Recent content by 56nomad

I'm after a damaged/knackered/unwanted rear cast wheel with bearings I can use to dry build my 'brat or whatever it turns out to be' former Special. Good enough to take a tyre. Need it while I'm still fettling things. Buy or loan? Preferably located in the West Midlands or North West of England...

Thanks guys. To safeguard the paint it looks like it'll have to be the tried and tested method of dropping the frame loop over the engine method. I could even rope in the old lady on that one.

Hi all, I'm reaching the stage where I've got to refit the engine into the painted frame but the problem is I'm a short-arsed, slightly built one-man-band. I lifted the engine out using my gantry with the bike on its wheels which was awkward but then I didn't care about the paintwork then...

Hi DM, Sounds like it's pretty good at the moment. If there are no noticeable flat spots or stumbling then I'd run it around like that for a while until you get used to it. Then you may start to pick up things that are not quite right. Don't forget to do some town riding where you'll be...

Hi GM, If you've already decided that the cable is too long then you've answered your own question and you're likely headed down the bespoke cable route as many have already done. However, I think you're wanting to know if the the XS650 cable has the correct nipple to fit the CVK carbs. It...

Cheers, '61. It was delivered today.

Demorgan, Hello from a fellow Brit, mate. What Brian902 is alluding to are Keihin PWK 28 needles; 'PWK 28' being an aftermarket Keihin carb. This mod uses CVK jets and one of a range of PWK needles. A standard GPz500/ER500 CVK needle does not work, as you've found out. To use a PWK needle...

Hi '61. PM'd you.

***Edit: Realised I only really need the earlier 1-hump safety relay so either type will do.***

Thanks, '61. Much appreciated.

Hi all, Have any of you UK based 'kickstart only' guys got a redundant (and working) safety relay they could sell me? It's the 2-hump relay, usually found under the right hand side cover of late 70s/early 80s bikes, that controls the operation of the starter motor and also automatically...

Oh dear, the dark forces of the wicked hydraulic clutch goblin are too strong for me to resist! Unless the good cable clutch fairy can find me a high ratio perch then I'm lost .......

Hi TwoMany, I had a search for 8mm round bar/rod in Zamak 5 which is more common over this side of the pond and came up with a big fat zero. I also tried Zamak 3, ZP3, ZL3, ZP5 and ZL5 but had no luck. I'm informed that ZP and ZL are Euro and UK equivalents. Would these equivalents be of use...

Hi Chiz I see what you're suggesting now. That mod will decrease the effort at the lever and decrease the amount of cable pulled. I want the opposite: to pull more cable at the [unavoidable] cost of an increased effort at the lever. I'll take a look at Parts Unlimited all the same.

Hi Chiz Unless I'm not understanding your suggestion, there isn't enough space on the lever further out from the original cable barrel hole to drill another. Even if there was the cable would no longer be in line with the perch adjuster and cause extra friction I suspect that the ratio change...