Member postings for Tim Hammond

PS Haven't a clue why the print's gone small in my previous post.

I owned a Harley 883 Sportster Custom and the belt on that broke at 30,000 miles, no sign of anything amiss, it just broke. I started the engine one afternoon, pulled the clutch, engaged 1st gear, went to pull away and discovered that I now had a gearbox full of neutrals. Came home on the back of a tow truck. New belt was around £180, and I never really trusted the final drive after that. The rear pulley was manufactured from aluminium alloy with a hard chrome plating on the teeth, this plating wore off over time requiring replacement of the complete pulley (£200+). The original pulley lasted 32,000 miles, its replacement was in worse condition after 5,000 miles. And spare a thought for the owners of the Big Twins - they have to have a complete stripdown of the primary transmission to replace the final drive belt. At least with the Sportster with its crossover gearbox, a new belt could be fitted in about a half an hour.

I endorse that sentiment heartily!

Going back 60 years or so, I remember a mate of mine owned a James Captain with a 200cc AMC 2-stroke engine. Its main feature was a very loud exhaust, but it went well enough and seemed reliable - at least Jimmy never complained about it.

The estimable John Ward recently uploaded a series of videos on YouTube about surge protection for electronic apparatus - well worth watching.

Some years ago I ran a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, and one day I received a letter from the company which oversaw parking at Clackett Lane service area on M25 informing me that I'd overstayed my welcome in their car park and please to pay the penalty incurred within so many days. There was a photo. in the letter showing a scruffy Ford car with the same registration mark as my bike. I wrote back asking when the H-D Motor Company had started fixing Ford badges to the (non-existent) bonnets of their motorcycles, and I heard no more from them. I reported it to the police, but they showed no interest in the matter. I was prepared to change the registration mark if anymore similar issues arose, but they never did, and eventually I sold the machine. ( didn't want to, but tendonitis and arthritis insisted that I did.)

I had a brief "go" on a Triumph 3TA many years ago and what a lovely machine it was, probably the nicest Triumph I've ever ridden. Unlike the 750 twin, which was like riding a mobile jack-hammer.

Anyone remember the "Haltrac" midget hoist from years ago constructed from nylon pulleys and thin nylon rope? I bought one 40+ years ago, I still use it, find it invaluable for lifting fairly heavy lumps around my small workshop and it can literally be put into a (largish) pocket. Sadly, they don't seem to be made now, although they do appear on Ebay from time to time. If memory serves, I paid 27/6 for mine.