Spritepost 12

Incase you were wondering - we tried the Sprite on Saturday but couldnt get the engine to run as clean as I would have liked.

The bike felt lumpy on tickover and at felt choked up at the bottom end. On mid revs it cleared but then failed to rev out cleanly at the top end.

As I have heard a number of different stories about the 350cc conversion not working too well, I have decided to go back to an original iron head and barrel and run the bike in a more original state as a 250cc.

After riding round the trial today with Alan Nicklin who rides an iron barrel 250cc greeves I dont have any concerns about the amount of power the engine can produce when well sorted.

This will mean making a new exhaust but I think the end product will be a much more rideable trials bike.

Will keep you posted

Eventpost 4 - Billingsley BMCA

Rode today at Billingsley near Bewdley. The trial was laid out by Steve Thompson and the conditions made for a great trial that certainly spread the field out but gave everyone a really good test.

The sections were mainly based along a stream with muddy climbs and drops in and out of the water.

Overall I felt like I had a decent ride with few real mistakes and most of the marks lost I actually needed.

The hardest section (6 of my 17 marks) was section 7 which started in the stream over rocks then came out of the water round a fallen tree, dropped back into the water to go up a small waterfall then back out before a tricky drop across the stream to turn left up a couple of ruts to a steep muddy exit. I finally got it right on the last lap when it was possibly at it's hardest but by then 6 marks had slipped away.

I finished 4th overall and 3rd in the Unit 4 stroke class.

Results (Expert)

2 Stroke

1. Alan Nicklin 14

2. Mick Parkes 18

3. Chris Denny 29

4. Jim Pickering 33

5. Mick Metcalf 49

6. Nathan Jones 49

4 Stroke

1. Alan Taylor 8

2. Steve Hay 9

3. Dave Dawson 17

4. Dave Wood 19

5. Tony Perkin 35

6. Dave Jones 52

Pictures from today's event

Spritepost 11 - Before and After

Just a reminder of what has happened in the last 6 weeks!!!!

Spritepost 10 Finished ????

At last the bike is at a stage where it can be ridden..... I wouldnt say finished as it needs to be ridden to sort out carburation and ignition. The original carb has been put back on as it didn't run too well on the new carb.

We will take it out to our local practice ground tomorrow and see what needs to be done then if all is well I will ride it at the BMCA trial at Bewdley on Sunday and see how it performs in a trial.

I think you will agree that it looks fantastic and when you think about the transformation in just 6 weeks since I bought the bike you will realise just how big the debt is that I owe to my Dad for doing this project with little more than hassle from me changing ideas and making suggestions that ultimately meant more work for him

As he is retired and can now spend his time doing his hobby I am sure he has enjoyed doing this as much as I have enjoyed watching it come to life ..... Thanks Dad!!!

(For Info - that's Pete Dawson - Tel 01527 870365 if you want to commission him to do a restoration job)

Spritepost 10

Although we are still waiting for the rear sprocket to arrive from Talon, some of the final touches have now been done in preparation for finally hooking up the chain and giving it a run.

The modified swinging arm and the rear mudguard stay have been returned from the powder coaters and re-fitted along with the new longer rear shocks.

The rear brake arm has been made from 6mm bar rather than the planned cable to route cleanly around the shock and pull straight from the brake pedal.

Mods have been done to repair the top of the forks as the top caps of the forks had been damaged at some point in the past

Sprite stickers have been received (Thanks to Wal Fox for these) and add the nice finishing touches to the tank.

Pictures attached..

Spritepost 9

The wheels have now returned from the wheel builder and its coming together as you can see in the photo.

We noticed when the wheels went in, that the rear suspension didnt work as well as expected and noticed that the swinging arm was fouling on the frame so a modification was needed to shave some off the outside of the swinging arm and a plate welded in to give the necessary clearance. Whilst it will be away at the powder coaters to be re-coated I have decided to also get some longer shocks (360mm Betors) to give a little more clearance around the exhaust when under load and also lift the rear end a little.

We are now waiting for a rear sproket from Talon/Samy Millers so that we can get the chain on and make up a chain guard and refit the chain tensioner in the correct place as the universal Sammy Millar tensioner will need cranking over to meet the correct chain line.

The brake anchors have been made but the cable routing need to be sorted out on both ends as the front arm fouls on the bottom of the forks currently and I dont like the way the rear cable has to pull across from the pedal through the shock spring to the arm - perhaps the best way to go on this will be a cranked rod??

We managed to get a petrol tap from the Malvern show at the weekend so it is highly likely that the bike will get it's first trial to check things over this weekend at the BMCA trial at Bewdley.

Spritepost 8

The front section of exhaust has been received back from chroming and it has been the first opportunity to put the exhaust on with everything else in place. I was a bit concerned about noise and also where the end of the exhaust was to be located so we decided to go for a second silencer.

Dad managed for find a neat little back box that does the job nicely and as you can see from the photos, the routing of the exhaust looks really neat and sets the job off perfectly....

Camera Guy

Just adding a couple more photos from the weekend. I would like to thank Michael from www.cameraguy.co.uk for supplying my pics. Check out his site if you ride Red Rose trials as he takes great shots.

Spritepost 8

Now as we are waiting for the wheels to come back from the builders there have been a few mods done that have been noticed during the build.

I have gone with a pair of Miller alloy hubs as the delay in waiting for Alan Whitton hubs that I have in the Cub would have taken the project past the end of Feb when I needed the bike finished by. I have heard that some of these hubs have had the linings come loose so will have to keep tabs on that....

Some of the mods done have included widening the fork brace/mudguard mounting points to give a little more clearance either side of the tyre and removing the rear loop on the frame as it appeared that the mudguard would have been too low and potentially bottomed out on the tyre when the suspension was fully compressed. As the frame had been powder coated, bending it would have damaged the finish so we went for a separate loop attached in a similar way to a James frame from the top shock mounting point. This also has a second loop added to give the mudguard a second anchor point and stiffen the whole rear section - see pictures.

The wheels should be back on Thurs/Fri this week so we hope to have it finished next week for a try out at the BMCA trial at Billingsley on 25th Feb.

Eventpost 3 - Warmden Red Rose Classic

Rode the Red Rose Classic trial on Sunday at Warmden near Accrington. Overall the trial was good, with the weather starting a little cold and wet but soon drying up and even a bit of sun by the end of the trial.

The sections were quite good with some rocks, climbs and even a bit of mud and water thrown in. As with many of the Pre65 trials the sections were marked out sensibly with potential to lose marks for lapses of concentration but a little too easy to claw any marks back if you make an error.

I rode pretty well considering that I am still learning to ride rocks and need to loosen up and let the bike flow rather than attempting to muscle it across rocks, still a learning curve that I am sure I will get through with more events near home.

I thought that I had done OK for 6 marks as I was going round but a quick check after the trial revealed that I had been given two 5's by a rather officious observer for reasons unclear to me. I think that the no stop rule had been applied by the letter of the law and I may have been given fives for feet up stationary.

I did say after the Hodnet trial when I was not docked for a mark that I thought I had dropped, that these things even themselves out - weill this weekend I guess the pendulum swung back the other way so it has evened itself out.

Results

2 Stroke
1. Chris Gascoigne 1
2. Carl Winstanley 9
3. Richard Thorpe 13
4. P McCanna 14
5. Frank Anderton 32

4 Stroke Unit
1. Tony Dillon 4
2. Derek Brookes 5
3. John Maxfield 7
4. Mark Harrison 11
5. Dave Dawson 16

4 Stroke Pre-Unit
1. Malc Cocking 8
2. Colin Benson 21

Photos courtesy of www.cameraguy.co.uk

Spritepost 8

We are getting close now......

The engine is built now the head and barrell have been vapour blasted and are looking like new again. The engine has been cleaned up and the electronic ignition has been put in (went for a Nametab - Simon Bateman ignition in the end)

As you can see, the key thing that we are now waiting for is wheels and we can then get out and see how it runs.

When the head and barrell were removed, to my pleasant suprise I discovered that the bore was 78mm which suggests that it is still a 360cc engine as it was when I owned it before. I had been advised that it had been sleeved back to 250cc but this was not the case. 1st ride will be interesting!!

Pictures today are the latest state of the rebuild and the other one of the builder (Dad)

Cubpost 6

Here are a couple of the latest photos of the Cub with the new sub frame, swinging arm and longer shocks. You can also see that I have put fork gaiters on to make it comply with the rules in classic events. All that I need now is to get it running well on a British carb so that it complies with the rules in the majority of regions classic events.

Eventpost 2 - Wilderley BMCA

BMCA trial today put on by Nigel Houlston at Wilderley near Dorrington, Shropshire.

The event was held in Streams and woods and although quite slick the sections were sensible yet challenging and each one was capable of taking marks off even the best riders with any lapse of concentration. Generally a great trial....

The going started good but soon became very slippery but then the grip came back by the last lap.

I had a bit of bike trouble on the 1st and 2nd laps with the chain jumping on the rear sprocket - finally a bit of tinkering with the snail cams cured the problem and the last 2 laps went without problem.

I felt that I rode quite well with only a few slack marks thrown away that shouldn't have been lost (mainly on section 4 which was a blast across a boggy mud slot which I got wrong on lap 2 and missed the rut which called for a heavy 3 rather than a fairly simple clean and section 8 where I couldn't get to grips with a steep climb out on a camber until the last lap but had lost 7 marks on the section by then) the remainder of the trial saw some good rides and I was particularly pleased with just how well the bike went in the mud where grip was much better than I expected.

Results as follows;

Two Strokes

1. Mick Parkes 15

2. Nathan Jones 18

3. Steve Neale 29

4. Bob Greenhough 37

Unit Four Strokes

1. Dave Dawson 16

2. Gary Hawkins 37

3. Alan Borton 58

4. Dave Jones 59

Twins/Pre Unit

1. Nick Wooley 35

2. Jim Pickering 43

3. Pete Reed 58

4. Steve Thompson 63

Rigid

1. Joe Howells 60

Pictures from today

Spritepost 7

The forks have been cleaned up and the lowers polished. New seals have gone in and it was then a question of the right brace/mudguard mount.

I wanted to use a yamaha front mudguard and it therefore seemed natural to use the original yam brace to go with it. The challenge was to attach the brace to the fork legs so clamps were made and a slot machined in each leg to house the clamps. It was then discovered that the clamps were too low on the legs to use simple spacers so bracktes were made from ally plate to bridge the gap between the clamps and the position that the brace needed to be to hold the mudguard in the right place.

You can also see that the process of polishing the tank has begun. It is still showing some marks from the manufacturing process but I think it would be a shame to put any paint on it so will continue to polish and see if we can get a good finish on it.

Picture from today.

Spritepost 6

I always start to get excited at the point where it all begins to go back together.

As stated in the last post, the frame came back from the powder coaters today - I think it looks fantastic..... The colour scheme will be mostly silver with perhaps a bit of black here and there. More pictures to come over the next week as it takes shape but you can now see the detail of where the frame was cut in the centre and the plate made to brace the frame rather than the original frame tubes that ran up either side of the bike.

Spritepost 5

The frame came back from the powder coaters today and some of the finishing kit on order has also arrived;

Renthals, cables, throttle, mudguards, mudguard stay, grips all ordered through Steve Goode M/C - Steve usually has this stuff in stock and turns it around quickly by mail order.

Have sourced brake/clutch levers and a nice kickstart off a Honda MX on ebay - will have to use the old kickstart for the splined end and fix it onto the lower section of the new kickstart.

Same with the gear pedal, have got a spring loaded pedal and the old splined end from the original so will need to join the two pieces with a home made lever arm.

New fork seals have arrived for the MP's so we can get on with polishing and generally tidying the fork lowers.

The front section of exhaust still needs to be chromed and a bash plate made made up.

The key thing on the list now is wheels. I was going to put a pair of Alan Whitton wheels on the bike the same as on my Cub but due to time pressures I will have to go down a different route for now as i want to get the bike finished in the next couple of weeks if possible. I go abroad to work in March and will be away on and off for 6 months so ideally would like to complete it before I go.

I am therefore looking for some nice wheels to go on it, my preference is for pattern or original cub hubs but will have a search around and see what I can come up with in the time available. If all else fails I have the montesa wheels that came with the bike so the hubs would lace into new rims and would look OK with a bit of a polish.

Should get pictures of the frame later today so will post as soon as arrived.