Out in the sun

Been doing some oddjobs outside the shop at Achnasheen over the last couple of days, tidying up the plumbing, control cables and touching up the paint on the frame.








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More plumbing

Finished off the breather pipework this afternoon with a 1/4" return oil pipe reducing to 1/8" T'ed into the 3/8" open breather on the timing plug hole. This will let excess oil return to the crankcase sump from the Fossbilt baffled breather tank.

Started the motor on the paddock stand and let it warm up, considerably less smoky and no oil coming out of the breather valve ....... more road testing to come.
Next, some alteration to the sump pick up to make sure the pump gets the excess oil away from tbe crank as efficiently as possible and to minimise drain back down the return line.



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Matchimg front

Fitted the 100/90x19 front tonight, LH tank should be back on tomorrow





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18" on the back

After a bit of special wheelbuilding, i managed to build in 35mm of offset using a BSA crinkle hub some special length spokes and a Borrani rim. Fitted a 120 section Pirelli and now ive finally got both wheels properly in line.









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In at the Fossmeister's getting some more bits n bobs done

New boots

Just picked these up this morning, Pirelli MT60's 120x18 on the back 100x19 on front



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18" for the back

Just finished this un 18" borrani bsa crinkle hub, spaced over 1/2" to suit back of the sport scout, rim straightened and repaired by Richi at Fossfab


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Whatever happened to Junior???

Back at the tail end of last summer, I had started to mock up a "left overs" Scout using my spare 741 motor in a Junior Scout frame with BSA A/B series forks and wheels and an early pre unit Triumph 4 speed transmission. 

As the Sport Scout progressed and the Chout gathering continued I realised that I needed to sell some more parts to get what I needed for the two main projects. A 4 way deal was struck with Grizzy, Shaun, Moen and myself which ended up with me getting a complete Hecker 101 front end for the Chout. Grizzy got two frames, a '24 Raleigh frame for his "Blunderbuss" project (more later),and a swing arm Indian Fire Arrow frame (re badged RE Clipper).Shaun got the Junior frame for his "Cochise" project, along with a selection of BSA wheels and other odds n sods.

Grizzy and Neil drove up from the south back in May and filled "dirty Sharon" (the old veedub) with frames and wheels and headed back down the hillbilly highway...... Grizzy takes up the tale 

"Hi ya Steve ,

your southern correspondent reporting .

I thought you might be interested in the progress of the  valuble ( and rare ) vintage motorcycle parts ( old-crap ! ) I relived you of last May after my fleating visit from the Londons patio  (  Kent ) .

First from the " Highland Hoard  " , the Sir Walter frame ! meet   " Blunderbuss " , as you will appreciate it is  very much in the " Blue Peter " stage ( sticki back plaza an all ! ) but  it looks and will be a  feasible proposition . I shortened the sadle tube by 2.1/2 " and re - brazed the engine lug back on , I lengthened ( slug's ) the rear frame down tubes 2" as well . its exactly what I wanted and  the round tank Bezza fork crown is just purfic 'as well . lots of Re - tubing , and stuff to make but yes mate , should make an old 16H  a whole bag of fun . 

Then all Blunderbuss play stoped as Shaun of the panthers  was booked in to see if all this Junior Scout  stuff was going to be any good for his 741 engine and box . 

Well , some and some is the answer to that , the front frame is as near a 741 as you could wish for and the heads up from yourself that Bezza forkes ( A's n B's )  were a close enough fit and have an uncanny look a like and resemblance to the 50's Indian Warrior and Arrow it makes no difference ! 

I found the easy-est way to fit the fork is turn up bearing cups to fit the Indian frame and the Bezza bearings , as you can see in this first shot the forks are a little " Chopper "ish and need to sit about 2.1/2 " lower , all good so far.

However , the rear frame whatever way you try , will not accept a Scout gearbox , the only way is as you found , use of a brit box would be the only way. SO ! out with Mr Angrygrinder ( 9" ) and cut the hell out of Amerrycan heratage !  ( sorry chaps , friendly fire ! ) . I found some useable sidecar lugs from the " hord " to which I turned down to accept some 1" tube , the lugs were hot rivetted to the rear wheel lugs , the tubes were bent to fit , then the whole lot brazed togeather , the width of the top rails have been made

2" wider . the bottom brace is 1.1/8th tube Its much the same as a stock 741 in style but slightly close-couple it has to compromise the length of the forks .

With the rear like it is putting 741 gas tanks would have made it look even shorter! What was needed is a pair of Junior gas tanks, ( no chance ) so I as I have used a ES2 tank in the past ( Geronimo ) and it don't look too out of place , thats what I tryed on this we beastie, 9" Mr Angry and the tank is now "2 narrower , yes that is gas welded , I also took an inch and a half off the bottom as well . 

Well this is as far as we got and I dont think this 741 stroker would look out of place in a flat-track class " C " race !

the exhaust took a bit of buggering about , front pipe made an inch longer and set upwords to match the rear .

as the ES2 tank , now mutch modified is just gas , I had to make an oil tank much on the line of the Daytona 648 tank .

GT 750 rear wheel with the cush narrowed , YDS Yamaha front onto the Beeza fork with some spindle spacers and buggerin , seat earholes , on the rear frame, gear shifter , yes not a bad stab at it and still a lot to do like foot pegs , controls, kick stand , but I'v handed all over to Shaun , he's got a lot of nutting and bolting before 2nd fix .

Ok mate I'll keep you updated as and when ,

I'm back on DiXiE now making SOME progress so

Be Lucky

Later Grizzy . 

I compressed the forks to about where I think they

should be !

p s - Hangonamo is Geronimo's patient brother !"


Shaun will take up the story on his "In The Shed Speedshop" blog

More Breathing

This is what i plan to do to keep the oil in my motor!
Breather tower will be a vacuum with the krankvent on the 1/2" breather pipe venting to rear of bike


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Stroker Breathing advice from Performance Indian

"Hi Steve, Jim Mosher here.

I too have had a ton of breather trouble from

my 57" Scout. My friend Matt Blake also had alot of oil loss issues. Once, I

had oil coming out my distributor hole where my magneto is installed. In

general a good breather system requires a quick acting check valve like the

"Krank-Vents" that I sell. The next thing is that the Krank-Vent has to be

mounted above the connection to the motor, and not running down hill. The

motor needs a generous hole for the air to escape. I am using the normal

Scout breather hole at the rear/top of the pump with a 3/8" 45 degree hose

fitting going upward about 7"-8" into the Krank-Vent. Lately, I have been

tapping a 1/4" pipe thread hole for a fitting on the flat surface of the

right case just behind the distributor mount for more air to escape from the

cam chest. I will tie the (2) fittings together into a "Y" fitting made of

thin walled 1/2" tubing that will connect to the 1/2" inlet of the larger

Krank-Vent. Then run a 1/2" hose back to the rear of the bike. I like

everything going uphill with large tubing to slow the air speed, reduce

drag, and to work against gravity. Some oil will collect in the tube, and

then run downhill back to the cam chest. On my Twin 57" Scout Bonneville

racer, I took it one more step. I found that oil can get into the oil pump

cavities, and not drain off well, so I found a spot on the cam cover where I

drilled a 1/4" hole to let oil get back to the cam chest. I will try to find

a pic of this hole for you. Please note the picture shows how to modify a

cam cover so you can use an aluminum pump like a 648!

   One of the things that make me wonder alot is the fact that crank-case

pressure can work for you as well as work against you. The pressure is handy

for forcing oil mist into small places like into the cam chest (that's why

it is a good idea to drill a series of 1/8" holes in the cam chest of the

right case just under the intersection of the lifter arched pad, and the

push rods for better oiling like they did on Chiefs in '52-'53). The

pressure will also force oil through a small hole into the pump to oil the

rear cam gear that drives the distributor. It also pushes oil up the push

rod guides, and the valve guides. Please note that it is a good thing to get

this oil into the intake guide, but not beyond the valve guide into the

combustion chamber, and that is why I am a firm believer in intake valve

guide seals! The pressure can also aid in forcing oil into the drive side

bearings. Indian installed the baffles in the cases, so that this pressure

would be somewhat blocked preventing too much oil from getting on the

cylinder walls. Today with better honing, and rings, we no longer need these

baffles. On the other hand, it is better to get the crank-case into a vacuum

state by using a quick acting check valve to let air out, but not back in.

This allows the pistons to come down without having to pump air out of the

motor. And when the check valve closes, the motor will not have to pull air

back into the motor. This process actually causes the rings to seal better,

hence increasing manifold vacuum, and saving the horsepower needed to move

air both in, and out of the cases. I have been running Krank-Vents for years

on HOT bikes without any oiling issues, so I guess they get enough oil

everywhere they need it. Maybe todays oil is better as well.

   Back to the oil spewing of a 57"er. You want alot of breather outlet area

in places where there is not alot of churning oil mist, and as of yet, I

haven't come up with the perfect solution. I will though, because I have to

make my Twin-Scout perform without loosing oil. My 57"er has Duff's original

prototype vent on the left case timing hole, and it picks up some oil mist

from the spinning flywheels. I don't recommend this hole for venting. I like

the cam chest area the most for venting, because it is less turbulent. There

needs to be more holes between the cam area, and the flywheel area, so the

air can freely pass through (look at a Norton cam chest!). There may need to

be some small sheet metal baffles inside the cam chest near the outlet holes

to discourage oil splash from exiting. I will be working on this in the

future, and I'd like to see you post this E-mail, so others will also "get

on board" to find a good 57" breathing solution.

   As for the Twin-Scout, it won't run at Bonneville untill next year,

because I am feverishly working on (2) Bonneville bikes for this year's

Speed-Week at Bonneville. One is a Norton that we ran last year that

actually beat the worlds record by .002 MPH, but they didn't give us the

record, because it was too close. (The Bastards)! The other is a HOT 45"

Scout that already holds the record. Two years ago, he set the record, and

last year he added my cams, and lifters, which made the bike go 30 MPH

faster! This year with a completely new motor, he should go faster yet. I

just got my sheet metal finished for the Twin-Scout, and soon it will get

fully disassembled, painted, and put back together. I am getting it titled,

and liscenced, so I can develope it on the back roads of New Mexico before

running it on the salt. Here's a pic of it with the sheet metal models in

place.

   I hope all this helps. See Ya; Jim Mosher"

Deep breathing

After the run to the BRC show last week I noticed that the oil level was down in the tank, there was a lot of oil coming out of the crank breather and onto the rear of rhe bike . This morning i fitted a second 3/8th bore breather from the rear of the oil pump ( which vents the crankcases through the timing chest) i also fitted a coffee can catch tank and fed all three breathers into it. A 5 mile run later and all seems to be workong, no loss of oil and no smoke, hope to get a longer run tomorrow.

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Skinny front

Built it up during the week, fitted an old Firestone ribbed tyre  from the stash and swapped it onto the Scout this morning

Fat front

Finished building the 19" front wheel yesterday ready to fit tomorrow morning. Today i set the fat 16" wheel up on the trueing stand and centred the hub, had to move the rim over 3mm then trued it to a 10 thou side throw. The old Borrani has been through the wars a bit with a couple of flat spots and some kerbing damage but it runs true now!



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Evening test run

Torqued down the heads, reset the mag and went out for a 10 mile run






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Wakey Wakey

Up early this morning, fitted my number plate and tax disc, adjusted the chain, topped up the fuel and checked the oil.
Choke on, started first kick...... just realised how loud it is 8-D


15 miles of backlane riding and home, a few adjustments to make but running well and pulling strong




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All legal........... ish!

Apparently, the man withe the clipboard reckons its an electric flathead !!!

Progressive

Picked up a pair of unused progressive springs on ebay for the Triumph forks on the Scout, should help the ride :o)


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Got my MOT today

All my paperwork in hand, insurance, fresh MOT cert, dating letter from the Indian club, V(whatever) form all filled out and signed and dated, I loaded the Scout back into the trailer and headed round to the LVLO in Inverness. First one there ready for opening at 9am I took my ticket and got called before the stoney faced government official. i presented my paperwork and told her that the bike was outside in the trailer ready for inspection. Her response floored me...... due to changes in policy and budget constraints, the Inverness office no longer has the facility to carry out registration inspections!!!
I would have to leave my paperwork, pay a £55 fee and wait to be contacted before making an appointment when an inspector was available to check the bike over, this may take one month or more depending on the availability of inspectors!
Why does our government insist on making life so fucking complicated???
Useless, timewasting anally retentive twats!

Another day in the office

Stripped the tanks off again and sorted a couple of small leaks with some ptfe tape. Changed the front wheel to a 19"er to see how it afffects the handling..... massive improvement! acouple of 2 to 3 mile road tests, reset the tickover, and checked the crank breather is working ok - all good 8-)

Suicide is painless

Decided to fit a spring, found a proper sized one at the farm, works a treat 8-)


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A few jobs done over the weekend

Plumbed the oil lines to suit the Junior Scout tanks, swapped the front end round to get the brake on the LHS now the rear is on the RHS and made up some temporary lock stops

First few road miles today

Private road, honest guv!

Sorted some oiling issues, fitted a rear brake arm return spring, painted the mudguard (then rubbed it down with an oily rag - see oiling issues!!) All in a great morning out in the sunshine fettlin and riding 8)

Back from Foss Fab

Big thanks to Richi Foss for all his help, the work he has done to the bike has really lifted it to a level I couldnt have ever achieved.
A change of tanks back to the Junior Scout ones I started with yesterday due to finding a crack in the green 741 tanks, hope to get them repaired and back on there with some fresh paint.

Ready to have a roadtest

Still a lot of small jobs to do but all the essentials just where they should be, hope to get it ready for MOT next week