fuel taps

[johnbirchjar]

Hi guys,pulling the fuel pipe off the tank on the Classic yesterday the petrol ran out ,(I suspect the diafram has been perferated by the p**y eathonol YET AGAIN!!!)so here is the question,the fuel tap has three positions,Res,On,& Prime,so if I blank off the Prime can I use this as a Fuel Off position?(or is there an eathonol proof diafram avaliable)Digressing to my previous entry,I have yet to try to remove the Thurmo Coupling.Joe lent me a 7mm box spanner to remove said Coupling but his one is to "fat" to fit between the cooling fins,(I suspect Nortons had a special "slim" tool for this)I have ordered one localy and it should be here tomorrow,I shall then "modify" this one to fit .I have sprayed copious ammounts of Plus Gas round the old coupling hoping to ease the removal,(It's been in there about 30 years!!)I suspect the bugger may well break off,its only made of brass,is the other chamber drilled and tap't?hope so,ride safe,J.B.

[johnbirchjar]

Continuing on,had a good look at the airbox(which has to be removed to get at the Termo Coupling)as far as I can make out the airbox cannot be removed without removing the engine (nice one Norton)no information in the workshop manual.Standing looking at the bike(as you do )I noticed that the temp gauge had a reading of about 70c!! now this was with the battery disconected and the Thermo Coupling unpluged,strange!how can this be?perhaps the gauge is at fault and not the T/C,is there anyway I can test the gauge?Thinking back over the last weeks I have often noticed the gauge reading sometimes as high as 90c on a stone cold engine!!,and I put this down to the Th/Cpl being on the blink, and all along it could have been the gauge,anyone with a spare (accurate)gauge I could borrow?rgds,J.B.PS,experimenting with the fuel tap and it looks like my idea to "plug " the "Prime"is a bit of a no go .Back to the drawing board.ride safe,J.B.

[Jeff mcCoy]

While we are on the subject, what Yamaha model is equivalent for the petcock? I would like to rebuild mine while the bike is resting.Jeff

[johnbirchjar]

The saga continues,having now fitted a new diafram,the fuel tap still "runs free" (I know the "centre plate" between the rubbers on the diafram is "handed" and I've tried it both ways,but the fuel still runs)I am now a bit stumped ,so any sugestions will be most welcome.As a thought,has anyone tried using a standard gravity fuel tap?I realise the Vac Pipe has a function,but is this just to open the diafram in the fuel tap?I suspect not, and someone will soon enlighten me .rgds,J.B.

[gripper]

Take a look at my post about three pages back. Suzuki GS850 petrol tap was the nearest I could find but I couldn't stop it dribbling, you may be able to rob the kit for some bits to make your old one work properly. I made a alloy block to screw a conventional tap into, but sealing that against the bottom of the tank was difficult.

[Joe]

Hello JB, I'm sure I have at least one new guage and probably two so no problem borrowing one I just need to sort it out. Perhaps I could hand it to you at Battlesbridge on Sunday if your going? I don't think you will have to remove the engine to remove the air box. From memory a cap head bolt is used on the front fixing and a hex head at the rear so a flat open ended spanner can be used to undo the bolt or is it the other way around? Do you need a copy of the Classic Workshop Manual supplement, I can run you one off? The current parts / stock list that I have for ANL doens't show any stock for Classic fuel taps Part No. 92-2036, so I'll also check to see if I have a spare as I once had plans to fit a reserve fuel tap on the L/H side of my Commander and the Classic tap is ideal for this as it's directly reversed from the R/H mounted tap on a Commander. I'm now going to use a different type with an articulated control to mount the lever externally. Regards, Joe.

[johnbirchjar]

Hi Joe,Thanks for the offer of the loan of a gauge,I hadn't planed to go Battlesbridge on Sunday as the memsahib and I are off to a BBQ in the early afternoon but we can go via Battlesbridge,what time do you intend to be there?On my Classic there is a hex headed bolt on the front and an alan key headed bolt at the back ,imposible to get at .I have a Classic W/S/Manual thank you.I have fitted an "in-line" fuel tap,so the original tap can do its own thing,but I can turn off the fuel if I need to.Do's anybody know why Nortons went down the Vacume Fuel Tap route?Changing the subject(as I am wont to do )They say things happen in threes!!! Well,Sunday before last I noticed that my car had no number plate lights,just bulbs thinks I,Monday I purchase two bulbs,fit said bulbs,didn't work,shut boot,then boot will not open??catch not working,but then noticed that number plate lights came on when trying to open boot with boot catch,spent next couple of days trying to fix this,with no sucsess .Then the probs with the Classic fuel tap and temp gauge.Had the Honda MOT'd today IT FAILED!!!,(and I quote) "Steering excessively"notchy"with wheel raised" When I tried to feel this I had to swivel the steering realy slowly to feel it,and I meen REALY SLOW,the other thing was a leaking fork seal,fair enough ,but I was a bit surprised 'cos the guy I bought the bike from said he had new fork seals fitted quite resently.Checking the bike's records I was surprised to find that in 23and a half thousand miles the bike had THREE!!! fork seals fitted,the last time at 20,250miles,and now the l/H one at 25,962,I think I may have a problem 'cos they seem to need replacing more frequently as the miles clock up.Who'd be a biker!!ride safe,J.B.

[johnbirchjar]

Hi Joe,havn't recieved a reply from you re;Battlesbridge,so if you want to phone me to make other arrangements?or bring the gauge to Mallory?Have fun today , and lets hope the weather improves,(it's tipping it down at the moment 11-45)ride safe,J.B.

[johnbirchjar]

Hi guys,the saga continues ,Jo brought a temp guage to Mallory for me and I fitted it while the bike was on display(gave the punters something to ask questions about )on the ride home on Sunday the guage seemed to give the same readings as the old one,"bloody hot" ,so Mondays job was to put my old one back on the bike and return Jo's one to him.The problem with the Bora boot latch and number plate light turned out to be broken wires in the loom where the the wires come from the car main body into the boot,(evidently it is a common fault with Bora's)I fitted a new Thurmo Coupling on Monday,took the old girl out for a blast today,and guess what,the temprature never went above 125c ,so hopefully my "engine over heating problem's" are no more!!! My next project is to try and do something about the gear box,it realy is truly awful ,I mean realy noisy in all gears,and HARSH,takes all the pleasure out of riding the old girl,(I know rotary g/boxes are some of the worst fitted to ptw's but mine is getting to be beyond the pale ),any sugestions?and ride safe, J.B.