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That probably isn’t correct, if the clutch vents through the gearbox you will have oil being sploshed into the gearbox or vice versa! Their cunning these manufacturers even to the point of relying on a tiny hidden hole to do the venting. Sprocket held in place by circlip.

You have an oil leak from the water pump drive shaft. Either been installed incorrectly or damaged through age etc. The hole is the tell tale to prevent oil and coolant mixing.

Don’t forget rearsets and clip-ons! Oh and louder power sapping exhaust!

It’s a Trials bike not a rip snorting super motard. Just how many trials TRIALS bike have you seen with full hand guards??? Even Carl Fogarty only used them once and that was to stop other riders yanking his brake lever on, that don’t happen in trials. Save your hard earned ????and ride the bike to find out what you really need. We have a saying here in UK it is this....”All the gear and no idea”. No disparaging remarks intended against you, but you are heading that way??????

No iron in this product.

Bibles are quite a weighty tome as well!

Don’t remove these breathers from the bike. Make sure the pipes are good and flexible, not perished or clogged inside. Make sure that where the pipes attach to the cases that the holes are clear. Route the pipes where they cannot let water in but allow moisture out. Your suggested routing sounds good but I doubt you will need a one way valve, possibly a ‘U’ bend in the breather pipe behind the tank to delay water entry if you drop the bike in deep is water. Clear pipes a good idea as you can see what’s gong on! Fitting the gearbox breather into the air box is not a bad idea either. Is there a breather on the clutch case?

Ah but you haven’t allowed for the earths gravitational pull. Then of course air pressure at sea level is 14.7 psi so the higher in altitude you ride the less infinite pressure you will have! A compressed air cylinder would be needed, thus adding weight back so probably weighing more than the conventional braking system.?‍???

Is this bike new to you and when you say “less speed in fifth” what speeds had you been doing. From your description when riding the engine was trying to seize up or nip up as some would say. It appears from your description that you have overheated the engine, possibly a coolant issue. Excessive down hill runs with throttle shut will starve piston and rings of oil, possibly causing the rings to eat the cylinder bore and scuff the piston ring land area. You might not have used the correct fuel and oil mix ratio. If you are lucky it might only be a blown head gasket, but then some compression would leak into the cooling system and cause coolant to be forced out of the overflow or rad cap (model not known). Not certain if your bike has a cooling fan but this may not be working and could be the causal effect. Hope you can sort the problem ?

You should be ok engine temperature wise, if there was; as you say, no overflow or boiling over. If the cooling system appears to have been buggered about with then some extra checks need to be performed. Find out if you can why the wires were cut, previous owner contact needed. The coolant temperature sensor may be faulty. Does the cooling fan run and spin freely if you connect direct to a power 12v source? I would suggest that you dump the current coolant fluid and replenish with new distilled water and the correct anti-freeze. This raises the boiling point of water and very often cheap inferior anti-freeze will allow overheating. Use distilled water as this will have no impurities that can attack the aluminium of the engine etc. even though the anti-freeze will contain corrosion inhibitors etc. A last check would be to ensure that the coolant pump actually works, in your case because the engine ran with no overheating it’s probably alright, but it can’t hurt to make sure. The more you know your way around bike the better??

You may have to wait 37 years for another member to reply! Only jesting honest.?

What’s that...bonfire building? ? Seriously have a good time?

Good to see another ‘old one’ breathing...ah the sound of a big un!

Peter_Steer your current bike; if as your profile, should have smooth and lightish control operation. Just as with miles of road riding finger joints and other parts stiffen up and detract from the enjoyment of riding. Like others have suggested experiment with control positions, don’t forget that handlebar position and most especially height can have a marked effect on your body and posture. Have a good look at alternative levers offered as direct replacements for the standard controls. Analysis of your riding position, stance helps to, you may be clenching the throttle and this will soon create soreness etc in the hand and wrist joint, look at how you hold the throttle. Your chosen lever position may be the route cause and a change is as good as a rest. When doing high road miles, no matter what bike; and I have had quite a few, changing feet and body position slightly keeps your body from becoming cramped, stiff and harder to react. This is a bad situation for road riding and even worse for quick responses off road. Enduro riding has equally the same issues. The pointy bits you mention on your knuckles sound to be similar to the repetitive strain injuries the likes of which builders tend to suffer. Others who use their hands a lot, mechanics, engineers etc also tend to have the same problems, other trades to. I have a trapped nerve in my spine which left me with limited feeling in my right leg and pins and needle pain which is permanent. I also have neck issues brought about by years of wearing helmets and fighting the wind pressure trying to pull my head off when travelling at speed, no fairing to hide behind; likewise the constant bouncing about off road wearing a helmet did not help...what we do for fun eh! A consultation with your local GP would not go amiss if you have not already done so. Me personally, I now take 2 Paracetamol 500mg tablet/capsule each and 20 minutes later I take 1 ibuprofen 400mg capsule when in pain or stiffening up. Then repeat the dose after or at the recommended time lapse. This is not what I am saying anyone else should take without first consulting a medical professional. Aloe Vera and any moisturiser cream is good for your finger and hand joints, the massage is the key factor. Aloe Vers based drinks work for some people, Cod Liver oil tablets can have a marked effect on joints all over the body. Riding with two fingers on the levers (or three) is good for quick responses, but try not to ride all the time like this as the tendons need to change position and tension regularly. The way most Trials bike are set up you tend to find that the levers are set for operation from the standing position and are often difficult to use while seated. Some will no doubt say they don’t have issues but then they may have bigger hands, longer fingers or just be more supple! Guard against the cold getting to your hands to. Hope this helps you to continue and enjoy your sport?

He says 2016 Beta 2T.

Nice lesson in observation, it looked wrong to me until zooming in?doh! Wheel rims not very shiney, you obviously use your bike??

Nah does all the riding backwards!

Thats the name, good memory!

Your 350 AJS will most likely still have road ratios in the gearbox. Is this a rigid rear or swinging arm model, it was around this time 1954 that frames changed. You also need to check the rear hub as some had the sprocket as part of the hub. The engine may have a 14 tooth sprocket. The rear sprocket could be 48 tooth+ there are some variables and you might want 52 tooth. Is this a 16 MS ?

Looks like the bikes been used as an anchor Looks like the forks have been in salt water. There are loads of companies that do hard chroming and regrind to size. It all depends on how deep the corrosion has gone. There are also some engineers out there that will make new stanchions for you probably ar the same cost of refurbing the original. Have a Google search on front fork repairs, Hope you get them sorted.? In Motion have a complete Pursang rolling chassis advertised on their site, just in case.

You need to check the inside of the fork tube for high spots, look on the outside for signs of impact damage which could cause an internal high spot. The fork stanchion may be bent or a bush maybe the cause.

Stay away from rocks and mud and rough ground..only ride in the dry and lavish loads of wax on the shiney bits and loads of polishing and fine adjusting to adjustable bits. Avoid running the engine at all costs as this may well show up faults that will mean you may need to take half the bike apart to get at one single adjuster screw to correct, that could mean scratched nuts?and bolts?and possibly a few panels marked to??. When you are not thinking about actually riding or even starting the bike use plenty of protective wrapping around....everything and turn up the thermostat on the heating to drive away any chance of moisture discolouring any untaxed parts. Use Ukenuba honey to keep the tyres and other rubber parts in tip top as new and unused condition. Whatever you do for goodness sake don’t put just plain petrol in the fuel tank as heaven knows-what that will do to all the tiny weeny holes the stuff is expected to flow through, they keep putting additives in to compensate for euro 98+ regs fig juice would have a better octane rating?. There I’ve said it...how to keep your bike looking nice!??

Yes, you may well be right. When the Cheetah (can’t remember the way it was spelt-your’s looks right) was announced in MCN around 1966/7ish it looked the business with a black tank and MP (Metal Profile) forks. John Lee (Higham Ferrers Northamptonshire) might be able to identify your bike, he’s a font of all knowledge and was involved in developing a few frame kit bikes of different make. The other route is to ask Old Bike Mart (Morton’s Archives) who may well have more info.?

Just stumbled on this post but here goes, Cheeter (?) or Cheeta frame (Mick Whitlock I think)unsure about tank seat unit. All Cheetas had Villiers engines and the frames were eithe chromed or nickel plated, they really looke the part and I’m sure that the swing arm was concentric adjustment. Or maybe you have a Scrambles/MX bike that’s been converted to trials hence the long ride seat and tank unit! Have you thought about tracking the Starmaker engine number, Villiers Services may be able to help here; these were I am sure intended for road racing and scrambling, don’t think they were very highly thought of for trials work, don’t quote me here! Let us know what you found out?

This may or not be helpful to you but I’m fairly sure that Honda changed the make of fork to Showa 1976 ish? But as stated previously slacken the top yoke pinch bolt, apply a little WD40 or similar product. Make sure the bikes weight is supported and the front wheel has a block or something under it. Now work the spring top hat (10mm headed) anti clockwise and then clockwise while pushing down, this may expose that circlip mentioned, although from your picture it looks a bit tight, I think you will just need to keep turning that cap a/c there is normally about 20-30mm of threaded area to release. Prepare for the top to ‘let go’ upwards! Hope you succeed, let us know?