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4
2 3
5
1:Youdon’t wantslacknuts...
2:Aniceenduro tyre fromMitaswith
atube,rim tapeandsecuritybolt.My
tyrechangingkit isinthepicturetoo.
3:Therewillbeadirectionarrow
on thetyre.Yes,inthe pastI’ve
gotatyrethewrongwayround.
4:Inflatethetubeslightlyand
slipitinsidethetyre...
5:...easethetyrebeadsover
therimandinflate.
Rose butmorethe reddishdarkroseof
rosewood...
As relate dearlier in thisseri es,the oil
galleries in the crank andengin erequired
seriousworktoclean them andhow they
actuallymanagedtopass oil is stillamystery.
It is doubtfulthe engine hadseenany
servicingoroil changingroutine ever.Just
in case you’re not awareofi t, changingthe
oil is differenttotoppingupand k eeping
the oil lever correct.Both areimportant, but
for differen treasons.Yes,topping up adds
fresh oilbutitd oesn’t remove thesludge
and other forei gn bodies theoil picksupasit
circulates in theengine.
Alarge partoft his rebuild hasinvolved
dealing with the aftermathofthis and if
therehad beenhugeamounts ofcash to
flingati t, thingswould have beeneasier,but
likemost people Idon’thavethat option.
ThelatePeter Gaunt –the RoyalEnfield,
James,AJS,Suzukiworks trials and ISDT
rider –advised me to “only have one bike
at atime”.Iasked him what his collectionof
bikeswaslikeand he said he didn’t have a
collection andrarely wastheremorethan
one bikeinthe shed.He allo wedthat the
new one mightarrive before the old one
went, buttherewould onlybe acrossover of
aday or two.
Oneissuewith thisbuild hasbeenmating
variousbits that originated in th eTriumph
factoryatMeriden,butjust not allatt he
same time.Given the length of timeithas
takenme to sourcethe smaller bitsand to
make theparts that neededmaking, it is
easytosee whyprofessionalrestorationsare
so expensive.
Theunderlyingethos in thisbuild hasbeen
to see whetherarestoration coul dbedoneon
atinybudget. It’s beenhamperedby thefact
that largecaches of parts from breakers are
nolongeravailableandmaybeyou’reofan
agelikemeand rememberthe adverts in the
backpages of theweekly press–whenthey
were formotorcyclistsrather than fashion
follo wers –runninggreat blocks of adverts
listingall sortsofparts anditwas common
to see ‘frames BSA, Triu mph, Norton etc
from£2’ at theseemporiums.IrecallTrev’s
Motorcyclesbeingamajor advertiser and
he washoused in anoldmill. Iknowafew
quidwent his waydurin gthe resurrection of
my 650ccTriumph.Anyway, such places are
mostly longgone,thoughYeomans arestill
around andtheyhad asingle-side dhub for
the frontwheel. It is currently away havinga
flanged alloy rimfitted to match theflanged
rear rimthatwas lacedontoaqd Triu mph
hubsomeyears ago.
As the bike will seesome off-roadaction
Mitas kindly chipped in with apair of tyres
and Iheld offfitting them inthehopeI
could doboth wheels at the samesessio n.
However, deadlines loom,soafew moments
with tyre levers and an inflator hadthe
back wheel coveredinnice blackrubber.
Tyrefittingisone of those things Iactually
enjoy –atl east sinceIwas instructedinthe
bestway to do italot ofyears agowhen a
club member–Consettand DMC–spotted
myfledglingattempts toputonatrialstyre
that seemedformedfromconcrete onto a
rim.Theadage ‘ifit’sdifficult thenyou’renot
doing it right’ came intoplay andsince then
my tyre changingkit hasconsisted of one
six-inchtyre lever–well polished–and
a13mmcombination spannerwith the
ringendcut off.The 13 mmopenendfits
asecurity-boltnutand theother endwill
happilyholdatyrebead in place while the
actualtyre leverdoesthe levering.Ifs ome
thoughtisg iven to this,its houl dbeobvious
in changingtyres that one leverisg enerally
heldin place and does thework.Yes,Iknow
sometimes twoare needed butthe benefits
of just having one –lessweigh tfor atrials
rider tohaularound –outweighthe minor
inconvenienceof onlyhavingone lever.
Thebiggest thingIlearned frommy club
memberfriendwas tofitthe tubeinsidethe
tyre beforefittingit and togreasethe tyre
bead withfittingpaste.Then work gently,
makingsureyou don’t nip thetubeand
all will be well.Once thetyre is on, inflate
it up to 30psior more and thebead will sit
correctly.Then tighten up thesecurity bolt if
one isfitted and adjust to runningpressur es.
Slipping the wheelbackinisreasonably
78 THE CLASSICMOTORCYCLE|SEPTEMBER 2019
Rebuild |Triumph unit twin
