Heavy Twins

Been doing a few tweaks to the front end of the ol' Atlas and noticed the new shoes I fitted a few months back on the John Tickle TLS front brake are wearing slightly irregularly (see pics) The top side seems ok but the lower side isn't.

It actually still works well as it is and I thought I'd got it right last time I adjusted it, but obviously not.

Get it spot on and I reckon a few stoppies will be in order!

How do I check if the battery is getting charged by the genny?

The battery appears to lose charge over a period of a couple of weeks if not used regularly and the lights have never been much good for night riding. This bike doesn't get used a lot due to the weather so it sits in the garage for a few weeks at a time. I fitted a new stator 6 months ago.

So I have my re-ground crank back and want good quality +20 shells now. What and who can supply these ? Is there a good brand and is there a `do not bother with out there ? Do AE supply shells for Nortons ?

cheers.

The top bolt that secures the gearbox  is innacessible to a socket set.  The nut should be reduced hexagon to allow a socket to fit . But reduced to what?. Mine is 15/16 inch across the flats and needs a 1/2 inch whit socket  which fouls the box ., Is this some more foul play by Plumstead or just a PO  alteration?.  My 99 was no trouble ,but is not with me to check . Not clear what our suppliers are actually supplying but I think 7/16 whit  hex is needed ?.

Gudgeon Pin - My 650SS came to a sudden halt. The piston had a crack and a small hole. The bores were OK so I ordered a set of standard pistons from RGM in September. For personal reasons the engine rebuild had to be put on hold and I have only just got back to it. The Gudgeon pins supplied are an interference fit in the small end – as far as I can tell they are about 1thou larger in diameter than the old ones. I have contacted RGM but not yet had a reply. I wondered if anyone else has come across this problem.

The guard on the 63 SS  lolls a bit to the offside and gets too close to the fork shroud ,the chrome is showing a wear mark. Its been off and on a few times to try to get it to behave. and i have tried wedging it over with all the fixings loose etc.,but  before i get heavy with it and start slotting the orriginal stay holes and bending things I wonder  if anyone has any crafty wisdom from solving this. The fork leg lengths are equal too.

Hope you all enjoyed reading the 2nd instalment of the rebuilding of my Atlas that the Roadholder editor was kind enough to publish in the Jan & Feb issues. I've gotta say it was a fun project. The ol' bike is still going strong and is a blast to ride.

Looking for some info and advice regarding pushrods for my 'mix and match' 1959 Dominator 99.

I've been running this in (gently?) for just over 1000 miles after replacing both the head and barrels last winter (the 'new' head is a refurbed early-1960 model 99 casting 22707 with some reasonable porting work done by one of its previous owners).

During the rebuild, I (foolishly?) stuck with the fat barrel-shaped alloy pushrods that had been no trouble in the previous incarnation of my own engine (using an early-1959 T2225 head).

I have recently purchased a very very nice 650SS - 151 BJW - which was featured in last month's issue of Classic Bike Guide (actually a re-run of an article previously run in Real Classic November 2017, but that's journalism for you).

Still getting to grips with it - literally when it comes to manhandling it onto the centre stand.

However, for the life of me, I cannot find how to reset the trip odometer - is this actually possible, or is it's presence just ornamental?

Alastair

Back from my Aussie Holiday now and back to the spanners. I have my new pistons and the rebore is due to be done. Crank is being checked over and getting ready to weigh rods and pistons. My concern is when I removed the rocker shafts ALL 4 came out without having to use an extractor tool ! They dont seem `loose` in fact they are a nice `slide`fit in both the rocker arms and the cylinder head. Is this unusual as I only used an old con rod bolt (5/16") to screw in and pull them out.