audiomick

Look for the brand "Leinbrock". I hadn't done any research, but a quick look just now reveals that it is (was) a German manufacturer in eastern Germany, which means it was in the DDR after WW II. The one in the photo further up is a Leinbrock that my girlfriend brought into the relationship. She had actually only bought it as a decoration object. I decided it needed to be used, and screwed it onto the wall the first time nearly 25 years ago. I suspect that all the neighbours in the building can hear when we grind the coffee, but I don't care. The grinder is great. On a whim, I went looking for grinders at a very big flea market here in Leipzig. The idea was to have more than one grinder at home, in order to be able to grind my own blends. That hasn't really panned out yet, but the very nice "table-top" grinder that I found at the time is the same brand. Shortly after I bought it, I found a stand on the flea market with a whole table full of grinders. They were all, or at least nearly all, "Leinbrock". I have the impression that this brand was a market leader in times when hand grinders were the normal thing.

Incidentally, they got the quote wrong in the Video. It should be "better, stronger, faster"... My goodness, that is 50 years old.

@Lucky Phil I really hope the machine delivers all it promises. I've gone down a different path. Coffee is a luxury that gets shipped halfway around the world before I get to see it. I want it to be a ritual. This is what I have at home. I know how many times I have to turn the handle on the grinder for each Bialletti pot, so the beans are ground fresh every time. A Bialleti pot for every occasion, a metal pot to warm the milk for my flat white. Amazing how in-depth one can get with even the simplest of equipment.

True. I managed to watch 52 seconds of that video, and that was an effort. Wont be watching the rest...

So that would be the Philosopher's Stone then, right?

I've got a Breva 750 i.e. that pretty much fills the bill on that. It had less than 10,000 km on it when I got it for a good price. The catch is the "20 year old bike" bit. It had run a documented 800 km in the ten years before I bought it, and has the whole "change all the rubber bits" thing. So if "cheap and cheerful" is what you are after, go for the V9, if that's your thing, or one of the new V7 range, i.e. not twenty years old. If you want "interesting" as well, go for the V11 and put in the effort to get it good. It is worth it. I haven't got mine good yet, and I still love it. The Breva 750 is all good, is fun indeed, and runs beautifully, but it isn't really "interesting".

And in the crank-case breather system. There are rubber hoses involved that don't stand the test of time all that well.

Speaking of old farts.... I had a job in 2004 in Bremen. I was responsible for monitors (stage sound) for the guest artist, so when the "studio band" was playing, I spent a lot of time on stage in the rehearsals facilitating the communcation for my colleague who was doing their monitor sound. There was a bass player who appeared with the studio band, singing one of his most famous songs. A fairly unpleasant person, I found, as it happens, but that is also a fairly well known thing so I don't fell all that bad about writing that here. Anyway.... Time came to rehearse the song. The man in question came on stage with his quirky Gibson bass, and wanted to plug in to the amp that had been provided. Problem: no cable. After a few minutes of confusion, someone produced a collection of adapters, saying "this will work, wont it?". NO, says I, and went and nicked a cable off a prepared riser that was behind the stage. I then watched the approximately 70-year-old man fiddling with his bass amp, forgot who it was and only saw the old man, and asked "do you really want to do that?" (what he was doing on the amp didn't make sense to me...). He nearly exloded, and explained in no uncertain terms that he was involved in the developement of those amps, and knew very well what he was doing thank you very much (and was later proved by the sound that came out absolutely in the right...). In the course of the rebuke, I rememberd who I was talking to, and was able to back down more or less elegantly. This is the song that was played, featuring the slightly unpleasant 70-year-old man on bass, a clip from the TV show where this all happened: More name-dropping on the theme of "old farts": the bloke with the acoustic guitar is Greg Lake. The bloke with the black beanie is Chris Thompson. The bloke with the long coat on keyboards is Manfred Mann. The bloke playing flute is Ian Anderson. The dark-skinned bloke in the back-ground who is also playing bass is also up there, but unfortunately I can't remember his name. EDIT: Victor Bailey, the other bass player. Needless to say, I really enjoyed that job.

There is really something special about an old fart who has been playing his instrument for 50 years, isn't there.

Whilst I truly fully understand having and liking such a precision instrument, I really couldn't be buggered farting around that much with the valve clearance on a push-rod motor. Having said that, I respect the attention to detail compeletely. It's just me trying to curb my compulsive perfectionismus a bit. If I didn't, setting the valve clearances could cost me a week of solid work. What, already?

@Pressureangle If you can see a pun hiding in there, I have an inkling that a conversation with you might be really good fun.

Yes, but don't forget that wear can dish the gap between valve and follower and falsify the reading! (comma, period...) I've read lots of posts in various forums about valve clearance. The above, about taking care that you get a good measurement, about the benefits of leaving the clearance at the long end of the tolerance, whatever. We're talking about highly-tuned tractor motors here. And a standard set of feeler gauges goes in 0.05 mm steps (0,05 in Europe... ). I've come to the conclusion that it is sufficient if the target-clearance gauge goes through, and the next larger one doesn't.

There is a saying in Germany, with a ring of truth to it, that translates as "nothing lasts longer than a stop-gap solution"... Seriously though, well done. A very neat solution. Just keep an eye on the brass bit. If I recall correctly, the equivalent original part is steel. Maybe the brass can take it, but I'd be watching it to make sure.

Correct, but... Somewhere, maybe here, I read about how someone had observed how much time it took to get the motor cold enough to be qualified as "stone cold" related specifically to valve clearance. He established, if I recall correctly, that most of the change happened in the first 45 minutes after turning off the motor. From then on until a day later, the difference was negligible. So that might be an issue, but seems unlikely to me.

Interesting, to a point. Thanks for the link @p6x Very telling what happens at about 17:18. Overtaken by a push-bike.

Ok, so we can assume that it is not just the battery. How long since you rode it last? Long enough to get corrosion on connectors? Where was it whilst it was standing around? Protected or exposed?

It would help to supply a bit of background. For instance, how long since you rode it, and how many Volts is the battery currently showing? Second to that, what happens to the voltage when you hit the starter button? The point is, try and find out if the battery is still good or not. First stop on the discovery tour of "what is wrong with the electrics on my bike?". Another one: does it start if you jump start it from a running vehicle? As I wrote, it is about trying to find out if the battery is still good or not. Everything else comes after that.

Welcome to the forum.

I've been planning for months (years?) to get a custom made pair of these. https://www.daytona.de/de/Stiefel/Uebersicht/Uebersicht-Auswahl/Classic-Oldtimer In September I actually saw someone wearing them, and was able to get confirmation that they are, at least for him, a very good boot. Custom because I need it. I don't really bother going to normal shoe shops here anymore, because they never have anything that fits. Depending on the brand, I need a 39 or 40. At least half of the shops here don't stock anything smaller than a 40, some of them not smaller than 41. My feet are very short. To make it complicated, they are also very wide for the length, with very high arches. So even if the shop has a shoe the right length, it will most likely be too narrow. The last time I tried to try on motorcycle boots in a shop here in Germany, I couldn't get in to a single one that was even approximately the right size. What I am using for riding at the moment is mostly lucky finds of ex-army boots that I found at flea-markets. The accessory shop here in Leipzig that I prefer to go to has Daytona. I really must find out if they can take fittings for custom boots. Given the difficulty of finding something that fits, I don't really give a toss what they cost. What I have read in the German forums, however, gives the impression that the boots last very, very well, and the manufacturer will repair them as needed.

You might be right there. It is a long time ago now, but for a year or so I drove regularly in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, and a couple of times in Perth. Thinking about it, I remember having the impression that the drivers in Melbourne were the least likely to give you some slack.

The only way to find out is to test ride one.

Did you get the T-shirt? Only if it is a cheap Prosecco, please. Good bubbly doesn't deserve to be desecrated.