Member postings for Peter Jones 20

Your lucky you don't live in USA. I'm in Florida and when I ,over here I couldn't believe how much insurance cost.

In 1999 I was paying ~£150 a year for a modified Opel Manta 2.3, the same year in Florida it was over $400.00 for a ratty old Toyota Camry 1800

Today (2022) it's 'only' gone up to ~$650 for an 18 yr old Mazda pick up truck.

Last time I insured bike it cost $160 for 6 months (pound was at £1.22=$1.00, you do the math)

Taxes and prices may be lower for many things, but, insurance is probably the biggest rip off ever (plus more items are taxed, even if it is at a lower rate, can't even paddle your own canoe without paying tax on it, plus ordinary 8x4ft trailer, etc)

Majority of Americans pay on average 40% of income on insurance, one of the cheapest want's $650 a month plus $120 per visit to doctor so I wouldn't complain about NHS too much

When I moved here, the 'cheapest' commodities' I often bought were Newcastle brown and petrol, no wonder they had a drink driving problem, particularly when you consider most bars are not within walking distance and public transport is pretty thin on the ground outside many towns/cities.

Alpha Bearings also had quite a good information booklet about single and twin cylinder crank re-building. I've seen it uploaded as a PDF somewhere but can't remember where or when (probably 10 years ago?)

Back in the 80's I used a LOT of big end kits from Alpha when working for Leslie Griffiths Motors (Honda/Yamaha) and Two Wheel Services (Suzuki/Vespa)

Back then I could fix a DT125 or 175 in about 4 hrs, from unloading off the van to test riding with re-built engine. Nowadays it takes a month to clean a set of carbs.

The Alpha-Tru would be pretty simple to make only really need a lathe to turn the angled bearing housings, the rest could be fabricated from flat bar/plate. One thing I would do if making one though, make one side height adjustable as many cranks have different diameters left and right side.

Personally, I always preferred setting cranks close to flywheels rather than on a pair of centres, seemed more logical to see where 'precision beating' was needed (and it didn't mater if cranks had damaged centre drilling's -or none)

Edited By Peter Jones 20 on 11/07/2022 22:38:03

Edited By Peter Jones 20 on 11/07/2022 22:41:02

As promised, more pictures that may explain how tool was made and assembled. Also finished project (almost, not I need to finish the special T-nuts) There are a few more pictures in the album, seems I can only add 3 to a post?

Used T-slot 'flycutter'

Tool disassembled, 6mm Allen grub screw, push rod, main body and not very well ground cutter

'Raw material, Isuzu track rod ends

Edited By Peter Jones 20 on 24/05/2022 17:48:24

As this thread was originally about restorations, here's a 1968 Suzuki T305 I did a few years ago.

It was a mess and owner was really ripped off in my opinion (rims painted silver, mismatched old tyres, worn chain and sprockets and wheel bearings, notchy rusty steering bearings, engine more or less worn out, etc.

Chris had the seat re-done after I cut it to fit properly (no idea what it came off originally but wasn't a 305)

The only parts I painted were the headlight mounts, they had been brush painted maroon and looked awful.Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture before starting on it but this is how it looked when he got it back in 2015 (and looks pretty much the same last time I saw it in 2020)

He fitted the original horn even though it wasn't working as it was 'chrome' and replaced points cover with a NOS chrome one

Wheel rims were changed to slightly wider 'H' section alloy rims (WM 2&3 instead of WM1&2 rusty pitted rims)

I made the fork brace  from something I saw on an EGLI frame some time ago. (probably 70's) It's 6061 and stainless steel.

Some idiot cut rear mudguard without much thought how it would look .

Front mudguard isn't a legal requirement in Florida andf he doesn't ride if it's going to rain. (unlike Britain where it is a legal requirement unless MOT has changed a lot?' (all moving parts must be adequately covered' when I was MOT tester) You don't need a chain guard if you don't have passenger footrests (I remember a customer getting 'booked' and getting off as I was MOT 'expert'

Edited By Peter Jones 20 on 21/05/2022 20:47:11

I created and album so here is a picture of 4 bolt tool-post mount (4 bolts to bolt to carriage t-slots)

The large hole was for the t-slot cutter and to get t-head bolts in

Hi Guys,

Just went to take some pictures, got one and camera battery 'died' It's on charge at present.

I also have to remember how to post pictures here., did a copy and paste but that was over 181,000 characters too long.

I didn't want to spend too much on a 'good' t-slot cutter as I only needed to cut a single slot.

As I've never needed to do this before (I trained in mid 1970's) it didn't seem too sensible to spend a lot of money.

I knew it wasn't best quality but was marked HSS. Pretty sure thaytwas a lie though as shank is easily filed so must be less than HRC 45~50?

The cutter head completely disintegrated, never seen anything like it before (usually if you break a cutter you at least find some of the chipped off bits

Anyway, as stated, saw drawings in old MEW and made what is basically a specialised fly cutter.

slot depth of cut was about 4mm and width of cutter about 3/16"(I grew up before metrication so switch back and forth easily)

I found another tie rod end, the main shank was made from, worn out but probably a pretty high grade steel (pulling the steering around on couple of ton old ISUZU 4WD my stepdaughter used to have)

Used that so I could make the part that fits into collet a larger diameter - more surface area, probably better grip?

The article gave instructions for grinding a tool bit for clearances, the angle it's set at (7~10 degrees) means you don't even need to grind anything from lower edge. I'll try and get picture from magazine,haven't used scanner in years and not sure it even works any longer (plus could be copyright issues?)

Pictures coming soon

I have never cut any -T-slots before as I never needed to. I bought a cheap T-slot cutter which disintegrated on first use. (don't think it had correct heat treatment?)

As mill was set up and I didn't want to move anything started looking through old issues od MEW and came across a T-slot cutter build in issue 17, June/July 1993.

I didn't need end threaded as my Clarkeson Autolock holder is on mill 'at home' (been living in Florida since 1999) so it was quite quick to drill some holes in a grade 8 bolt then turn diameter to fit collet chuck. Broken HSS 3/16"centre drill for a cutter and back in business.

I'm actually pretty amazed at how well it worked and now have a new tool-post base in steel for lathe (the original cast iron piece is pretty flimsy and flexible, seen various plans for upgrade over the years)

I'll get a picture or two if anyone is interested.

It's a very long time since I read much about the 'counter-steering and gyroscopic effect with relation to motorcycles. The 'steer left to go right' is very wrong way to explain what's happening.

Yes, you do move left bar to go right but the amount is miniscule plus, if you don't, you can still go around corners by 'forcing' the bike to lean over by turning steering slightly in direction you want to go. Weighting footrest one side is thought to be irrelevant but personally, without touching bars and just putting pressure one side, the bike turns. The faster you go though, the less the effect which to me, proves gyroscopic effect is keeping bike in a straight line and so, upright (along with rake and trail)

Personally, I don't see how a counter rotating flywheel can counter gyroscopic effect? (I was a motorcycle tech not a physicist) The fact you have gyroscopes spinning opposite directions may cancel out mathematically but physically you now have multiple gyroscopes trying to resist changes in direction.

There is probably a lot more known about gyroscopes today compared to early 1970's when there was only a single scientist doing research on/with gyroscopes (I remember seeing Royal institute Christmas Lecture about it on B&W tv long time ago).

AFAIK, there is only one university offering a degree course in motorcycles, design etc and it is in Italy (but I haven't looked for about 12 years) They did publish a lot of information and research online but much of the math was way over my head. They had a lot of very interesting animations though which were easy to understand

Years ago I got hold of some BMW 'angel eyes' which were 'pre' LED and needed a driver to light them up. They woe really bright compared to LED's at the time.

Battery charger power supplies always run above stated voltages but drop closer to stated voltage when connected to their original battery with 'correct' internal resistance. The exception will be chargers for lead acid batteries which will always run closer to 14v

Check the column to base bolts are torqued properly.

It's possible to adjust tram on a 'non adjustable' mill by changing torque values (if that doesn't work you may also have to shim different quadrants of base)

I got my mill drill with an 'inspection chart' that was pretty worthless but eventually got it near perfect by thinking about which bolts to tighten and loosen. The various sections of cast iron will distort tiny amounts but can be set pretty accurate (less than0.01mm over 8" swing)

Sorry to be swapping imperial / metric but I was brought up on imperial measurments and trained as metric was being introduced so have little trouble switching between the two(I'm sure there are plenty of us 'old duffer's' who do the same?)

Just noticed the post directly above mentions the samwe thing about column  bolts but didn't see it while I was typing (and running around doing 'other stuff)

Edited By Peter Jones 20 on 04/02/2021 20:05:45

For aluminium I've found un-coated solid carbide are best.

The only problem I've come across is I can't run them fast enough in small diameters.

I did adapt a 'trim router' to fit lathe tool post but it's fixed speed (27,000rpm) worked OK even on 1/2" thick steel (A36, structural steel, don't know UK equivalent, probably EN8 or similar?)

Cutter was 2.5mm dia and 'mostly OK' (not overheated or chipped) after about 35" of cutting.

It was actually easiest 'trepanning' I've ever done

I had the same problem with lathe motor.

The original motor had two capacitors, both 'starting caps' one for forward one for reverse.

The motor I replaced it with only has single cap so needs a different reversing switch with an extra set of contacts.

You have to reverse the field windings to get motor to start in the opposite direction

At present, I haven't changed switch so only have forward rotation as it isn't possible to bridge various contacts in multi switch to obtain reverse

I always thought they were Continental and Japanese industry standards. Continental (French/German) 8mm bolts have 13mm head and JIS have 12mm head

It's been 'common knowledge' in the motorcycle industry since the ISO standard was changed in 1965 (ish) Now, all metric threads will interchange even if bolt head size is different. Anyone who has restored a pre-1965 'import' (generally Japanese or German) knows there are differences in thread design

Generally, the problem isn't 'Made in China' but quality control by managers. (line workers have no say in what they are assembling)

Personally, I wouldn't be able to continue my hobby if it wasn't for 'Made in China'

The labor costs are incredibly low there compared to any industrialised country (same in India although materials can be inferior to Chinese stuff sometimes)

I would like to be able to purchase better quality materials and machines, but, unless your going 'full industrial' most modern stuff is pretty lightweight and cheaply made compared to 1970's and earlier machinery but still has a premium price out of my range.

As with everything nowadays, there is far more to learn than you ever wanted .

Interesting topic though.

I'm going to use paintable expanding foam in a can to cut down the rattling from belt cover on mill/drill

I'm glad you mentioned thar, I think I may actually have a set but had completely forgotten about them.

Now all I have to do is remember where I put them ~20+ years ago. Probably still hanging on a nail in garage (only problem with that, garage in Wales, I'm in Florida)

I won't ask my brother to look though, he'll probably sell them

For the OP I would say use oversize hardened balls and a full synthetic high pressure lubricant.

For everyone else, insurance is probably the biggest legalisedf theft there is.

I obtained a Florida insurance licence,

There are a lot of con-men in insurance industry, the ''manager ' who convinced me was one of them. It's a totally disgusting immoral industr yfull of very hypocritical greedy people some who actually believe they are 'doing you a favour'

I refused to sell the overpriced products and was literally marched out the door..

Since then I've been approached by numerous companies, many even more unethical although still staying within the boundaries of 'legal'.

I'm fully aware there is insurance fraud, but, majority of people really are pretty honest and insurance companies spend far more on lawyers fighting cases to avoid paying money to genuine claims with lawmakers supporting them. Just take a look at insurance company reserves and profits, most are in the several billion range. That was not what insurance was meant to be.

I did some research many years ago,

Richard Price from South Wales (Llangeinor actually) was a vicar who 'invented' actuary tables (risk of loss) He was also a friend of Benjamin Franklin and an 'honorary' American)

The State licence exam pass rate is less than 20% so it shows the caliber of people involved 'over here' (only 17% passed first time in my group, yes, I was one of them who passed)

Guess that's enough of a rant, almost 6 years on I'm still disgusted by the things I found out.