Day out - Middlewich Classic Car and Bike Show

I was feeling confident enough now to take a trip out to the Middlewich Show, just a half hour or so ride away on 16 - 17th July.

It was a lovely sunny weekend - perfect riding weather and I went up on the Sunday. Gloria rode beautifully on the way there, and I found that my work around for the weeping float valve worked well (apart from the time I forgot to turn the fuel back on and she started spluttering as she ran out!!)

There were some lovely bikes there from all eras and Gloria drew some admiring glances and sparked up some great conversation as always.

There were some great cars there as well - one that caught my eye was a Lada 1300, that I was amazed was still in existence, as they used to rot so badly. My sister had one that I took my test in and it used to break down with amazing regularity. It only just made it around my test route! This one hadn't been restored but had obviously been well sheltered for most of it's life.

And then there was a lovely display of old Minis of most variants. Who doesn't love an old Mini?

The journey home was equally as nice - one of those where you start to think whether there is a way to extend the route as you get towards home, so you can enjoy things for just a bit longer 😁. It was lovely to start to feel the confidence building in Gloria now, that she'll get me home from our adventures each time.

 

Carburetor rebuild and Starter Motor

To correct the rough low/mid range running, I bit the bullet and bought 2 Keyster refurb kits and then pulled the carbs off the bike yet again. When I started this recommissioning I think it took me about 45 mins to get them off but I've now practiced it so much that I reckon I have it down to about 20 minutes!

The kits are actually for the CB360 (250 version was unobtainable), which has a slightly bigger main jet, but when I came to fit them it was the same as was already in the carbs and seemed OK according to the spec in the Haynes manual. As it has been running OK on the main jet, I decided to install the new jet and see what happened.

So, it was a fairly easy process to swap over the bits and then reinstall the carbs - I expected to kick the engine over and it would settle into a nice smooth idle .......

What actually happened was that I kicked it over 3 times and then something went "clunk" and the engine locked up solid! I put everything away and came back to start again another day ....

Once I started pulling things apart, it fairly quickly became obvious what the problem was. A week or so earlier, I had been trying to fix the starter motor, which has never worked since I got it. I removed the motor and fitted new brushes and also noticed that one of the screws holding the magnets in place was missing. I found an appropriate screw and reinstalled but the motor still didn't work. I can only think that the spinning motor against a loose magnet has caused internal damage, so I sourced a working second hand one. However, when I pulled the motor out, I assumed (incorrectly) that the cog the splined end of the motor engages with was retained in place in the engine casing. It wasn't and had dropped down with the chain that engages with the crankshaft. When I tried to kick it over, the chain had wrapped around the alternator rotor and jammed. No damage was done and all was soon back in order. 

Having sorted that out I again kicked the engine over and it did indeed settle into a nice smooth idle. 

So I went out for a spin and it felt great, accelerating strongly right through the rev range. At that point I got cocky and decided to head out further afield - only about 10 miles away across country lanes, but as I slowed down into a village where I planned a stop for a pot of tea, she started running roughly at low revs again. I got to the cafe and sputtered to a stop. Being an eternal optomist, I thought that things might be OK once she'd cooled down a bit. I hoped so, as I had no tools with me!

Of course once the tea was downed, things were no better because motorbikes don't generally fix themselves, and whatever I did I just couldn't get her running again. Shamefully, I had to call the recovery service to take me home.

I felt like I'd kind of reached the level of my incompetence now and was all for getting a proper mechanic to look at it, but once I'd calmed down a bit I thought that all they would do was strip the carbs and check all the settings and ditto with the ignition side, so why didn't I do that one more time first? As an aside, I've found that retirement has changed my approach to stuff like this - when I had a very limited amount of "play time" at weekends, I would rush and get agitated but now I kind of think "oh well, let's try again!"

I pulled the carbs yet again and then very carefully set the float heights. One of them wasn't really quite engaging properly with the new float valve and I think as a result was flooding at low revs. I reassembled everything and also balanced the carbs again, just to be sure. I also spent a couple of hours checking all the ignition side and tappets etc - all was good, which it should have been as I'd only done less than 100 miles since setting it all up. I also installed the replacement starter motor at this point. (She starts so much better off the electric start than with the kick start - it obviously gives the engine a much better initial spin than you can manage with a kick.)

And she fired up and ran really nicely. But, after a short ride, started overflowing fuel from the RH carb again! I'm managing to ride around that issue at the moment - it's OK above idle and so I just switch the fuel tap to off as I approach a red light etc, and then turn it back on as I set off. Everything seems to be running fine like that (fingers crossed) and I managed a really nice 50 mile bimble around the Wirral Peninsula that way. I made sure that I had my tools with me this time!

Parkgate

West Kirby

I have seen a couple of articles now saying that new float valves can take a little bedding in, so I'm hoping it's that, but I also have one last thing to do to try and sort this properly (because, as I said earlier, I'm old and wise enough to know that motorbikes rarely fix themselves.) 

The inside of the tank on the bike is pretty good and quite rust free. The fuel flowing from it looks clear, but I am aware that there could be very small bits of rust or other debris still getting through and that could be causing the valve to stick open. So I have bought a couple of fuel filters and I'll pull the carbs again, clean the float valves meticulously and then install the filters. I may also just tweak the floats by 1mm to try and put a bit more pressure on the closing action. Watch this space....

First camping trip

After the successful day trip to Hooton Show,  I'd been itching to venture a little bit further to build up a bit more confidence. An opportunity came up to grab a quick night away and I booked a campsite in North Wales at short notice. It was also a great opportunity to try out some new bike luggage and camping equipment that I had been gathering.

Nothing had been done to Gloria since the previous outing, so I was fully prepared to still be suffering from some rough running at low to medium revs but thought she'd probably be OK on open roads.

The bike luggage was an old Oxford tank bag that my son had re-donated back to me, after I had given it to him when I sold my last bike several years ago; an old work duffel bag for the tent etc and some old but unused Oxford panniers that I got off EBay, specifically because I thought they'd match the era and style of the bike.

All packed up and ready to go, I swung a leg over and jumped on the kick start - nothing! After lots of sweaty effort I pulled the spark plugs and unbelievably had another dead plug. Either the quality of NGK plugs is rubbish now (that's 2 duff ones I've had) or there is something happening that is killing them. However, all of the ignition side is new now so I'm fairly confident it's not the latter. Once a fresh plug was swapped in, she started first kick.

I subsequently read that it is not uncommon to get duff NGK plugs, which is not very helpful, so now make sure I have a spare with me.

I'd planned a route out to avoid the motorway like A55, so made my way through Chester and back out past the Airbus factory at Saltney and was soon onto the lovely roads up towards Llandegla. I crossed Llandegla Moors and then headed across the Nant-y-Garth pass towards Ruthin before taking a quiet road off towards my campsite for the night at Cefn Coch. I can highly recommend Clywdian Holidays site - just a small camping field for about 5 tents but amazingly good facilities, including a really well equipped camp kitchen if you are travelling light.

I quickly pitched my new tent - a Vaude Terratrio 2P which I had got as a retirement gift from my very generous ex-colleagues. A really versatile and easy to erect tent - only my second time after trying it out in the garden, but all was up and ready in less than 15 mins.

Gloria performed fine, apart from the rough low speed running I was expecting, and I am getting used to having interesting conversations with old bikers each time I stop! Most are very complimentary about Gloria's fine lines, which seem to be better appreciated now than when she was first around.

I had been intending to cook at the site, but was getting harrased by a bratty child (with an annoyingly unconcerned parent) from an adjoining tent, so I wandered up to the local pub half an hour or so away for fish and chips and a pint and then turned in after watching the sunset.

The weather was fine again the next morning and I got to try out more retirement / 60th birthday gifts - this time from my 2 sons. A jet boil stove system and ground coffee press meant that I had a fine cup of coffee and muesli for breakfast.

It warmed quickly in the sun, so everything was nice and dry as I packed up and reloaded the bike. Gloria's "loaded up" handling had been great on the journey out and was to get better and better today, as I got more used to riding her.

For the journey back, I mad my way onto one of my favourite bits of road; into Ruthin, then across to Denbigh before heading back across to Mold - beautiful flowing A roads through Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. I have ridden that route many times on much bigger bikes but never enjoyed the riding so much as on the 250. No pressure to perform or go at any great pace, so you could just focus on enjoying the journey.

The low speed fuelling didn't seem to be as big an issue today, but she is still not right so more work to be done there. 

From Mold, there was no simple way to avoid using the A55 so I sat back and cruised it at 55 and was soon back home. All told I had only done about 70 miles, but it was an important step in building up confidence - I had set out accepting that I may need recovering as a worst case, but actually I quickly felt that Gloria would get me home one way or another!

I've now got a bit of a list of further work to do to get her running really nice, but have gained some lovely happy memories of this first camping trip. 

A trip out to Hooton Park Show

I'd been provisionally booked in to display Gloria at a small local show, dependent on me getting her running OK to make it there and back, and I finally had her running reliably (fingers crossed!) the day before. 

Given the myriad of little gripes I've had to overcome to get to this stage, I half expected to try to kick her over in the morning and find that she wouldn't run, but she fired up first time and settled into a smooth steady idle 😀.

It was less than a 30 minute ride up to Hooton, but the sun was out and I was on quiet A roads all the way for a lovely ride in the Spring sun. All went well and I slowly got used to her individual character - things like getting to know the "sweet spots" and gear/speed combinations she doesn't much care for.

I pulled up and was parked up next to a beautiful old Vincent, so everyone ignored Gloria on the way past! There was a good mix of British, Japanese and American bikes there but it was fairly small - maybe 25 bikes and a similar amount of classic cars and buses.

Hooton Park itself is an important site and contains three remaining WW1 hangars on the former RAF airfield, which was subsequently built on by Vauxhall Motors. The three original, Belfast-trussed, hangars are Grade 2 listed and interesting to see this form of construction if you have had anything to do with construction, together with the historic aircraft collection inside.

Anyway, I stayed into the afternoon and then as things started to wind down, made my way back home with an equally uneventful return journey in the sun again. The whole thing was less than 30 miles, but these little first journeys are what helps to build up the trust for the longer ones. 

So Gloria is back under her cover now, waiting for our next adventure, and I am moving back onto the long term restoration project - my Royal Enfield Crusader 250.

Fine Tuning

The first ride went quite well - 15 miles around a "long block" close to home, so I didn't have too far to push if I broke down! I would say that the performance was at 6/10 - definitely some rough edges there to smooth out.

Most concerning was not running smoothly when transitioning from low to mid rev range and then, as I arrived back home, she started running on one cylinder again - but this time with the right cylinder missing. Ho hum - the joys of old bikes!

So the next two jobs are a thorough strip down and clean of the carbs and I'm also going to replace the coils, as then I'll know that all of the ignition side has been replaced and hopefully will build in some reliability.

I'm getting quite slick at removing and replacing the carbs now, so half an hour had them on the bench.

After stripping down, I had a set of mucky bits that I gave a good soak in carb cleaner and then loaded  into my little ultrasonic cleaner for about an hour. I did each carb separately so I didn't mix anything up.

I cleaned the main body of each carb with a toothbrush and carb cleaner and they came up pretty well. I had bought a set of jet cleaners and used the very finest one to dislodge any bits but most were clear, although I did find a couple of partially blocked passageays which I was quite glad about really - helps to excuse the rough running.

I reassembled, full of hope and ..... not getting any fuel to RH cylinder - AAAAARGH!

Removed again and I checked the fuel delivery / float settings etc again. I reset them to standard Honda settings (18.5mm) rather than the 16.5mm that I'd seen on a Common-Motors video and then I tested everything off the bike to check that fuel was getting through, which it was.

Reassembled, again, and .... fuel not getting through. At this point I was ready to give up and call in the professionals. As a final throw of the dice, I thought I would get another gallon of fuel, as it was getting toward the reserve position. My logic was that a bigger head of fuel may help. Clutching at straws at this stage - can you tell?

And it worked! I quickly put everything away for the day to end on a high.

The next day, I balanced the carbs (again) and went out for local loops totalling about 15 miles. She was running much better - I would say 8/10 compared to the earlier 6/10. The mid-range was especially improved and smoothed out. 

However after about 15/20 minutes, as the engine got hotter, she started misfiring and then eventually ran down onto one cylinder again. After leaving to cool down for five minutes she started again and ran well enough to get home. 

I am now convinced that this is either a problem with the new condensor I fitted (hopefully unlikely) or more likely one or both of the ancient coils/cables breaking down under heat/load. The new coils are due to be delivered in the next couple of days, so we'll see how that goes. But this was a big step forward. For the first time today, Gloria has started to feel like a bike that I can bond with and enjoy and hopefully have some great summer adventures on.

The new coils turned up and were quickly fitted. Out with the old....

...and in with the new ...

I also resynchronised the carbs as I figured that both sides should be working pretty optimally now. They were a surprising way out, so suggesting that one side hadn't been performing as well as the other.

I took her out for a spin and there was a big improvement...until about 15/20 minutes later when she started misfiring etc again. It all felt like fuel starvation and, when I checked, there wasn't a steady flow of fuel from the tank, even though there were at least a couple of litres in there. I drained the tank - nice and clean - and stripped the fuel tap. This had been recently replaced by the previous owner with a pattern part and all looks clean etc. I also put another gallon of fuel in.

She was running better now but quite poorly at low revs. In the end I went back to basics and checked the timing and points gaps (yet again!), and found that the left hand cylinder was retarded by a couple of degrees. I can only think that the heel of the new points has worn in sufficiently to affect the timing that much. Anyway, I fired her up and straight away there was a massive improvement. I then got 30 miles in around my local area and she ran fine all the way at last! There is a slight flat spot at about 4000 revs and she is running a bit rich but otherwise she felt great. Just in time for a first trip out to be displayed at a local show the following day.

Deep Service and first ride

And so, once the bling had been sorted, it was time to make sure that she was actually rideable!

This is how she was running when I first got her - not exactly the smoothest, most refined engine I've ever heard! I started worrying that maybe I had  suffered a severe dose of "looking through rose tinted glasses", remembering how my previous bike had been 40+ years ago.

Stripping down for some access, I found that the plugs indicated some pretty rich running. 

The throttle return cable is quite difficult to fit on these and so a previous owner had just zip-tied it out of the way!

The carburettors were just about clinging on to the manifold by their fingertips!

The air filters look like they haven't been changed this century - hmm not encouraging.

So, plenty of scope for improvement there then.

I adjusted the cam chain tensioner. There was no massive take up of slack, which was quite encouraging. 

Then I set the tappet clearances. One of the adjusters was broken and I had to order a new one - lots of spares are still available for these bikes from David Silver Spares and Wemoto. Many of the cycle parts are common to the iconic Honda 400 Four, which helps a bit. I learnt a useful tip doing this, that using an offset 10mm spammer helps to reach down to the locknut in a quite tight space.

The next job was to set the points gaps and the static timing. This is relatively complex on these bikes and needs to be spot on for them to run properly. I noticed that the condition of the wiring loom to the points was pretty iffy; too short so the connections are stressed and with what looks like some old petrol pipe instead of the proper heat shielding. I added a job to the list, to make a new loom.

I also took off the backplate and checked / lubricated the auto-advance mechanism. 

While the points backplate was removed, I took off the two sets of points to clean up the faces etc. The faces were quite pitted and ancient and I also noticed that one of the insulating washers was missing, which was probably not ideal!  

After a pretty unsuccessful attempt to get things running decently, I decided to replace all of the ignition "consumables", so ordered a new condensor and points, and made the new loom as well.

A tip I have found when setting the points is that there is a mark on the end of the camshaft that, when aligned with the "heel" on the respective set of points, will be at the point of maximum points gap. You have to remove the bolt and washer holding the auto-advance unit in place to see it.

At some point in all of this, I tried running her again. There was a petrol leak, only running on one cylinder and generally she was not happy with the world!

So I thought it would be a good idea to strip the carbs down. The previous owner told me there had been some work done on the carbs, including replacing the diaphragms, so I was hopeful that they would be pretty clean but this was not the case! Everything came apart nicely and at least one of the diaphragms looks new - I'm not convinced they both are, but neither appear to have a hole in it, which is the important thing.

When I was taking one of the fuel pipes off, I found this split in the pipe, which is probably what caused the leak! But I was glad to have been pushed into checking the carbs over really. I fitted new fuel pipes, which had been on the to-do list anyway, to make sure they could deal with the ethanol in modern fuel. 

Removing the carbs is a difficult job on this bike (on most bikes actually!) and that was why the paint on the frame rails was so scratched. The key for me is to remove the inlet stubs first, which is a bit fiddly but gives a lot more room to play with.

At this stage, the carbs had been cleaned and reinstalled; new fuel lines fitted; throttle return cable connected and next was to replace the air filters - these are getting quite rare now and not cheap, but definitely needed doing - look at the old and new filters below!

One feature of lots of older Hondas is that the oil filtration is all done within the engine - there is no external spin-on oil filter cartridge like you might have on a more modern vehicle. To clean the filter, you have to remove the right hand exhaust, kickstart and then the clutch/side engine cover. The camshaft runs in plain bearings in the cylinder head and is really susceptible to damage, if regular oil changes and filter cleaning aren't kept up. If the bearing face is damaged, then the whole head is scrap - not ideal. And because it's not simple to clean the oil filter, a lot of owners neglected this in the past, particularly when these bikes were used for day to day travel rather than as cherished classics.

I haven't opened up the head on Gloria yet, so fingers are still crossed that all is good there. But it was definitely sensible to do an oil change and clean out the filter etc before going any further.

With the oil drained and the engine cover off, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the engine cases were very clean. In the picture below, the round chamber with the circlip on is the centrifugal filter, which needs cleaning out.

And the small metal chamber with the pipe on the next photo is the oil pick up, which has a gauze mesh to filter out any particles etc - also needs a good clean.

With the circlip removed and the cover off, the centrifugal filter was completely clean - very pleased at that!

The pick up strainer had a few bits on it (possibly camchain guide rubber), but it's been doing it's job and I wasn't unduly worried. (My son's 3 year old Honda Grom looked not much better when that was done.)

Nice and clean ready to be reinstalled:

Overall, I was really very pleased (and relieved!) with the condition inside the engine.

While the engine cover was off, I took the chance to give it a quick rub down, prime and a coat of silver enamel - a huge improvement for an hour or so of work. Then the cover was refitted with a new gasket and stainless steel bolts and refilled with fresh oil.

Before I refitted the exhaust, I pulled the rear brake pedal mechanism apart and refurbished that. It looked like the bike had been gently dropped at some point and bent the pedal adjuster, so that the brake pedal sat about 2" above where it should be, which is not a very comfortable position at all! 

It was fairly simple to strip it and bend the adjuster back into place, then fit a new adjuster bolt and locknut. But it was very fiddly to reconnect the operating rod to the brake pedal. I'm sure there is a simple way, but I couldn't find it!

I've also done some other routine servicing stuff - stripped, cleaned and greased the front brake caliper holder, which has a habit of seizing up but was nice and free; replaced the brake fluid when I bled the brake after fitting the new master cylinder; adjusted the clutch; fitted a new horn and lubed/adjusted the rear chain. The general feel is that Gloria has been really nicely cared for over the years. I'm saying that with fingers crossed for when I ultimately remove the head and check the camshaft bearing!

A few electrical gremlins have come to light while I've been doing all this. The first one was the loom to the points that I've already shown above. That was causing one cylinder to cut out, as the connection between points and coils was so bad and also under tension with the result that it came apart slightly.

Then I lost all power when the ignition was switched on. That was traced to a poor repair to the main connector block serving the ignition switch. I ran a new power cable to give a little more length and then soldered in a new connector block.

The rear tail / brake light started playing up and that again was traced to a loose connection between the rear and main looms.

Finally, one of the rear indicators started playing up and I traced that back to a corroded joint on the earth cable inside the indicator. Five minutes with a soldering iron soon sorted that.

I've been all over the wiring trying to make sure all connections are tight, but I think it could really do with a thorough inspection and overhaul of the whole wiring system, probably when I take the engine out next winter. 

As a precaution, I also replaced the 3 fuses and cleaned up all of the fuse box connections to make sure they were secure. I had a thing on my original G5, where the main fuse would occasionally stop making contact in its holder and the bike would just die - it memorably happened twice in exactly the same spot in the Mersey Tunnel and once on a 400/4 that I later had (same fuse box arrangement) as I was riding through Handsworth in Birmingham about an hour before the "Handsworth Riots" broke out - lucky escapes all 3 of them!

I mention the electrics, as I have just finished installing the new points and retiming the ignition etc. I came to try and start the bike and it was completely devoid of any power! Following the principle of 2+2=5, I assumed that the aforementioned ignition switch connector block fix had failed, but all looked sound. I got the voltmeter out and found a completely dead battery 😧. It's an AGM battery and, when I did a bit of research, it seems they don't like irregular use / charging. I've ordered a new, traditional lead acid battery to replace it.

The new battery turned up and highlighted yet another electrical gremlin - a short circuit across the starter solenoid (which is probably what had drained the other battery!) I definitely need to have a deep dive on the electrics sooner rather than later. I sorted that out and also rerouted the electrics under the seat and around the battery box; I think probably to how they should be, as there is much less tension across connectors and no crossing wires to chafe against each other now. 

All sorted and - no spark on LH cylinder. This one was traced to a faulty spark plug. I had previously checked both for a spark but, hey, she's an old, temperamental lady! With  new spark plug fitted, she fired up lovely and I rebalanced the carbs. She is now running much sweeter and I managed to get 15 miles test riding in.

I'm not sure how well this video really shows the difference between when I first got her and now, but it seems immensely better to me! There is still some way to go on fine tuning the carburation I think, but we are definitely getting there 😁.

Spring spruce-up

With no garage to work in, Gloria stayed under a cover through winter, while I got deep into the Enfield refurbishment in the cosy confines of my shed. Eventually, warmer days arrived and I broke off from the Enfield to scrub her up!

The paintwork on the frame was pretty bashed around, most noticably on the side tubes around the carb / airbox area and on the rear seat loop. I spent a sunny afternoon rubbing down those areas, priming with red oxide and overcoating with a couple of coats of black enamel. I'm most definitely not aiming for concours restoration here, but it came up nice.

The front tyre had been replaced with a very cheap and nasty Chinese CST old-style tyre. It felt like hard plastic and was a very poor match for the more modern section rear tyre. I swapped it for an Avon, which will allow me to also get a matching rear Avon at some point.

Looking at the 2 tyres here, I know which I would rather trust my life with!

I then spent a very happy afternoon cleaning, T-Cutting paintwork, waxing and polishing. Gloria didn't half scrub up nicely!

There are some bits that are letting the side down now, but I'll look at those maybe next winter after the Enfield is finished. The most obvious area is the engine, which has been fairly roughly repainted at some point, and also the frame loop around the engine and under the tank could do with repainting. I'll probably whip the engine out next winter and strip the top end down to check it out (a notorious weak spot on these engines) and that will be the perfect time to sort both of those areas out.

The front brake master cylinder / lever looked like it was off a trials bike and I was concerned that it might not be a good match for the original brake system, so I swapped it for a new "pattern" one in the original style.

And then I added a set of original style mirrors and she started to look like her old self again!

A couple of finishing touches for now - I added a mudguard flap to protect the engine from road spray and grit being thrown up. This photo also shows how nicely the exhaust headers came up after a good clean and polish.

And then I got hold of a reproduction tax disc from the month she was registered, as a daft little touch.

For the purists, I know that the date is incorrect, but I like that it shows her "birthday"! (In reality, the tax disc would show the date the tax expired, so would be 6 or 12 months after the first registration date!)