mike wilson

Not criticism, merely pointing out that there could be a better option. Why is it, then, that the countries with high levels of gun ownership have higher levels of gun related fatalities amonst their populations? Excuse me while I hide in my bunker from the inevitable avalanche of references proving me wrong. See you Monday. m

Having guns in the home _because you feel you need them for protection_ is not my idea of a free society. The price of that seems to be eternal violence.

I was being unkind. The Velocette clutch is actually very simple but unique. The Guzzi clutch is similarly unique (I think...) and simple. It's the fact that there is nothing (even remotely, in the case of the Velo) like it that gives it the impression of being problematic. In fact, the Guzzi clutch may be worse than the Velo as people assume that it is the same as some similar looking clutches, then get caught out because it works differently. I think I've convinced myself that you were right in the first place....... 8-)))))

But that is nothing short of interesting. Everyone is different and it is good to know and try to understand those differences. I don't regret you posting but I do regret that you live in a society where you feel you must be armed in your own home to feel safe. I have _never in my life_ felt the need to be armed - and I've lived and worked in some of the most unpleasant parts of this country. Can you imagine that? I can't imagine your need, so I imagine we are equal. 8-) For me, guns in the home seem to me to be similar to life saving techniques. Purely because of statistics, the people you are most likely to use them on are your nearest and dearest. No matter what other delights it had to offer, a society that required me to own a gun for self defence is not one I would willingly participate in. mike

Never owned a Velocette, have you..............?

Apart from the name on the tank, which MotoGP team _has_ a relationship to roadgoing machines?

Cute commuter as long as you don't have any traffic-light GPs or dual carriageway to deal with. Not 45BHP - that's the 500s and at the crank, too. 35BHP@8100 - you probably weren't revving it enough. Probably about 20+ at the wheel, so about the same as a good MZ. 8-) http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Downs/1...ch/smtwtech.htm

Number one car crime in the UK at the moment? (My wife works in criminal statistics) Breaking in to steal Satnav gear. Try to get a mount that is unobtrusive as possible. Unbelievably, many people leave the unit in place on the dash or put it in the glove box, leaving a whacking big mount to advertise the possibility of its presence. mike

A little ducting to guide air over the middle cylinder would deal with that problem. There is a whacking big hole between the forks that, if kept free of stuff like horns and plastic doodads, will let plenty of air in. I agree it might get a bit fraught in stop/go traffic. The alternator is there in the G and B - they get quite hot under load. My father had quite a few replacements in his car until they (I think actually _he_) realised that the (main dealer.....) mechanics were putting the cooling fan on back to front. Certainly, it would have a most interesting exhaust note. Unless it sounds like a Rocket III. m

Why would you need to dismantle the big ends?

The Griso frame was built for that V3. What a stupendous machine that would be.

Especially if it gets delivered in Crossley vans.

My brain was fried by the 36degrees in this room, guvnor. But, even better, that means that 150ccs is needed to keep the bigend happy for the duration of oil starvation. Assuming that 0.5cc/revolution is a viable figure. I suspect it is rather low. mike

I agree with your first conclusion to some extent but not your second. As you say "So all the pump has to do is to make sure that there's always enough oil at all the important places for getting sucked away." In a low gear at high revs, which is the situation we are talking about, oil requirement is as high as it gets. If you have no effective oil pressure, you are going to run out of hydrodynamic wedge very rapidly. There is, as far as I can see, no reservoir of oil for the big end bearings to aid the situation apart from what is in the crank galleries. At 6000rpm, 3 seconds is approx 100 revolutions. If you assume 0.5cc per revolution for the big end, it needs 50cc to be available for that time. Bet there's not that much in the crank gallery.... Some people have discovered how little lack of lubrication plain beariings will tolerate. mike

Indeed it is. Blow-by _always_ happens past rings, normally through the gap at the end and especially during startup before the engine thoroughly warms. That's one of the reasons for warmiing an engine before using more of its performance. If the engine is in good condition, this blow-by is minimal and is compensated for by the breather system. As the engine wears (and maybe due to other factors, like oil levels.....) the pressure generated in the crankcase is more than the breather system was designed for and oil appears in places it was never intended. mike

That is _precisely_ what they hate about it.

OK, somewhere here is an image gratefully borrowed from the Morini NL club site. If you look at the crank, it's turning anticlockwise and throwing oil off as it goes. The right hand cylinder collects a lot of that oil, the left hand cylinder less. In both cases, the thrust face of the cylinder, which is the face to the right, will not be getting any direct fling. The left hand cylinder less then the right. It is these issues that oil jets in connecting rods are designed to address. Of course, their mere existance briings up a whole host of other issues, such as where to place them for best effect and how to design them in with as little reduction in load capacity of the rod (due to the hole) and the bearing (due to oil pressure bleed off) as well as many other factors. I love engine design - everything is a compromise. Nothing is absolute. 8-)

Looks like you might have a broken crank. Especially if the clutch has been so "wobbly" as for only three bolt heads to be touching. If you're lucky, it's not that. Slightly less lucky and it's broken at the journal, so only the crank needs replacing. Very unlucky means that it's broken at a web and puched the back wall of the case out. Fingers crossed. m

Dry sump engines?

Paradoxically, older engine designs often need better fuels than newer ones, for the simple reason that the older ones were designed when there were "better" fuels available. 100octane fuel was easily available in the UK until the early 1980s. It had huge amounts of TEL (lead) in it. Just right for your LM I, etc. What I do find with the more exotic blends of fuel is that the insides of the engine are appreciably cleaner than before. After using the "special" Shell fuel available in the mid80s (withdrawn due to problems with Police patrol vehicles, allegedly) I was astonished at how clean my twostroke cylinder head was. Looked just like a four stroke that had been started and run for ten minutes or so. There was a tide mark in the float bowl - below the fuel line looked like as-cast metal. m BTW, anyone tried the BP fuel that's about £2:30/litre? Only available in Essex.....

In a single, twin or multi engine you are probably right, although I think Norton had a pipe attached to the jet hole that led oil directly to the little end. In a V-twin, however, one cylinder is in the "shadow" of the cylinder before it in the cycle of rotation and that cylinder is susceptible to suffer from oil starvation on the face of the cylinder nearest to the cylinder before it. That face is usually the thrust face, too. Oooh, bugger, this is really hard to describe in words. I'll try to find a diagram to post. Racers and suchlike have a whole series of different priorities, the least of which is long service life as it is known on road machines. m

Very clearly demonstrated in total loss systems (both four and two stroke) where the amount of oil used per cycle is miniscule. Many engines would manage with about a pint for 3-4 hundred miles. Once engines began making serious HP and were unable to use the fuel charge for cooling, the present system of using the oil for two purposes came to the fore. I am, however, still unconvinced that a windage plate will prevent the oil slopping enough to allow air to be taken in. It will be an interesting experiment and I'm looking forward to seeing the results. m

Always willing to learn, though.... 8-)))

Massage you on the _where_????

Easy way to tell if springs are progressive or not is to look at the coil. Linear springs will have the same coil (number of turns per unit length) all the way up. Progressive springs will have a coil that changes (progressively....) from one end to the other. The coils will get closer (or further apart...) as you look along the spring. Sometimes it's quite subtle and difficult to spot. Theoretically (I've never seen this in life) it could also be done by changing the thickness of the wire. You can see the effect quite clearly on some older rear shocks, where the springs were dual rate and had a marked change part way along. m