Drax Diaries

[dave perry]

Drax Diaries , 24.12.08TRL Commander: 2008 has been a busy year for the trusty old bus, with just over 11,000 miles spent transporting me around our various Power Stations. As well as a second front and a third rear tyre, she now has the very nicely engineered exhaust header from Startrights, and as a last fling, a hydraulically actuated clutch from NML. I have not done enough miles to give a firm impression of the new mechanism; but early signs are very good. The Commander has lain dormant in the garage these last few weeks, having only had a brief run around the lanes to bed in the clutch, Fido is taking precedent at the moment.Fido the IPII: After almost two years of expense, toil and trouble, Fido has at last graduated to the Big Grin stage of our relationship. Yesterday, Christmas Eve, we had a very decent, almost dry, run home, and managed to scrape both sides of the main stand in the process - that’s more like it !Don Green and I bumped into a guy running around Cadwell on a fully faired IPII a couple of years ago; the first thing that he said was to take the main stand off to maximise the Fun Factor. I’m not sure how we will get on around those lovely curves, with Fido’s sit up and beg bars and rather quick steering, but I can’t wait to find out ! The first run-round of the season is mid February, lets hope for some half decent weather.750 VFR 88,800 total; 4,500 miles in 2008My other love, reciprocating I admit, is also having a quiet life in this salty sub-zero month. I am stripping the spare eBay sourced engine down, as a winter project, and what an beauty it is. Everything uncovered so far appears in first class order. The clutch basket showed some light marks where the plates bear on the sides of the basket’s fingers, a little light dressing will make the operation as smooth as silk. I have come a little unstuck, as special tools are required to remove the clutch basket and generator rotor to progress the strip down. I am not sure that I want to go much further, but I will have a chat to my local Bike Shop Pal before procedding.A Very Merry Christmas and a Safe and Happy New Year to All, Dave & Kerry

[dave perry]

01.01.2009, Happy New Year to All !The carbs are off Fido IPII in an effort to remedy the poor idle. The engine idles fine when cold, and runs very well at higher revs hot or cold.However when the engine reaches operating temperature and the thermal switch operates to change the ignition map; the engine will not idle at all. The only way to get it idle when hot is to pull off a wire the temperature switch !The given wisdom is that air leaks between the carbs and the engine weaken the mixture to the extent that low speed idle is not possible. The engine was rebuilt with new housings not so many miles ago, so air leaks around the butterfly spindles are unlikely. I will rebuild the plot with much care, new o rings and carefully positioned idle pipes, and will keep my fingers crossed.The carbs were ready for a good clean; they were rather grubby, the coating of laquer not helping matters. The jet tube heights were about right.I have still not quite got used to the rather quick steering. The original fairing is not there to add any weight to the front tyre, and the original bars are a bit high and wide for a naked bike. The splendid Commander Green has provided a replacement set with a much lower line; it should not take long to swap them over - I will keep you posted. Very Best Wishes from Drax, A Safe and Happy Year to all

[dave perry]

January 3rd.The lower bars are fitted, and so now with some weight over the front wheel the whole plot feel a lot less flighty, although the very cold weather and damp greasy roads do not really encourage any knee-down antics ! She does pull like a train down the long straight, and Cadwell Park have their first track day of the season on February 6th - fingers crossed for a half decent day.The engine runs fine at high revs, but still will not idle when it is hot, and with the temp sensor in the circuit. She idles fine when the wires are pulled off, as previously reported. I am convinced that there are no air leaks around the o rings, so I will run it over to Leeds to let Graham have a listen - work and weather permitting.TRL.Comm is on holiday just north of Tadcaster, at the premises of the spray paint guy, Andy Parnaby. He is instructed to remove the old headlamp unit and fit something akin to the twin projector lamps as seen on the Ultimate Commander, I really do like to see where we are going on these dark nights ! We spotted some fine looking 4.5” units in one of his catalogues; a pair of those would fit in just nice. I will keep you posted.Best Regards from Drax, dp

[Interpol2471]

I seem to remember Richard telling me that low compression or rotor wear caused poor / no idle when hot but I am sure this has been checked already :?: Does it start ok when hot I guess that would be a good test, or you can check down the air transfer ports for alloy wear particles / mush :idea: I also had trouble with warm idle but that was my retard box failing and a new one solved that but I also put a switch into the blue temp sender wire to control if I wanted 600rpm or 1200rpm idle which is great in cold weather etc.Good luck

[dave perry]

Many thanks for the comments IP2471. The engine has recently been overhauled by Startrights, and I have NML’s digital ignition system fitted. The bike also had these symptoms with it’s original ignition system. It does start very well hot or coldAlso - great minds think alike; I have just received a handlebar switch from Vehicle Wiring Products which I was going to wire in to the temp sensor connections. However I have just remembered that the NML temp sensor latches the ‘hot version’ of the ignition map, which does not unlatch until the ignition is switched off !

[Interpol2471]

That's a shame about your switch, you could still fit it and leave open until you require slow idle but then as you say it would be a one time operation until the ignition is switched off. I guess if all of your intake and idle system is fine maybe the fuel tap may be at fault if you still have the original two position vacuum operated switch, I have read a lot of people change these for a three position switch with prime setting etc. If you are off to see Graham I am sure he knows exactly the problem :oops:

[dave perry]

Blimey IP 2471, I purchased such a petrol tap some while ago from NML !

[Interpol2471]

Best fit it then I hope it cures your problem.

[dave perry]

I did fit the three position tap as soon as I got it, I should have told you the full story. I am re-reading an email from R Negas Esq re the yellow wire for the tacho, grasping at straws. The carbs are fine; there are no air leaks. We have a new loom and NML's digital ignition system. The bike runs on CE9 iridium plugs. I guess that I will just have to run with the wires off, and at full chat ! Regards to all dp

[Interpol2471]

Full throttle it is, who needs idle on a race track anyway :twisted: Good luck

[dave perry]

Fido is mis-behaving again, this time in the clutch department.The plates have been dragging ever since I got him, and I must have stripped them out and cleaned the black sludge from them four or five times, the last occasion being over the weekend. The cush rubbers are breaking up, the symptoms being engine stall when first gear is engaged and poor gear selection, improving somewhat when everything is warmed up.Graham did remove the hub coverplate to expose the rubbers a while ago, and I did my best to remove all the loose surface material, but all in vain.NML do, although sadly not for much longer, a while-you-wait rubber replacement, so this is booked in for the end of the week. They also have the last new bronze clutch plate in captivity, and enough decent second hand ones to make a set. The ones currently doing the business in Fido started life in the Commander; and as they are all on bottom limit, due for a change. They would probably go for a bit longer, being pretty flat with no obvious signs of distress. However I do want Fido on top form, as I already have two Cadwell dates in my diary; the first is February 6th, hoping for a decent day, and then May 18th with those wonderfull Moto Morini riders Club boys. Funny lot they are, riding old but well engineered and slightly quirky machines !Best Regards dp

[Interpol2471]

I know what you mean I am worried about NML closing they are a God send and I am sure Richard will be missed by everyone. I expect Richard will just have to be more active on the forum

[dave perry]

January 19, Happy Birthday to Me ! Not spent too much time in the garage today, as it is also our Wedding Anniversary; there are times to tinker, and then there are times to take the missus out for lunch !Besides, Fido is pretty well sorted after the latest flurry of time and money aimed it’s way. NML replaced the clutch rubbers in a while-you-wait session on Friday, and supplied a set of nearly new clutch plates to help with the action. The new rubbers were quite awkward to fit, one job best left for the experts. There was a fair amount of black sludge in the bottom of the hub, they don’t last for ever I guess. All feels very nice now, very smooth gear selection, and reasonable neutral selection at standstill - bring on the dry roads ! I also bought a new spare set of rubbers for the Commander, as well as new handlebar switchgear for Fido.TRL.Com is still away having bug-eyed light fitted; I’m hoping he will be ready for the Post Christmas Bash.Interesting purchase off Ebay just received; a very tatty copy, costing a whole Pound, of the 18 February 1960 edition of The Motorcycle, entitled NSU Wankel -Tomorrow’s Engine ? Well it is for a few of us lucky ones ! The write-up is of some of the development work on the NSU rotary engine, and it has a decent amount of technical information, and it is penned by the one and only Vic Willoughby. I am looking out for the following weeks edition to add to my collection.Anybody fancy a really nice 1989 VFR 750, very well sorted, runs beautifully, not enough room in the garage !!. Fido has at last shaped up as my longed for Rotary Trackbike, and will hopefully graduate soon. Give me a bell on 017575 618182 if you might be interested, I am looking for £975 - what a bargain ! Cheers dp

[dave perry]

Managed to find a half reasonable morning on Monday Jan 26, so took Fido for a belt into work, we had a great run in, apart for the last little bit. Fido seemed hesitant to freewheel up to the gatehouse after being snicked into neutral (very smooth and easy these days) a few yards out. I found that rear brake torque arm retaining bolt, located in rear brake calliper carrier, had worked loose, and was digging into an inner diameter on the rear brake disc. The nut and split pin were still in place. I knew from last time I took the wheel off that the stud had worked loose, but the nut had tightened back up OK, and so I reasoned that all would be well with the split pin in place - wrong !Of course, the split pin does not bear up against the nut; there is a gap of five mm or so. As the nut worked loose, this gap allowed the pin to migrate into the carrier plate.Wishing to take no more chances, I will collect a new plate from NML at the end of the week. The new assembly will have a grease nipple fitted; and of course regular lubrication will put less strain on the securing pin, and perhaps it will stay in place ! I will also pack out the gap, not too tightly, with a suitable spacer to prevent further woes. The grease nipple was missing from the old plate: and I had omitted to fit a replacement !I have also had bother with HT leads arcing inside the airbox. I originally thought that the large diameter plug caps might be shorting onto the fining in the wet, but new leads with super slim caps from Rugeley brought no relief; I quite like riding in the rain, providing it is not torrential of course.Airbox side plates as fitted to non faired IPIIs and Classics are just the job I am told, as they are designed to keep out the muck and spray, so more gear from NML. My bank balance should slowly start to recover come March, sadly !February is looking like it will start off rather nippy, so that might delay the start of the Cadwell Season; and talking of which, the Moto Morini Riders Day at Cadwell is on June 18th, not May as previously reported.Best Regards to All, dp

[Richard Negus]

[quote="dave perry"] I knew from last time I took the wheel off that the stud had worked loose, but the nut had tightened back up OK, and so I reasoned that all would be well with the split pin in place - wrong !Of course, the split pin does not bear up against the nut; there is a gap of five mm or so. As the nut worked loose, this gap allowed the pin to migrate into the carrier plate.And there was I thinking that everyone knew to use nyloc nuts only once - silly me ! Particularly on a safety-critical application.Your new plate has the stud secured with '648' and you get a new nut and a new washer and a new R-clip. I might even provide a spare new nut if you bring me a cream bun or three.

[Richard Negus]

[ I might even provide a spare new nut if you bring me a cream bun or three.[/color][/quote]Cheers Dave ! Very nice with the afternoon tea - but don't tell 'er indoors as I'm supposed to be on a diet yet again :lol: .R.

[dave perry]

January 30th - Lovely shiny rear brake plate fitted last night, complete with new nylock nut ! In my (rather weak) defence, the old nut was a plain affair, not a nylock at all. I should have known better though !All this talk of brakes made me think about fitting a new disc, one that I had bought from Shenstone a good while ago. The old rear disc came in at 180 thou, so was still a good bit above the 172 thou recommended minimum; the new Shenstone disc measures 197 thou. I checked the two front discs while I was twirling the 0-1”; they came in at 166 and 163 thou; and a bit groovy with it !Commander Green is bringing a new disc back up from Rugeley, which I will fit next time the front wheel comes off. The new discs, one piece Brembos, need spacers to achieve the correct offset; I have one such, and will get a mate to turn up another soon. I also obtained a pair of air intake box side panels to fit at the weekend; these look as though they will make a good job of keeping out the spray. Riding a bike in dry weather only in the UK would severely restrict the mileage ! Roll on spring time, there is snow forecast for the East Coast next weekend, which will rule out Cadwell; I’ll have to wait until March 21 for the next session.Glad you enjoyed the buns Richard; I’m more of a fig roll man myself !

[dave perry]

Latest News, Feb 9th.We’ve had a very pleasant weekend, partly in the company of some fine guys and gals at the ROC post Christmas Dinner.You really should make the effort to go, there is fine food and a couple of glasses of wine to enjoy, as well some fascinating discussions. One of our company had just bought a Van Veen – not a common place occurrence. Another attendee was well known Celebrity in our small circle, with plenty of history and gossip to keep us all enthralled. I know that the terrible weather kept a few at bay; even Kerry & I went down in the motor car, but please do keep a lookout for the next date – the old adage of more the merrier certainly does apply !The wonderful Epitrochoid article on the latest incarnation of the Supreme Commander has prompted me to get in touch with Dr. Madden, to explore the possibility of a wringing a bit more woof out of Fido, I will keep you posted.TRL.Com is almost ready to show us his new set of headlights. I’ve had a sneak preview, and they do look very good. A pair of 4inch lamps are fitted in a colour matched flush panel, one lamp for main and one for dip, fitted with H3 bulbs to light the way. The units have a ring light around the outside diameter, should look rather snazzy.The down side is that the engine is locked up, apparently solid !! I am informed that a piece of carbon may well have come of one of the rotor flanks, and has got caught up on the compression phase. The trick I am told is to put the bike in gear, and rock it backwards to reverse the direction of rotation in the engine, thus hopefully freeing off the whole plot. If the gents at the dinner had not put me right I would have stripped the primary drive to find out the cause. The bike is still with the headlamp guy, so I will go up on Wednesday morning to try and sort it out, armed with my camera for a photo !Best Regards dp

[dave perry]

HAVING TROUBLE POSTING THE LATEST NEWS

[dave perry]

I cant seem to cut and paste from Vista, wonderful modern technology, but back to the story !I went over to Parnaby, and tried the <in gear and tugging on the back wheel> trick, but to no avail. I took the primary drive cover off, and with the aid of a large socket and a medium bar, got the engine turning. It chuffed around well enough on the starter, but that was as far as we got. I had to clean the right hand plug a few times, there was much carbon shorting it out. Everything else checked out, but it would not start, no matter what. I was rather suprised to find that the oil in the right hand SU dashpot was totally emulsified !! The header tank was empty, which was not a new phenomenon, this does happen now and again. How does water get into the dashpot, even if an oring has gone ? I can envisage water getting into the combustion chamber, and I suppose that it could get into the carb, but into the dashpot ??The bike is now back at home, and the engine is coming out. There is a fair bit of carbon in the transfer port, and I dont like the idea of running the engine with a possible oring failure. The motor has done 40,000 miles since Graham last rebuilt it, so now it's my turn !! I was hoping to take Fido round Cadwell today, Feb 15, and I did book a place. They rang back an hour later saying that the track was flooded and closed all weekend _ next date is Feb 28 fingers crossed !! Best Regards dp

[dave perry]

What a few days; it's been rather eventful ! Fido and I have travelled 420 miles around some wonderful power Stations. We set off on wednesday, soon stopping in a layby for a bacon and mushroom sarny, and, as you do, I pushed the gloves behind the engine to keep them them warm. An hour later saw us nearing St Neots, and the engine started to run a bit rough, I switched to reserve and filled up at Tesco's. The engine shot out a lot of smoke, and would not idle. We limped to the Power Plant. A quick check around showed oily plugs, and half a tank of oil gone ! The oil pump cable had been been dragged out of it's ferrule when I removed the gloves, thus it had been running on max output and choking combustion.A while later I set off for Didcot, and the rain decided to join us. After a while the engine started to misfire, making the journey quite interesting to say the least. I pulled over several times to wipe the leads, and checked things out at the hotel. Water had worked it's way into the airbox, again this is down to me, as I had opened up the HT lead holes to get the crimped ends into, a blob of mastic will sort this out, but things get worse !I decided to pop up to Rugeley to collect a little more engine oil; Richard was outside, and pointed out oil all over the RHS of the rear of the bike. The engine and gearbox oils were OK, the leak was coming from somewhere on the primary drive side, but we could not pin-point the source of the leak. We topped up the casing and I pressed on up north. The leak got worse as we progressed, and with the oil dropping onto the zorst, smoked out the drive time traffic on the M1. When the smoking stopped I topped up the chaincase, reasoning that there was no smoke without oil ! When back at Drax, the outer cover was soon whipped off, to reveal a loose hydraulic tensioner bolt ! The tapped hole was the source of the leak, bring on the thread lock !! It's all good fun I suppose, and you live and learn !! I know one outfit that white-paint mark all fasteners when they are fully tightened, maybe not a bad idea. Many thanks to Richard and Peter for their time and patience, tea and advice. This weekend I will strip the Commander engine, very carefully !! Take care out there, but not too much !! Regards dp

[dave perry]

The Commander engine is now stripped, and the news is not good. All parts were very heavily carboned-up, the seals were all well jammed in their locations. The coating in the housings is scored where the carbon has been forced into said housing, I can feel the grooves with my fingernails ! The eccentic shaft shows blueing on one bearing location !! I guess that I will be making a couple of phone calls on Monday morning to see what can be done for what sort of money, in the mean time I'm going to guzzle that bottle of Red that Commander Green left behind, cheers Don = Hic

[Assen]

Hi Dave,As a follower of your drax diaries i have a question concerning your commander enginestrip; what kind of oil did you use? Rotella or Silkolene? Mine runs on Silkolene wich should keep the engine clean inside? I hope!! Groet, Jannes

[dave perry]

Hi Assen, I have been using Texaco Ursatex SAE 40 for the past couple of years, as supplied by Norton Motors.Maybe I have had the oil pump turned up a bit high, I guess that both fuel and the oil will leave deposits ??The seals were very well jammed in, the apex seals had to be levered out with a small screwdriver.I have been measuring up the seals, with more bad news. The corner pins and side seals are on bottom limit, and the apex seals are well below minimum at 7.2mm. I am pretty suprised that there was so much carbon in the engine, and also that the seals require replacement after 40,000 miles - is this about right ?I do hope that there are some second hand rotor housings available, new ones are off the scale !, Best Regards dp

[Richard Negus]

Hi Dave,Sorry to hear of the problems, and a few questions :-Is the 40k miles additional to the 43k on the speedo three years ago when we did the gearbox ?Have you been able to check if the oil pump cable is free to close the pump when the throttle is closed (the only gearbox / rear chaincase breather is up the oil pump cable, occasionally resulting in corrosion in the cable and pump permanently at full throttle)You say the pin and side seals are worn below limit. What are the actual thicknesses ?You don't mention the plate faces ; are they scored too ?Richard

[dave perry]

Hi Richard, and Fellow RotaristsThe engine has done 41,000 miles since rebuild by Graham in February 2005, and 34,000 miles since her holiday at Rugeley in November the same year.The side seals are down to 2.3mm, the corner pins are 5.5mm - both on bottom limit if I read the manual correctly.The apex seals are down to 7.2mm, the bottom limit is 7.35 I believe.The side plates are fine, with some wear of the moly coating noted on one side.Re the oil pump cable, I'm pretty sure that it moved freely enough, and all looked OK when I removed the engine.I will attempt to put some photos in the gallery, Best Regards dp

[dave perry]

I have put a couple of photos in the Gallery, which is very easy to use, well done GW !!

[whiffling clara]

Hello Dave,With regard to the obvious high amount of carbon in the engine I would suspect two things. The first is the oil pump cable sticking due to corrosion and not letting the operating arm return fully as suggested by Richard. The second is that you are doing too much top gear work and not letting the engine rev freely through the gears and also holding too high a gear at lower speeds. Thus having large throttle openings at low revs and this giving rise to the pump delivering large amounts of oil at low revs. Trouble is the engine is very good at pulling a high gear and will pull away from 15mph in top if you want too.Regarding the wear on the seals. The engine was rebuilt 41,000 miles ago but did this rebuild include a full set of seals or were the originals put back in ? If the originals were re-used then they will have covered considerably more mileage.The fact that the side plates are not worn or scored badly indicates that the Ursatex oil is lubricating properly. Were this not the case then the side plates would be badly scored and worn.

[Richard Negus]

[quote="dave perry"]Hi Richard, and Fellow RotaristsThe side seals are down to 2.3mm, the corner pins are 5.5mm - both on bottom limit if I read the manual correctly.The apex seals are down to 7.2mm, the bottom limit is 7.35 I believe.Dave,Wotaloadofoldtosh !Last week I couldn't spell 'engineer' - now I are one.The seals are all within original manufacturing tolerance - but all now at bottom limit.Apex seals are fully worn at 5.85 ; side at 2.10 ; pin at 5.20.For even 41,000, your engine is in excellent condition.But given the lovely shine and excess carbon on the rotor, there's obviously too much oil about. R.

[dave perry]

Steady on Old Lad, is it that time of the month again ?I admit my mistake, again, I quoted the manufacturing tolerances from the Norton Manual, so thanks for the correction !The engine will be delivered to Startright tomorrow, for a review of componenets and a rebuild.Fido is booked to have his first outing at Cadwell on Saturday, the forecast looks half decent. I will take a few snaps and put them on the gallery. Regards to All from Drax, and keep smiling !! :lol: