it runs again! started it up on my old C12 gasoline to work the cobwebs out. tomorrow i'll drain out the 30W break in oil and re-fill with 20W50 racing blend. then ill re-jet the carburetors totally blind for the Q16 fuel ill be running. no idea where ill need to be on the new untested oxygenated fuel. ive got enough carburetor componets to go rich enough, i hope. then theres nothing left to do but very carefully arrange and pack every tool and part i will need far and away in the northeast corner of the united states.
rejetted the keihins for a first approximation, up six or eight sizes on the mains-- way rich, on purpose. the mains are the easiest to jet. start too rich, and just jet down until it isnt too rich anymore. then down two notches on the needle circlip, up one size on the pilots. the mains are critical. the pilot just needs to let the machine idle long enough to warm up and the needles only matter during the first five seconds of the run while you get the machine rolling and pointed in the right direction. then its main jets all the way down. anyway, im in the bottom groove of the seven-groove needles. ordered two sizes richer needles now that i know im at the border with the circlip, but they wont be here in time to use them. same with the pilots-- i asked for three up and three down on th esizes when i ordered the carbs, but when i went and looked yesterday what i actually had was one up and five down. so i put inthe richest pilots i had and we'll hope it runs well enough to idle on the starting lane. if it doesnt work at all i have three cans of C12 waiting for me up there and i can always fall back on that. as an aside, i like these carbs a lot. they look pretty modern, but in fact the design is over 40 years old-- almost as old as the amal mk2s. there's an accellerator pump, for one thing, which makes off-idle response very sharp and clean. the circuits are about the same as a mikuni or an amal, but there are a few different degrees of overlap here and there. the problem with them mostly is that they're huge, and you have to get creative with the angle of the throttle cables to stay away from the petcocks. air filters are tough as well-- th eair horn is held on with bolts, so you can't fit normal pod or pancake filters. on a triumph the angle of the carbs means that you cant do a simple airbox either. but these are just nits. i have these set up pretty clean for C12, and i'll have a whole day to play with jetting after i go through safety. so we'll see how it goes, when it goes.
bikes are ready just packing spares and tools. the NGK B9ES plugs ive used for the triumph have been discontinued. cant use the BR9ES because the ignition is magneto. so i have two boxes of champion N3C, the last of the B9ES, and two boxes of B10ES. i gave up on champion plugs many years ago because they would foul on me, and switched to NGK B8ES which worked great. but theyve been discontinued too, so its back to champion for the main plugs, and then NGKC7HSA for the two center plugs. a bit hot, but they seem to work okay so far. dont need anything else except the eclectic selection of tools, oils, jets, rags, buckets, gauges, exhaust extensions, carb extensions, extra chains, master links, extra gearbox and rear sprockets in different sizes, tent, chairs, tables, stands, starter and battery, tricycle to carry it, coolers, pull wagons, helmets, boots, gloves, tie downs, strobe light, gunson colortune, unisyn, otoscope, fire extingusiher. where is the fire extinguisher? i have to remember to take the shop manual for the ninja. after all these years, i dont need any manuals for a triumph-- its all in my head now. but the ninja is pretty complicated to do simple things on. i have to remember the leathers. the first time i did this i drove two miles down the road before i remembered id left my leathers hanging up in the shop. hop[e im not too fat to get into them.
truck and trailer is loaded. if i dont have it on, then it likely wont be there when i need it. i spnd a lot of money up in maine on emergency stuff. because i run a triumph, i can buy anything i want form british cycle supply, right there on the property, at the air base. need a frame? they have em. a complete set of NOS cases? on the counter. this is a lousy place to race a honda, but the best placeinthe world to run a triumph, norton, or BSA.
We have our own speed record holder here in the UK who uses a production Bonnie. Having spoken to him at some length recently I understand the two of you have already been in touch. http://www.inventivestudios.co.uk/
damn it takes so long to log in here that i keep giving up we're back. the oxygenateed fuel did not do what i was hoping, but i learned some things first thing we did was go pick up the fuel. once we arrived in main (700 miles or so) it was 350 more to the race course itself. and then about 80 to the fuel pick up on the border. then back to the airbase to set up the pits we were next to a friend of mine with a beautifu l 1971 BSA that he has a 759 kit on unless its an A70. im not sure beautiful machine. he couldnot get over 124 mph with it until he changed the gearing, then he pulled a 132. very impressive speed for a BSA, giving him th ecourse record for the class we had the lovely and long-suffering wife, and two sones. th eone on the starter tricycle had never raced before, but did fine he was sharng his brothers leathers and his sisters helmet, and didi well with them the little kawasai will run on 87,but we used up a can of 112 octane C12 on it anway to keep thing sconsistent the boys ran againand again. th efirst day there was a 13mph headwind but they still managed around 97 mph
i spent the first day trying to get the bike to show rich on the new Q16 fuel. i used up every jet i had, and the bike was still not rich the biggest main jets i had were 195s, up from the 150s that i ran with the C12. i finally borrowed some drill bits and bored out some small jets to 206 and another pair to 223. that finally did it. the 206 was rich, and the 223 wold barely run. neither would accellerate up past the needle. so i dropped the needle a notch (the keihins have seven slots for this), put the 195s back in and ran with them. till not fast. the 195s would pull 120-121, while the 206 was good only fr 114-115. so i left them there andadvanced the timing from 30 to 33, and the bike slowed to 114 again. then i retarded to 28, and went back up to 120. but there was no increased top end, which i had wanted from the fuel, and th ebike could not pull the 20/43 gearing to 138. previously with 21/46, it had happily run 134-135. but while there might have been some added bottom and midrange from the Q16, there was nothing added on top. i didn't know whether th epilot jets and idle would be okay with the new fuel, but it started and ran just fine just no faster on the racecourse
and we werent the only ones there but heres one of the boys the next day was better, with little wind, and the both broke the ton with 103s and a 106
i have a go pro of the number two son running 103, looking through the windshiled, but i have to cut about five minutes off. as soon as i figure out how to do that ill post it.
four of the five kids now have run at the airbase. the only one who hasnt is the oldest, who is too responsible and has competing interests he forgot his sabatons here and had to borrow my bright red tennis shoes
yes serious 14th century plate and gambuson. he spends money on this like i do on my race bike. the modern armour is heavier than the stuff from back then. his is mostly made in the ukraine, and supplies have been interrupted. he uses sword/shield here and also competes with an axe. just got this picture from some renaissance fair/competition in detroit hes on the left. no idea why hes posing in front of the belly dancers. he wont answer me.