The oldest bike restoration thread on here?

Well as it was a nice sunny day today and I had to go to a local bike shop I thought I would get the Panther out again. As there is no better way to bimble around in the sun than on a pre war bike. The rest of the world can rush around and I'll just potter along at my own speed getting thumbs up and waves off people.

I still have a slightly slipping clutch so while I was out I popped into my local spring maker with a spare clutch spring. After a chat with him he is going to make me a couple of sets of springs with about .5mm thicker wire. This should make the springs slightly stronger so ( fingers crossed) will cure the slippage. Its not badly slipping but its enough. He says he will do me 8 of one thickness and then another 8 slightly thicker again . £15 cash What a result. I only need 4 springs so will be able to sell the rest on.

I have spotted a design flaw with hand change bikes. If you leave you leg resting against the tank rubber when you change into first then the gear lever can trap your trouser leg in the gate which means you may not be able to stick your leg down if you stop. Luckly I spotted this as I was pulling away. The bike is now due a good service as the chains are slack and the gearchange rod needs adjusting as its close to the top of the gate in first but well clear in the 3rd. But then once I adjust the primary chain by moving the gearbox I will have to adjust the gear lever anyway. The bike is starting to cut out occasionally when ticking over ( which is fun when you have just filters to the front of the queue). But like I said a serve should sort this

That is an epic restoration, well done sire!

OHH NOES

http://russianbike.co.uk/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/head~0.jpg

Today I have mainly been taking the rocker cover off. The valve lifter cable pulled the nipple off the other week and the one I tried to repair it with pulled off again so a proper repair was needed. I have fitted a complete new cable today. Which means taking the cover off to fit all the bits in the rocker area.

After looking into nipples and other cable parts I stumbled upon the Venhill site who are massive in cables. It turns out I have been making cables wrong for years. According to their info sheet once you have soldered the nipple on you should quench it in water. This helps remove the flux and other crap out of the solder. I always assumed you should let the cable cool down at its own speed. I did purchase a solder pot a while ago and I find that these are the bollocks for making cables.

I've always thought letting it cool normally too

http://www.venhill.co.uk/Downloads/CableConstruction.pdf

have a look here for the datasheet

I have been mostly trying to sort out the bike this last couple of weeks. I had a meeting at standford hall to discuss next years founders day event and as it was a nice day popped over on the bike. It wouldn't start once I got there and had to be towed most of the way up their front drive before it would start. I have been having a few starting issues lately.

So i spent an afternoon messing with spark plugs, plug cap,pick up, HT lead and points. After much faffing about I decided to take the points off the end of the mag to see if there was an issue.

Here you can see the points fitted to the end of the magneto. The whole points part rotates and the points cam is the shiney area behind them This mag is called an end cam magneto.

http://russianbike.co.uk/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/points.jpg

So after removing the outer part of the points I cleaned both parts up and while i was cleaning the inner contact face I noticed that the whole points attachment was loose. The inner screw which holds it in place had come undone ( not fitted by me as the mag has been rebiuilt in the past). This is what has been causing me the problems. The timing was altering as the mag rotated and also the points gap was changing as the end mechanism floated in and out. I tightened the inner screw up and then re adjusted the points and we are back to one kick starting again.

I do like simple fixes like this. I will take the screw out again and loctite it in place to stop it happening again

Oh i hated setting those type of points. Nice fix there though mate

Oh i hated setting those type of points. Nice fix there though mate

I find them easier to adjust than the side mounted ones

I have now sorted another nagging problem I have had since I got this bike on the road. I have always had an iffy clutch on this bike. Mainly due to how small the actual clutch is, The gearbox came off a less powerful engine 11 BHP as opposed to the 17 BHP it has now and the fact all the parts are about 80 years old. So after a fair bit of messing recorking the plates and messing about with the spring tension I have always ended up with a clutch which starts off fine and then starts slipping after a while.

I have tried various adjustments but it came to a head last week when I popped into town on the bike. Due to winding the spring tension right up I ended up being unable to get it into gear easily while stuck in traffic. I had allready popped down to a local spring maker with a new clutch spring I had ordered for an Australian guy who i sourced a load of spares for. The sping guy measured the new one and after a chat he offered to make me a new set with slightly thicker wire. To give an increased tension.

Today I picked up my new springs. They are a bit stronger so I fitted them and just applied a slight amount of tenson to the springs. I quickly tried them out in the garage and the clutch finally seemed to work as it should with no slipping. So a quick test run was taken ( in the middle of the rush hour to really test it out). I can finally sit with the clutch in at traffic lights and not worry about it starting to drag . The clutch did slip ever so slightly once it was warm and I kicked it over outside a mates house after a brew. But I think a another turn on the clutch spring nuts to add slightly more tension and I think i am sorted. The clutch is still very light to use so i am well chuffed.

I hope once I strip the gerabox next winter to stop the grease leaking out ( as a blanking plate is leaking so i will need to turn a new plate up) and fit some new gears ( from my owners club) That the gearbox and clutch are finally sorted. So ( fingers crossed) next year should be trouble free riding. I did expect to have to fettle the bike after rebuilding it as it takes a while for all the bits to get to know each other. I would just like to stop a couple of minor oil leaks from the engine as well for next year

That really is a beautiful bike, wish I could do a project like that one day!

This is a really awesome build. Well done dude.

This is a really awesome build. Well done dude.

Its even better to ride