Saturday 28 June 2008

There's life in the old girl







Hello loyal bretherin, and welcome to a special edition of my blog. Last time we met my friends, i was just about to paint anything that looked like it went on the bike and to a point i have. The front mudguard is painted and bolted on and one of the side panels is painted. The rear footboards have been finished and have been a right pain in the backside. I was at one point going to buy (spit) new ones but all of a sudden the prices have gone up. So i had no choice but to repair the ones i had in the Tightwad bin. These footboards were accident damaged and one of them was virtually bent double, but two days of hammering and welding got them into some sort of original shape.




The side panels are very second hand as well and were fractured due to accidents and the cracks are polluted with oil from the carb. This meant that i could not fill them properly and after painting the cracks came back after a few minutes. Not to worry though, it still looks pretty good.




At this point i would like to explain why i have had such a delay between this and my last entry. It is because i did not want to do another entry until the engine was running. This was proving difficult as i didn't have an exhaust and i still don't. The one in the picture is borrowed to get the bike running and i am on to a half decent pipe on e-bay. (don't bid on it)




So there you have it, By the time i had waited for a decent bit of weather to start the bike i had been tinkering while it rained and before i knew it i had virtually finished it.




Eventually the rain stopped and i took it out into the road. First i checked for sparklers and i seemed to have a couple in there somewhere and then fitted the plug. Turned the fuel on and pulled out the choke. Freed the clutch by rocking it in gear and started to push it as fast as i could. As i reached my top pushing speed i selected second gear and let the clutch out as i jumped onto the seat and my arse cheeks made contact. The engine started to turn over but nothing happened. Try again and this time jump on the thing a bit harder and as the engine started to turn it fired just once. Third time lucky, And it was off up the road with me feeling very proud. I pulled into a neighbours drive (sod 'em) and revved it a bit while i knocked the choke off. The engine is massively over jetted but sounds great.




I ran the bike up and down the street a couple of times to free it up a bit and then put it away. That was enough for one day.




The old girl runs and what next? Well i will be taking it to see the dyno and play with the jetting and see if i have been wasting my time.




Hold onto you hats its......




TightWads Alternative Tuning (about bloody time)




This week we are tuning the bodywork. As you cannot put extra holes in your bodywork to aid cooling, simply fit it all so badly that you have massive gaps everywhere. (easy with a serveta)




Tune in next time when i will be making stainless tat and selling it through a Vietnamese web site to make a killing.

Sunday 8 June 2008

Getting closer




Hello devoted fans, the last entry saw not too much progress and the last couple of weeks have been just as hectic. Another project of mine got in the way and cost me a weeks work (more on that later) and some much needed decorating and maintenance on the Tightwad cave meant that time just flew by. (its not all glamour in the super hero world you know)



But working at the speed of light meant that i did do some work on the bike. When we were last together my deciples, I was in the process of painting some bits. Now this proved to be tricky as i dont have a spray boothe and it has been raining alot of late. But i managed to squirt a bit of paint somewhere near it and considering that i am using spray cans it did'nt come out too bad. I also had a good bit of fortune sourcing some parts from an ex-racer to the tune of two side panels amd a front mudguard. They are not perfect but not in bad condition so i will try and paint them all this week.


The engine of extreme hope is nearly ready to start up providing that i can get an exhaust for it. Now the coffers are running very low at the moment and provided that i can get a pipe for fifty quid we should be ok. (some hope)


The observant among you will have noticed that the bike is sporting a new Mikuni carb that would quite easily put me over budget, but fear not fellow skinflints it is only on loan while i get the bike running and sort out the delorto i have pieced together from bits and bobs. Also i am using a drum front brake as they are cheap and i probably will not be going fast enough to need any stopping power.


As the project is getting dangerously close to competion, i plan to bring it out to a race meeting before long. Mallory park is a bit too near but the following meeting on Anglesey could see the first outing of the Tightwad racer. We will have to see how it goes.


Well stone me, its.......


TightWads Alternative Tuning (TWAT)


This week we are looking at the brakes. Tie one end of a piece of string to the back of the bike, and the other end to a brick. When you need extra stopping power you simply throw the brick out behind you. friction will take hold and reduce the speed you are travelling at. After you have finished braking just pull in the string and brick and put it on your floor boards.


Thats it for now, so tune in next week when i will be putting on a Polish accent and not paying tax and insurance to help put money into the bike.