Soviet Steeds

The guy who sold me the crankshaft was surprised by the undersizing, and the best theory he can come up with was that the Loyal Soviet Comrade Worker! had hit the vodka a bit hard that day. I find this theory eminently believable. Comrade probably had quotas to fill. His solution is to send me (free...

OK, so I've gotten my new crank shaft, installed it in, and then noticed while playing with it a HUGE amount of slop between the big ends and crank pins. So pulled it all out again (swearing), and measured things up (wouldn't it have been wonderful to have done that BEFORE putting it in in the first...

OK, so I've removed the engine. It turns out that the engine is light enough for one moderately fit and strong adult to carry any reasonable distance (with oil drained and gearbox already removed. No promises otherwise). My method, for those wanting to know, was to support the weight of the engine w...

You may have broken the crank but it could also be that the flywheel retaining bolt loosened up, causing the flywheel to come loose from the taper allowing it to wobble. Either way you need to start by removing the transmission and clutch. Happy trails, Jaybird I would have really loved that to be ...

Least, I assume it is. I got as far as removing the gearbox before I lost the light, but the clutch (which is, PS, screwed) is all wibbley-wobbley--the entire, bolted together unit, that is (didn't do the casing to the gearbox much good, either). Got the previous issues sorted, organised to get an e...

They're goggles. I wear goggles now. Goggles are cool.

http://www.price.gmxhome.de/bmw/01110005_vga.jpg http://www.sternmutterersatz.de/bmw/BMW-V2-Exhaust-Port-Clamp-06.jpg They're not ugly, they're... they're...(sniffle)... beautiful. But also bloody expensive in $Aus. I know you lot are saying what I was thinking of would be just as, if not more expe...

I don't know if helicoil do m48 x 2mm exterior thread repair It's M48 x 2mm threaded pipe, one-piece head cylinder casting https://i.imgur.com/r113MtL.jpg You stick the exhaust pipe in it, and screw the big nut over the top to tighten it https://i.imgur.com/VDtz0QB.jpg So it ends up looking like thi...

I'm not very optimistic about anyone being able to answer this, but I was wanting a welder to weld flanges onto the (badly rounded off) exhaust ports of the cylinder head (so I can use proper steel bolts instead of aluminium thread, and what moron ever thought aluminium thread was a good idea?), and...

< ...grumble... > Yeah, you're right. Aluminium's soft. It wouldn't last long, and then I'd have to pull the whole damn thing apart again. I'll take it around the welder's tomorrow, tell him I'm looking for a fit that needs to be tapped on with a hammer. I'll also get him to do the same with that be...

Which is tighter than what I've got. Maybe if I wrap a strip of aluminium foil around it, to bulk it out a little...

What benefit do you feel the ball bearings give over tapered rollers with the sidecar? Because the only difference mentioned online is that ball bearings have less resistance and are therefore better at high rpm, while rollers have a bigger footprint and so are better dealing with more weight. Since...

Good question. I bought them from sidecar pro a couple of years ago, so I can't remember any details, but looking at his site, and the numbers on the bearings, it's these: http://sidecarpro.com/BFA-tapered-steering-column-bearing.html He told me it would also suit my bike. So the internal diametre o...

This may seem a stupid question, but how tight should the steering bearings on the steering rod and bearing nut (aka "Jesus Nut", for some obscure reason) be? I pulled my headstock apart when I noticed how shaky the front was under braking and tightening the bearing nut wasn't helping (I could tight...

Is there any easy way to check if the crankcase vent is blocked. I'm assuming it's that tube coming off next to the generator. I tried blowing and sucking through it (not while the bike was running, obviously), and there was reasonable resistance, but I could do it, but I don't know it that's a wort...