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Just a quick update. I took my new VFR for an MOT yesterday, the first time I had ridden it. I went over a bump and the front end moved backwards and forwards. I thought the head bearings must be shot. The MOT confirmed it. The most immediate concern was cracking to the front tyre valve. I had a new tyre fitted yesterday, so that’s done. The head bearings are indeed knackered and the rear sprocket is worn. I’ve ordered a chain and sprocket set and a head bearing and seal set. I’ll fit them on Sunday and that’s my bike sorted for another year. I think I’ll give it a decent service as well. I’ve already changed the air filter and oil and filter, but given the state of the air filter, I think I’d better do everything else as well. Flush the radiator, the back brake, the clutch fluid, change the spark plugs and the petrol filter. I could do with stripping, cleaning and rejetting the carbs. I might just get a standard endcan instead. The hi-level looks cooler but it’s causing it to run poorly and it sounds too loud. I think I’ll swap it over tomorrow and see how it runs. Maybe sell the sports endcan with the other VFR. I’ve swapped all the bits I like from my old VFR to the new one. Air filter, tank, nose cone (for the cracked fairing), mirrors. The only thing I’ve not swapped that is definitely better is the braided front brakes and new back tyre. It seems like a lot of faff for the brake lines and it would be £50 to get them to swap my tyres. I might do the brake lines. Both bikes have braided lines, but the old bike has two lines running directly from the master cylinder, the new one has one line that splits into two further down. It does the job, but there is a much better feel on the old one. I could take the lines and brakes off without too much hassle. Then it’s just a matter of bleeding them again. I think I’ll do that. Thinking about it, I can’t swap the tyre, I’ve already listed the old VFR for sale and made a point of mentioning the new back tyre. I’ve had a few inquiries about the bike and I’m fairly confident it’s going to sell. Then I’ll list the full stainless exhaust system. I’ve listed my Xbox and game and I’ll put the rower up shortly. The old tyre that’s on the back of the new VFR should last another year. So this time next week the old VFR should be sold, the new one fixed and good to go, which just leaves me with the Harley to play with. When I took the tyre off the front wheel of the Sportster it was a sorry state. Loads of rust inside, and where I’d sandpapered all the rust off the outside of the rims it […]

It’s all been a bit crazed with the motorbikes. When the piston rings finally arrived they were the wrong size, so they’ve gone back. I’ve bought a bunch more kit to try to make myself self sufficient in motorbiking. Little of it has worked. I had the genius idea to buy 3 foot tyre levers and new tyres for the Harley and change them myself. I remember me and Keith Thackery changing the tyre by hand on my Sportster in the 80s. God knows how. Even with massive tyre levers I couldn’t break the tyre seal. I looked online and they said you need a tyre bead breaker. It’s just a flat plate dangling down off a long lever. The plate sits on the tyre near the rim, then you literally jump up and down on the lever until it breaks the tyre seal. Even after I’d done that I was still sweating, and it took me ages to get the tyre off. Obviously bending a three foot long lever over the wheel rim doesn’t do your wheel any good. The chrome on my wheels is shot so I wasn’t that bothered about scratching the rims this time. Then I tried to fit the new tyre, figuring I must have been struggling because it was a 20 year old tyre that had set into position. Nope. I couldn’t get the new tyre on. I give up. One good thing though, I found out where Bromley Tyres went when it closed, still in Warrington. I rang them up, yes they bought Bromley Tyres, but then they closed it. They don’t do motorbike tyres. *sigh* They said to try a place in Leigh. I rang and they do it! Huzzah! So that was a world of struggle for nothing. Thinking about it, I’ll struggle some more and get the front tyre off as well. I have new tyres and inner tubes, but the back wheel was all rusty inside. I’ve cleaned it all up with a wire brush and sandpaper. I don’t want them to fit new kit and the rust to puncture my inner tube. Another fail was that short circuit on the VFR750. I gave up and rang a “mobile” bike mechanics. They said for that they’d need the bike in the garage. They said collection and fault finding would be £280. It was steep, but they were literally the only game in town. I couldn’t find any other sparkies who dealt with motorbikes. I checked the bank and they’d then stuck on VAT (I think) and taken £320, without asking me. I was already annoyed. They rang me after one working day and said they’d looked at the bike but were going to have to do a full day’s fault finding and that would be another £500. No. Just no on principle. £830 to find a short circuit. Possibly more if they casually added fees again. And any work they then needed to do. Just no. I was fuming. […]

I’ve been tinkering every morning and on my one day off today I’ve battered some jobs on the Harley. I managed to get the engine out and split today. The great news is that apart from some staining and sticky bits of oil, there doesn’t seem to be any damage. After seeing the sludge and metal shavings on the sump plug I was expecting at some point to come across a pile of smashed metal and gunge. I’m happy with that. I gave it a clean, scraped all the gasket off, sandpapered and cleaned it again, then started the rebuild. Once I had the cases back together I got carried away and continued, I fitted the oil pump, the cam gears, a new gasket, a new set of allen bolts and the cam side casing. That was a huge relief as that had the one bolt I’d had to drill out and I was scared it was going to strip when I tried to tighten it. It was actually a mistake. They say to put the engine back in the frame before rebuilding because of the weight of an assembled engine. It’s only one casing and some cams. The relief of knowing the allen bolt has worked is well worth any slight extra struggle. I’m not being too precious with piston rings as I’ve ordered a new set. I’ll give the pistons a good clean, fit the new rings, then pop the barrels on. I’m in a bit of dilemma with the outside of the engine block. I’d like to strip all the bits of oil and paint off and respray it, but I’m scared of getting any crap in the engine. I suppose I’ll have to loosely fit the barrels and other casing, clean it, strip the paint, then mask the casings and spray. It’s a plan. Then take the barrels and other case off and fit it back in the frame, rebuild the bottom end, fit the rings, spray the barrels (I’ve already given them two coats of paint stripper), rebuild the top end, refit all the other bits, then I’m ready to start again. I’ve fitted a carb rebuild kit, I’ve got a new chain and sprocket set (had to order a HUGE socket to get the front sprocket off) and I’ve ordered fresh oil line, fuel line and a fuel filter. When it goes back together I’ll know the engine is clean and solid, and no crap will be getting in. I’m fitting new throttle and clutch cables. When I get it going I don’t want to be stripping it again for consumables. While I had the engine out I took the opportunity to wheel the rolling chassis out and give it a good clean. the difference is amazing. It’s only a cosmetic thing, but the difference between ‘covered in dirt, grease and accumulated oil’ and ‘a clean frame’ is very satisfying. I spilled quite a bit of oil at various stages of the strip so […]

I’ve had a hell of a day off. Happily, since I’m having to buy all my tools again but in imperial, and the Harley was £2,000 to start with, work has suddenly gone mad. 4 shifts, 6 shifts, 5 shifts for next week. I certainly can use the money but it’s making working on my bikes a lot harder. Anyway, I was off today so cracked on. My goal was to strip the heads, check the valves and the barrels, and check the cams for timing. I’d been doing 40 minutes or so before work to get all the peripheral bits off. I got stuck with one nut that just I couldn’t get the breaker bar on, and ended up rounding the head. That was on the front exhaust pipe. I was hoping I could remove the barrel with it attached, then work on it. I succeeded! Yay for small victories. I had to angle grind the nut then hammer it with a cold chisel to turn it. I stripped it down to the pistons without much further drama. But, as is the law, one allen bolt just would not turn on the cam side casing. I was wriggling it backward and forward, sprayed oil on it, it was seized solid. In the end I snapped the bolt. Balls. I had to drill it out. I think I’ve repaired it enough to accept another bolt, but I’ll have to wait until after the rebuild to find out for sure. I did an internet test on the valves. Poured petrol on them from the top, turned them over and looked for leakage. There was none. So valves are sealing OK. I checked the bore on the barrels. There are some marks, more like a shining of the cylinder than scratches. You can still see the original cross hatching under the shine so it can’t be deep. I don’t think it’s the barrels/ pistons/ rings. Hmmm, on a big screen they do look like proper scratches. Once I’d finally got the cam cover off I checked the cams. All the timing marks are perfectly lined up. I took them out and cleaned them, put them back and they are still perfectly lined up. Having a cam/ pushrod system is clunky but easy to work on. The bad news is I think this was a badly looked after bike, that went off the road for a reason. Someone had over-tightened an allen bolt to the point the allen key head snapped off in it. Then they’d left it there. Worrying. Then I dropped the oil and saw the sump plug. It’s a bit out of focus, but that was after I’d already given it a bit of a wipe. It’s covered in thick greasy/ oily sludge and, most worryingly, metal filings. I’m in a bit of a quandary. Metal shavings in the engine is really bad news. I’ve ordered some more tools and, when they arrive, I’m going to strip it right down […]

I’ve had some successes but a big problem. I’ve been working so I’ve not had the time to do too much, today was my day off and the engine start spray arrived yesterday so I did some work on it. I bought a cheap trolley jack with support cups to lift the bike up by the frame so I could take the forks off. It wasn’t what I was expecting. I thought it was a full length platform to lift the whole bike. Nope. It fits across the bike and just raises one end or the other. Meh. I can make that work for most jobs. Then I went to slide it under the frame and because of the raised cups it wouldn’t fit! I had to angle grind half of the raised legs off before I could even start. Anyway, I got the forks off, finally got the seal covers off and the seals out. I think they were due for a change. That’s the good. The bad is that I still can’t get it to start. I’ve re-gapped the plugs, really healthy spark now, I tried the engine start spray, nothing. I’m thinking it’s probably the piston a rings now. I saw a video today saying the compression pressure should be at least 150psi. I tested at 120 and 125. Then I poured oil into the cylinders to form a temporary seal and I was at 150psi. I’ve emailed a query about how much it would cost for a rebore and rings, and how much it would be for a 1200cc big bore and rings. I’ve managed to get another shift tomorrow, so that’s 5 so far for next week. I’ll fit the bits I’ve got coming and if I still can’t get it going I’ll start stripping the engine on my next day off. The only other options I can think of are the timing has gone out or the valves are leaking. I think it’s electronic timing, I can’t see how it can have gone out. I just watched a really helpful tip for the valves: take your head off, pour petrol into the inlet and outlet valves, turn your head over, if none has seeped through you’ve got a tight seal. That’s what I like. Simple, binary, tests. If it’s not too much more than a rebore I might get it big bored anyway. I’ve got a feeling my obsession with owning a Harley is going to wane when I get it on the road, crack open the throttle and unleash 49bhp of puny pretension. 67bhp isn’t going to scare me, but it might make the bike a keeper. To be honest, once I’ve got it running all I actually need is indicators and to fix the horn for an MOT. I will have to de-rust, oil bath and grease the chain, the headlight is shabby, and the tyres are so past their 5 year lifespan, but they would probably pass an mot. It’s mostly […]