During my life I have never given personal names to my cars or my extensive collection of motorcycles, generally referring to them by their manufacturer's name (the SAAB, the Enfield). However, this current small Honda bike, which could well be the last I own, just seems to be crying out to be christened "Elsie" (see number plate)
November sees me tucking up my motorcycles for bed until early March, when the frosts and snow have disappeared, also the salt strewn roads - anathema to chrome and general finish. (I continue to ride during this period, but in the comparative warmth of my plastic bodied (thus corrosion free) scooter.
So this down time can be used for service and maintenance. Elsie is in very good condition, but her tyres needed refreshing and with a motorcycle this means removing the wheels. I used to change my own tyres, but prefer, these days, to take the wheels to a local tyre factor. Whilst the wheels were out it was a good opportunity to inspect the chain and rear and front sprockets for wear. Elsie has trotted along now for 20,000 miles (made in 1992) and she wears her original set. They seemed in good nick, but I had bought in replacements in case, so it was a chance to put the drive into original condition.
Next job was to fit a top box. Since 1974 I had used such, attaching it to each new bike, but when I sold my last Royal Enfield it went with it. The Craven company has been revived and a replica is now available. Standard boxes come in black or white but for an extra thirty quid they will attempt to match your bike if you send them a paint sample. A girl likes to be colour co-ordinated so this I did for Elsie.
The difficulty was that she is becoming a "classic", in very original condition and only has a vestigal rear rack, which I wanted to preserve, so thought was needed.
Luckily I had in the odds and ends box a larger rear rack without any fittings, but how to fit this using Elsie's existing rack was an interesting problem. First I needed to locate it so that measurements could be taken. So a hole was drilled through it and the existing rack and a bolt put through
Having worked out measurements I then constructed the brackets
Since I wanted to interfere a little as possible with the original rack these were located by a "sandwich" method using large robust washers and bolts
Finally I augmented the small locating bolt I had first fitted with a couple of stainless steel hose clips tightened well down.
Job done!
Fiddling around with motorcycles is almost as much fun as riding them!
8 comments:
I sometimes still hanker after a classic. My first was a 1938 Tiger 80, the next a 1950s T 110, and then a 1950s Velocette Venom. I would like a BSA Bantam now. Lots of blue smoke and no power - or rather just enough.
VR and I also play a variant of your registration plate game - the player who adds the fewest letters to a sequence (to create a legitimate word) wins. On the other hand there are good marks for show-off words. My immediate reaction to Elsie's plate was (you'd expect no less from me) a show-off word:
lycanthropy
I'm sure you yourself don't need a definition but those less endowed might have to be helped. Any fule knows that this is: The mythical transformation of a person into a wolf. Or, archaically, A form of madness involving the delusion of being an animal, usually a wolf, with correspondingly altered behaviour. I trust this has no effect on the Avus/bike relationship.
Ironically I am not able to play this game with the intractable letters on my own plate. When I bought the car two years ago I was given the choice of about ten number plate sequences and immediately chose one that ended in LBJ. "I'll never forget that," I told myself and, by and large, that has been the case. But what it has also shown is I am predominantly resident in history. A majority of people I've met over the last two years have only a dim view of what the sequel was to events in Dallas in November 1963.
Tyres. Astonishing that Elsie's have lasted 26 years. True she's only averaged 769 miles a year but I'd have expected some form of molecular change or whatnot. But then I owned four bikes and I never changed a tyre on any of them. This happy state of affairs re. tyres came to an abrupt halt about 15 years ago when I allowed my heart to rule my head and bought the car I really wanted (within limits) at the time - a Lexus IS200. It came with Bridgestone Potenza tyres and at the time Michael Schumacher's F1 Ferrari was similarly shod. Within 12,000 miles these sexy, low-profile gumballs were shot. "You're lucky," said the man at the tyre-shop, "they usually only last 10,000 miles." And the cost of replacement was... hmmm. Things have improved since then and the tyres on my less sporty Skoda Octavia have lasted 20,000 miles and still have some life left.
You are the first person I know who has willingly removed tyres from the wheels of a powered vehicle. So here's an aphorism: There is enthusiasm and then there's something infinitely darker, beyond enthusiasm.
I never knew that thing was called a top box.
Tom:
Your choice of bikes was excellent, they were each good, snappy machines in their day. As to BSA Bantams, one was my first bike (as it must have been for many learners in the 1950's). You can see it here:
https://little-corner-of-the-earth.blogspot.com/2016/05/a-motorcycling-life.html
RR:
My"wolflike" relationship with a bike scarcely applies these days, especially with a small, 26 year old Honda 250 like Elsie (even that name gives the gist these days). It might well have applied in my younger, haler days though when I was riding my beloved BMW, fairly described here: https://little-corner-of-the-earth.blogspot.com/2006/10/wiltshire-ride.html
Elsie's front tyre was indeed original according to the date marking on it (and showed the wall cracking to prove it), but the rear was younger, although it had a nasty cut/crack in the wall where a previous owner must have ridden it over a kerb when under inflated. When buying an older bike it is always a good idea to check tyre condition. I once bought a 15 year old trail bike. The tyres (heavily treaded for mud work) looked fine. But I took them off to change them. As I used the levers on the back one it fell apart and I could pull it off the wheel by hand. I have always made sure of bike tyres ever since.
I always eschewed low profile tyres/wheels on my SAABs. One bought second hand, came with such and the first thing I did was have the wheels/tyres changed from 19" to 17". The ride was transformed.
I will not elaborate on my darker enthusiasms!
Elsie is looking good, concourse condition. I used Craven top boxes on my motorbikes, not only were they handy for carrying stuff and helmets etc, but they provided a back rest for the kids when I had them on the pillion. Over the years my bikes have been, Lambretta 125, BSA C15, Kawasaki Z250 single, Honda CX500. Kawasaki Z400, Honda CX 500 Custom and an MZ150. The best overall was the Kawasaki 250, so reliable, economical and comfortable. I admire you for still riding as I gave up about 15 years ago. I see motorcyclists on the motorway and I honestly dont think I would have the "bottle" to ride on the motorways today.
Low-profile tyres. Expensive, yes. Of short duration, yes. Vulnerable, yes. But oh the cornering ability; as if on rails. But then, as I say, the Lexus was an indulgence and I went on to buy two more. That's consecutively not simultaneously.
Dave:
Yes, Elsie is in particularly good, original condition, which is why I wanted to fit the top box with as little interference as possible to her. As it is, the only change, if I took the box and new carrier off, would be the one small bolt hole on the original carrier bar where I fixed it for initial measurements.
I have owned 55 bikes over my motorcycling life (since 1957), so will not enumerate them, but looking at yours I did coincide once with an MZ 150 as a small runabout. I like the Craven boxes as they are not so "boxy" as many of the offerings and, yes, a good back rest for the kids too! I never use a motorcycle on motorways these days, just for gentle rides around the local countryside. I seldom use the car on them either, since my stroke as everything seems to be too frantic.
As mentioned to Tom, above, some idea about my motorcyling life can be seen at:
https://little-corner-of-the-earth.blogspot.com/2016/05/a-motorcycling-life.html
Elsie looks very nice with her color matched top box. She'll be happy to have new tires. [Auto correct changed the spelling to the USA version when I tried to spell like you.] It'll still be plenty cold in March, but maybe some of your new hi-tech bicycle clothes will help. Santa gave HH a pair of merino wool bicycle socks and he thinks they're just the ticket. He asked for new bicycle saddle bags, but what was on offer at the shops was so far from what he had in mind, he got socks instead. Plus he repaired his old saddle bags. To accommodate for the mild winters here he added windscreens to both his Hondas. Happy New Year, Avus!
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