September 2001

Five months since the last update to the web page but much has happened.

The painting is completed and the engine has been stripped (again) and reassembled WITH the gearchange indicator!

Best of all I now have a rolling frame. Major problems have been the rear axle which I discovered was too large for the frame. I now know that the rigids have a thin spindly axle and I have inadvertantly rebuilt a plunger wheel. A cap-in-hand visit to a talented friend with a lathe has sorted things.

Last night when I fitted the engine I found that the right hand side of the footpeg rod is about 100mm short. Can't work that one out but a phone around tells me everyone else has the longer rods.

A more serious problem is a tendency for the front wheel to move alarmingly between the forks. I suspect that the bushes in the fork legs are badly worn. For the time being this is in the "too hard" basket but will need to be fixed before I venture onto the road.

The rolling frame complete with the painted tank and those lovely new shiny nuts and bolts!

Can I ever bear to get grease on that new rear sprocket?

I also have purchased a reproduction flat rigid muffler - unfortunately Merlin Motorcycle Spares no longer have a website for details of their products.

Another trip to the chrome plater is needed (how did I miss those bits?) and the exhaust pipe still needs to be made. There is still enough to keep me busy for quite a while!