and well as he did last year and I was saddened when I read in the Road magazine that ill-health had got the better of him and had passed away at the end of October. My tribute to him was that he always welcomed people with a smile and his friendliness made you fit in straight away. My wife and I shall miss him and our condolences go out his family. He was a genuine Great Guy.

The Museum is still going and another quarter of the rent has been found to get us through to the end of March I am hoping that I will have the Greenford Police LE back together by then. I have completed the welding and started to get on with the filler to hide all the blemishes I’ve added to the body repairing the rotted bits. I think I have doubled the weight of the body with the amount of weld I have put in the repair. I’m not sure how good it will look as some of the repair has been over seams so they have disappeared but it should all look smooth when done.

I did have a problem with a runny nose while I had a cold and I’ve had to clean up some rust spots that appeared after my runny nose had dripped too much and was caught by the metal work. 

I didn’t realize how corrosive snot was! To keep more rust from appearing I got hold of some paint on primer to do the inner body and save on spray cans in a hidden area. Not something you should do in a confined space as the fumes are a bit strong but I can’t wait to put on a second coat! 

I now have the toolbox lid repaired, filled and, with the aid of a coat hanger wire a hinge for it to pivot on, fitted in place. It has taken few days to get all the filler in place and suitably smooth to get a coat of hand painted primer on everything. It has taken some effort to smooth off the welds and fill the indents and I now have the body in a level of readiness that rubbing down for a final top coat to be applied. That will be on a warmer day than this time of year permits.

As a Christmas present for granddaughter we bought a tricycle. The start of more smiles per mile I think. It took some deliberation when we bought it on-line as you really can’t see how substantial these things are but I elected for a tubular frame and some features like roll bars and a push facility. It has a canopy but, as yet, no tassels. 

Put together the day before Christmas eve I was well impressed with the quality of the trike and how well thought out it was. The push facility also controls the steering so little one can be controlled. I had some fun building it but there was much more on the first run out. All the family wanted to push! Now I have an idea that perhaps there should be a bigger version with an engine and without pedals and perhaps an additional seat and, and, and………

Greenford Police LE Update 3

Greenford Police LE

Update 3.

As you may remember from the last update that everything had been primed except the body that has some remedial work still to be done on. The welding on the front mudguard went well and I have not managed a top coat and the front end is ready to be assemble. Trying to weld inside the front mudguard so that there was little weld to foul the front fork covers was an awkward job as the metal was so thin it would burn through so a heat sink plate was put behind the area to prevent the flame from blowing weld too far.

I use oxy-acetylene as my welding medium. Little cleaning up was needed even at the split at the front of the guard. At the same time a few minor repairs were done to the panniers, removing a dent and welding one of the support brackets back in place. This has had a bit of a top coat too as I could only spray one side at a time and the other side needs to be done. I ran out of paint and bought more from Colorite. I did not know that the paint I had used was not petrol proof. It was a two pack paint but was deactivated to prevent going off in the can and could be used for months. I now know a bit more about rattle-can paints. For the main body I needed to have a petrol resistant paint and there is one. It is a two pack paint that has the hardener in the can. There is a button in the lid that is removed and is used to press a valve in the bottom of the can. Mix it and then spray immediately to activate. If you don’t spray straight away the paint will go off while you hold the can. Once a little spray has been released the paint will remain viable for about four days. Choose the time to spray wisely. December is not the best time but it will get done soon.

I now have a copy of Neil Spalding’s MotoGP Technology, third edition and when finished I’ll report back. I’ve had a quick look through and can’t wait to have good read. The technical detail is amazing and it is the stuff that I want to hear about. I might be a bit of an anorak about technical details but it was the stuff I was brought up on in my youth when all the bike magazines would tell you about bore and stroke of the engine, the gear ratios, primary and final drive reduction and sprocket sizes. Frame head angles, trail and suspension travel. Brakes didn’t seem to matter much unless it was an 8inch twin leading shoe! Now what do we get? Spats between the riders, primadona humps and no idea what the guys and girls are riding. It would be more interesting for me knowing what specification of engines, gearboxes and frames that are being used. I am ever hopeful I may be enlightened one day.

November 2018

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All the parts in a Row

Another week and weather has changed from pleasant to cold. That means painting the Greenford Police LE is on hold until it gets a bit warmer. During the week I collected all of the parts except the body which is having some welding done from Eltec in West Drayton and got on with the priming creating a Hanging Garden of LE bits in my garage. 

It was race against the weather to get some paint on the bare metal to stop the rust appearing again. I have a few bits that have top coat on now and only have the front mudguard to top coat and I can reassemble the front end. In between painting I was playing with my next restoration project. That being a 2CV van so I can carry around more bike stuff in the future. Over the weekend of 10th and 11th November was the Federation of Historic Vehicles event at Brooklands. I missed that one but the AKD from the Museum was featured in the event program and we had some free publicity.

 At this time of year there is not much happening so it is the time for review and anything I can find interesting to talk about. I spotted an article in the Classic Motorcycle of June 1983 about an Excelsior Manxman a 250cc four valve head that on many races in its class in 1936, 37 and 38 and many more in the early fifties when there was no purpose built 250 available for racing and many people resorted to creating 250’s from 350’s. 

Fred has a 250cc Gold Star from that time and there were similar things done to Nortons and Ajays. Surprising it has twin carbs but I remember that the early Villiers Starmaker engine also had twin carbs. Moving a bit more recent with Moto 3, do those 250cc engines have twin carbs? So little detail is given about the specifications of these machines, How many camshafts? What compression do they have? How many gears? I find all this quite interesting as it would help me to see why one machine is better than another at a race track. I remember when Motorcycle did racer tests in the fifties and sixties and they would publish the compression ratio, valve timing, Ignition timing and gear ratios for Nortons, AJS ( the OHC ones) and, if available for Velocettes, BSAs and anything else they tested. 

In the same magazine was a reprint of a 1961 road test on a 350cc Norton Navigator, the 250 was the Jubilee. I was surprised that the top speed was only 85mph and fuel economy was 88mpg at 50 mph. Now I dream of fuel economy like that although having had a Harley Davidson FLT 80 it would get to 63mpg at a steady 55mph not bad for a 1340cc lump weighing 330 kg. I could also get something approaching that with my 58 Kawasaki ER6F but rarely more than 54mpg about the 09 one that I have. In between Kawasaki had remapped the fuelling as it was too lean and with my 58 model it would falter on an even throttle as there was not enough fuel going in to keep it running. I didn’t mind that as I was getting over 60mpg!

Green Police LE Update 2

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Greenford Police LE

Update 2

The LE engine is now back at the Museum and I have collected the body parts or rejuvenation. It looked in quite poor condition and each time I looked at it more rust holes appear. I don’t mind cleaning up small items but this is a big job also I try to avoid breathing in too much dust so the best option is to have it sand blasted to save my energy and lungs for other things. 

The body has a battery case of rust and major corrosion in the lower mudguard portions that had previously been glassfibred in. I have a good mudguard portion that I can take panels from to get it whole again. There are some cracks around the front seat mounting point and the toolbox wire hinge will need to be fixed too. A small project had become a lot of work. The front mudguard has holes in it too. Headlamp and nacelle require some TLC and when I get all these back from being blasted I’ll need even more paint. In preparation I had to remove the strengthening tubes that edge the body also the suspension supports seat mounting bracket and the rain guard that was hanging on by a small screw and a rivet. The panniers need work too along with the front forks. It all adds up to a box of bits soon, I feel, to come back squeaky clean but with more holes in for repair. I have already cleaned up the headstock and fork yoke and after painting will reassemble them.

I'm not doing anything with the footboards. They are too far gone and new ones complete are £40 from the LE Velo Club.

All is not cleaning up the LE. I have been off to Norfolk again for a trip to the Broads again in the El Cid.

While away the Valiant became incontinent and was leaking fuel through the tap eventually adding more oil to the sump. I discovered that when I removed the carburettor only after removing the fuel pipe and the tap would not shut off the fuel. I removed the carb to check that the main jet on the right hand carb was seating properly. I just could not get the mixture right no matter what I did to it. It turned out that when the jet was removed there was not even ring of sealing at the point of contact at the end of the jet. On inspection I saw some corrosion and did my best to clean it up. The edges of the hole where the main jet was supposed to seal was dark and pitted. The left hand carb had a nice bright ring showing that it was sealing. I used a main jet thread size drill gently rotated by hand to clean up the edge and refitted the main jet. I’m now waiting for the wind and rain of storm Callum to go away before doing a test ride to see it my work has been successful.

Greenford Police LE Update

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Greenford Police LE

It has taken ages to get the flywheel off this Lucas electrics engine. First I had to get hold of the correct extraction tool only available from the LE club tool loan department and that seemed to take forever to arrive. The flywheel was supposed to come off with light pressure and a tap on the end of the extraction tool. That didn’t happen. 

It was so secure on the taper with woodruff key that I had to drill out the key before it would move. Even then it needed constant high load to move it fractions of a millimetre. The generator rotor that is in front of the flywheel would not go over the thread at the end of the crankshaft and I borrowed a suitable puller from my mate Bob to get it off the last bit. Finally it came off and I still could not see why it had been so difficult. In comparison the oil seal that was leaking was quickly replaced and everything back together with the engine running in a matter of a few hours. I certainly don’t get this sort of problem with the Miller generator flywheel. 

The engine and gearbox are now ready to be returned to the museum and it is now time to get on with the body work. 

Transformed into this.

I have cleaned up and repaired the leg shields that now have a new coat of paint on. I have found a radiator and that is now bolted into the front subframe and ready for assembly. I need to keep things as component parts so I can move them around easily. Progress has been quite slow but other things get in the way. In August I went off to the 2CVGB National Rally and managed to be part of the Cromer Carnival Parade. 

The El Cid was decked out with marigold garlands and Gita and I were in traditional Assamese costumes. While staying in North Walsham a visit to both the Norfolk Motorcycle Museum and the Caister Car Museum had to be done. The Norfolk Motorcycle Museum has regular exhibits on show but there are always interesting bikes passing through that they are working on.

Bradshaws oil boiler in this OK.

The Caister Car Museum has quite a few motorcycles on display but many are at the back and end on so they are not easy to see. I do hope they move these around and get some better lighting so there is a better view. Needless to say another pleasant visit. 

Having travelled to Norfolk and past Snetterton many times even being a mechanic at a 2CV 24 hour race in 2004 it is not that far but just seems ages to get there and of course a trip to the distillery just a few miles away is in order at some point. Norfolk has some great country lanes and can be enjoyed on any capacity bike. Worth a visit for the quiet life.