THE GOOD BUCK

After watching that video a few times I’m now confident that as soon as my clip arrives (snail mail from the States. Something like $20 fast delivery, or 42 cents slow. For a few bob clip. I’ll wait. Just on principle.) I can strip that side of the engine for the last time, fit the new clip, and set the gears exactly. The instructions say I need a number 32 drill bit. No idea what that is, but it works out as a 2.96mm diameter. I went through everything that could serve, drill bits, nails, screws, etc with my micrometer and found the exact size! Yay.

In my mind that job is done and dusted. That just leaves the ‘only runs on choke’ problem. I was watching a video on that. Some Yank doing a really detailed breakdown of possible problems. He said you go through everything else before you mess with the carb. Good batttery (brand new), charged. Check. Good battery connections. Check. Spark plugs (brand new, gapped) check. Tank not rusty. Check. Fuel filter/ petcock… Ooh, possible problem. Rather than risk it I’ve ordered a new petcock/ filter (it’s only £30 and it guarantees that’s not my problem). Fuel line. I had some new line lying about so I fitted that. Check. Then it’s that carb seal (brand new). Check. And finally the carb (brand new). Check. In passing he did say one thing that really cheered me. “The Chinese (reproduction carbs) are really kicking our ass. Are they 100% as good? Pretty much.” Good to hear, especially so begrudgingly, as mine is a copy carb. The only other variable is jet sizes and when I checked they were the right size for the 1200.

That was a long winded way of saying, once I’ve fitted the new petcock with the new filter, I’ll have virtually a completely new fuel system. Therefore I’ll have ruled out everything except the settings. So it should just be a matter of adjustment then. It’s getting hard to imagine the Harley ever being on the road, but maybe…

In my last blog, two weeks ago, I was trying to get back into running, and struggling with the Harley. Things went very pear shaped after that. The running triggered the covids again. I spent a week wasted with weakness and lost all my mojo. I’ve had enough. I’ve stopped running for the time being. I’m going to try again in another week, then every month, until I can do it without triggering more weakness. I forced myself to keep training for 18 months last time, being fall-down weak after loads of runs, but I just can’t face it this time.

Losing my mojo also affected my willingness to get into the shed and crack on with the Harley. I couldn’t face that either. I built it up into an insurmountable problem in my mind. I was so sick of it I was considering taking it into a garage to have them finish it off. Then, being me, I started obsessing over a new bike instead. I’d been looking for a while, just window shopping to kill time. It grew into a all consuming fixation. As it is want to do. I wanted a Triumph. I was torn between a classic Bonneville, a modern Street Triple or possibly the really expensive Street Twin. I had 3 sites open on searches on my ‘phone. I thought I’d struck gold when someone advertised a 1967 Triumph Bonneville for £1,000! Supposed to be his dead dad’s. I was having a terrible night’s sleep so saw it at 03.00hrs. I rang him at 03.15 and was first to reply. I thought I had it.

Autotrader sent me an email later that morning saying they’d removed the advert as a suspected scam. The seller didn’t get back to me. I couldn’t resist it, it was too beautiful and too much of a bargain, but when it fell through I felt oddly relieved. My VFR has been running perfectly since I rebuilt the starter clutch, and I have my project Harley on the go. I truly don’t need another bike.

Last blog I was tentatively hopeful that I was over the long covid symptoms. I was free from weakness for about 5 days then in hit me again. For a whole week. I’ve been free of it for 10 days now. I don’t know if it will come back, I hope not, but I’m certainly not getting my hopes up just yet. I’ve been running scared from it. I’ve just been working and resting. Even these last 10 days of being OK, because I’m scared of triggering it again. Today, as it’s my day off, I went for a 10K. So far, touch wood, I’m not weak. Run again tomorrow.

Work has been limiting my desire and ability to run. Working 5 days, mostly over 11 hours, and it’s extra stressful at this time of year. I’ve got one more hectic week of long shifts then I’m off for 5 days, which takes me past boxing day, 2 days in, then 3 off. Then it’s January and hopefully work will drop off. I’m knackered.

I’m going to work back from Blackpool marathon and set my start date for training. As easy to do as say, it’s January the 8th. That gives me 16 weeks to train. That gives me 3 weeks to get up to speed before I start (not including this week as it’s too hectic).

My last post, 2 days ago was a tale of woe. I’d been wasted all week with the plague weakness and I was resigned to another 18 month bout of long covid, like last time. That was Saturday. As I was blogging I got wiped out again.

I was dreading stripping the VFR in the morning, but I had to replace the starter motor before it failed again and I got stranded at work. I woke up suspiciously OK, and got to work. I needed an oil filter and oil to do to the job. Halfords said they no longer stock bike oil filters but I found a motorbike shop in Warrington that said online they had some. They lied. I had to get oil anyway so I went to Halfords on the way back, they had a handful of old stock oil filters they hadn’t yet got rid of, I googled and one of them was an equivalent! Unexpected bonus.

I got the fairings off easily, dropped the oil, removed the filter, to gain access to the starter motor. I had a moment because it was secured by 8mm bolts, one of which was very tight. Such a small bolt I was scared I was going to strip the head or snap the bolt. It came free. Huzzah! It was a bit of struggle getting the new starter to line up with bolt holes. Worrying as I wasn’t 100% sure the starter was for my model. I got it done and all is peachy. It starts on the button, no whirring, no drama.

I was hopeful that the refusal of the Harley to go from neutral to first gear might be down to a clutch adjustment issue. Nope. I reset it several times but when I started it up it still wouldn’t do it. I’ve been working in fits and starts as I’ve been pretty consistently wasted with plague weakness. It’s not fun and it makes doing *anything* a Herculean task. I forced myself to do an hour, which turned into a few hours, on the bike. If it’s not clutch adjustment, maybe the clutch retaining ring wasn’t seated right, (the posts into which it fits got a bit bashed when I stripped it the first time). I had that spare complete clutch basket, and I know what I’m doing this time, so I thought I’d just whip my clutch off, move the clutch plates and such to the new clutch, then refit it. That all went quite smoothly. I rebuilt the new clutch, put it in the chain with the other piece that you fit as a unit.

It wouldn’t go on. I spent a fair while wondering what the hell I’d done wrong this time that I didn’t previously. I managed to wedge it back on in the end but the connecting chain was straining taut. It’s supposed to have an inch of play that you take out with an adjuster. I’m guessing the clutch is from a later model and is slightly bigger. Too big. Then I had the problem of getting the two pieces and the taut chain off as a unit. The stator is behind the front cover, so the magnets make it tough to get off normally. Like that is seemed almost impossible. I tried several levers to prize it off, but I was scared of damaging the mating surface for the gasket. In the end I squeezed a claw hammer in to give me leverage. I got the clutch off but in doing so snapped a little lever I hadn’t realised I was pressing against. A small part of the gear selection mechanism called a detent arm.

And then the fun really starts. It’s a small, cast, arm. So, difficult to weld. Harley don’t make the part any more. I found one place in Japan that would make the part to order. One. On the whole of the internet. They charged me £36, which was fair. Then emailed me back two days later saying the part was no longer in production and refunded me. I scoured the internet, not one single source for a new part anywhere. I found other posts asking different forums where they could source it, without any good reply. I tried Harley breakers. Nothing. The single solitary source for it was a rip-off American breaker on eBay. I can either wait for someone to kill their bike and strip it down to sell for bits, or buy off the rip-off. £173! Gutted. On principle. And it’s my own stupid fault in the first place. Doubly aggrieving.