charlie prescott

Hi Guy's. Hi Kev. Good news then, all you need do is lengthen the plates at the wheel spindle end by 1" to be a good job. The arms you have could be BSA Bantam D7 I think. Do they measure 6 3/4" ish, between plates? I'm here to be corrected as I have never used them, perhaps I should have? To any one who carries out similar mods ,Don't forget you need to widen the top damper mounts to the same width as the swinging arm, or use Trikshocks, or any units with Rose joints. Regards Charlie.

Hi Guy's. Hi Kev. Right, first you need a surface table, or a flat surface of some kind. And also the use of a set of gas bottles. Now, as you look at the swinging arm from the back, the right hand leg is straight? Yes? now this is the side you modify. you really want two angle brackets with holes in to be able to bolt the pivot spindle to these brackets , and then clamp them to the table, if you see where I am coming from. Now, If you look at the casting the tubes are brazed into, you will see that the left one (from the Back) points out at a slight angle, this is the profile you need for the other side. So you really need some one with gentle hands to put outward pressure on the right hand leg,while you heat the casting diagonally across the corner until it is about cherry red, your other pair of hands should then feel the leg moving slightly, now just play the heat gently on to the casting until it resembles the other side, (DO NOT) Apply to much heat or the casting will crack. The right hand leg should now be out at an angle. Let the casting cool. Now measure and mark up where you need to bend the leg tube to match the other. Again apply heat to the leg tube at the point where it needs to be bent. gently pull this back when hot, too the profile of the left one, and until the back dropouts are parallel.If you string a center line from the front you should now have a measurement from this center line on both side of the center of about 3. 7/16" . When cool you can cold set and true on the face table. After some time I also decided to lengthen the back spindle plates by 1", then filling in the same amount of spindle hole at the front. Should I have made or bought a newly manufactered one? But it was fun. This is something like it should look, Picture Greystone.

Hi Guy's Hi Bob, The best way to put photos on here is to become a "site supporter",then its easy,just upload then from your library. Ahy Andy. Hi OTF, The "OLD GIRL" is fine, she is tucked up in her well insulated home along with some older relatives, and a few younger, whipper-snappers, you will have to visit her one of these days. Regards Charlie.

Hi Guy's, Yes Terry Weedy! tank made of 2mm thick alloy,sort of Victor , but does not sit that far down,only normal. Burton Bike bits also do alloy tanks for BSA's, Dave Varley does a glass fiber one, along with some one else ,that I can not find, Ray Small used to have these. OTF had one fitted to his B40. so perhaps he knows , or was it e-Bay? Faber may have one listed, but could you ,buy one? Just looked at Dave Dawson's site and he has Steve Gagg making him a tank for his C15 at the moment. No pics of it yet, I'm sure Dave will put one on when it arrives. Regards Charlie.

Hi Guy's. Ask Bob. He will sort you out.http://www.upbuk.co.uk/pre65.html. Regards Charlie.

Hi Guy's, Pat Slinn, Just e-mailed me with this information, I'm sure he won't mind me re publishing it on here. He also said,did I think the Scottish Pre65 committee, would allow cast in push rod tunnels on A C15? You tell me. Here is Pats e-mail. Hi Charlie, Part of my "general" engineering training whilst a apprentice at BSA was spending time in the pattern making shop and casting prototype castings. BSA management in their infinite wisdom decided to close down the pattern shop and have all casting out sourced. another lost skill. Apart from sending young apprentices for "long waits" and "left handed screwdrivers" some of us were tricked into using "shrink" rules for general use!!!!. Causing great fun amongst the older craftsmen. If anybody tried that to day it would probably be a violation of something or other. As you progress with the patterns perhaps you could post them on trials central, that would make a very interesting post. Funny you should mention Jelutong a friend of mine only showed me a piece that he had in his garage, his father was a pattern maker. Pat. Yes Pat I will post some photos as I progress. Regards Charlie.

Hi Guy's OK, Got a lump of Jelutong,( Wood from Malaysia) and have sourced some 3mm Birch ply too model the fins on the wooden pattern. And have been in touch with the "Monkey on my shoulder"! (sorry Paulie) and he has told me he has an old book in his extensive library, on casting practices, he also said I need a Pattern Makers Rule, or a "Shrink rule" as they are called. He has an old Rabone catalog with one in but said it was 2 shillings and 6d. so the price was well out of date. The only one I can find, is in the States, but it would be wouldn't it, as them boys are into every thing. Paulie said, don't forget if you intend to fit a dry sand core into the mould you will have to incorporate prints into the pattern to hold this. Yea OK Boy, I said. Looks like I am getting into a whole new world of "Foundry Speak". Looking like fun though. Regards Charlie.

Hi Guy's , Alan Pat, Thanks guy's for the encouragement, yes I will go for it, get the castings done and then decide ,Liner, Nikisil ,Or even Ceramic bore as I have a company in cheltenham that will process the latter. Pat, have you heard of a foundry with the name SIRMAL, as I have a B44 barrel with that name on it in front of me,bore is 85mm, Is it from the USA? as it was one used by Arthur Lampkin,I am told, and has a cast liner built in,Not the norm hey, as you guys say they were Nikisil plated. Do you think we may be on to a gap filler then? Regards Charlie.

Hi Guy's. Just a Update, on progress,with the project. Well the Bottom end of the motor now seems fine.But with all this talk this week about casting alloy,shrinkage, ETC. I am sat here with the TR 25 barrel and a 1/4 inch spacer, thinking shall I proceed to cut the fins round and fit this,or go another route. Then I looked at the Triumph piston, 69mm, and checked the bottom of the liner, It is going to be too thin if I bore it out,I thought I will need another liner. Well I have found just the one on the Westwood site, and have used them before. So do I now go the whole hog and either hand make, a wooden casting pattern. or go the fast CAD prototyping route for a alloy barrel, or use the TR25, and make half a job of it? Well you know what I have said earlier about an "Engineer". So it looks like I have got to create a new one. And have checked the web and cant find a BSA C15 alloy barrel. So looks like the woodworking tools are coming out this week. PS,I think I will incorporate the pushrod tunnel into the design like the B44. Regards Charlie.

Hi Guy's Hi Alan. You Are right "An Engineer"!!! should be someone who is also a good mathematician, Know materials he is working with inside out ,have a vast amount of common sense, and the ability to put into practice the task in hand, and the most important ability is to be a perfectionist, and only turn out the very best item that you can create. So I fail in some of these counts, but do my best. But I have a guy at my shoulder who has all of these abilities, so am very lucky. I also have a son who is quite talented (so he says) at doing all the CAD modelling ETC, and has a program that can show all the weak points,etc on a model , to the forces of destruction, material thickness etc, so it would be foolish not to use this facility as well don't you think? Sixty odd years, of progress, I know!!! Long live British Engineers. OLD and New. Regards Charlie.

Hi Guy's Happy New Year. Talking of the Liners in alloy barrels not coming loose, Well the first BSA B25 barrels did not have a lip at the top and were very prone to slipping down into the crankcase. So they were soon changed to ones with a lip. Why BSA did not do this in the first place amazes me. I bet the ones used in the Comp shop always had lips fitted to the top? Pat!! But then these were made in the USA. and not in the cheapest foundry BSA group could source? Probably their own. Ah the good old British Motorcycle Industry. They always built down to a price,and not up to a standard. Regards Charlie.

Hi Guy's Hi B40rt. Cub /Bantam hubs were never round when they left the factory, and never matched to any shoes, But they do become a good brake as I have stated before. If you skim the braking surface of the hub and then centralise the pivots on the brake plate through the central spindle hole, then fit oversize brake shoes to the plate and skim this on the lathe until it is a good fit in the hub. A better brake arm with more serrations for adjustment also helps. Don't forget to widen the back hub an inch or so for better spoke adjustment, and also Bantam hubs are slightly wider than Cub hubs. PS, always fit double rubber sealed bearings now they are available, seems silly not too? Regards Charlie

Hi Guy's Hi TBoy. OK I will make it simple ?. Now the proper way to cast a steel liner into alloy is to sit it in the casting sand in the right position then cast the alloy around it. but because this is complicated, it makes the hubs expensive to produce. So you can either shrink a liner into the machined cast alloy hub, and hope it does not get to hot while you are using it, or you can machine the liner and hub with a fast screw thread, so when you apply the brake the force applied tends to screw the liner further into the hub, so it does not come loose. this is why the hubs need to be fitted the correct way, otherwise when the brake was applied it would tend to loosen the liner, just think of it as a nut and bolt? The other way is to have the machined hub chrome plated onto the braking surface, has were some Bultaco hubs I seem to remember, and these soon went oval and the chrome peeled off. Fascinating brakes you know. Regards Charlie.

Hi Guy's. Hi Pat. Happy Christmas, mate, and every one on here. Well I think Colin still has the log book , but I don't know about the bike, I think the frame has been scraped? I would like to know? Regards Charlie.

Hi Guy's Hi Big "J" I thought all past winners got a entry, and usually, all journalists. and Wright'y is both? Didn't he enter? Regards Charlie.

Hi Guy's Hi B40rt. Alans said it all realy. but you can see you need to check out which hubs you use and it is not a matter of just fitting them. Locktite stops the bearing retainer from moving !!! Regards Charlie.

Hi Guy's Midlander, mmmm.Wright'y? Regards Charlie.

Hi Guy's Hi B40rt. Well the front on Scott's bike and most of the others using Bantam hubs at the time would have been on the right as you sat on the bike. It Is only over the past few years that, shall we say engineers, have worked out that you get a better cable run when the brake is on the other side. Some works riders did swop from side to side to get even brake ware, and seemed to think some trials suited the brake on one side or the other. Also BSA works riders did try other available brakes. I.E. 7inch BSA as on Pat's bike and the Ariel Leader alloy brake Etc. One other little hint on the new Alloy replica Cub/Bantam hubs is, be carefull which way you fit them because the good ones are designed to be fitted only on the side you spec , and some of the copies of these the braking surface comes away from the alloy hub, because there design is not quite right.. Regards Charlie.

Hi Guy's . Just found the timing side bearing we made some time ago for the S/E bike, so juring this cold snap I thought I better get on with the project, the finished frame as been on the bench in my "little Shid" for too long , and all the rest of the bits that were in one place, seemed to have taken a stroll to other parts of the house and shed while I was not watching them. Just checked on this referance site to check were I had got to so to speak. then found this pic of Pats bike, and that has spured me on again, loking at that. Regards Charlie.

Hi Guy's Just looked this up, thought you would be interested. Shysters - A charlatan (also called swindler or mountebank) is a person practicing quackery or some similar confidence trick in order to obtain money, fame ... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shysters. It has cost me a two hundred mile round trip to pick goods up, only to tell me when down there, on the phone, that he was now on his way somewhere and would not be back until ten thirty that night. Nice One. Thanks. Then said he had relisted the item as the person did not pay. And only got

Hi Guy's He Sold me the two right boots, and the oil to stop them sqeaking, and the brush to put the oil on, and a cloth to polish it off, he said the tread for the soles was extra, but half worn ones would be three quarters of the price. Regard's Charlie.

Hi Guy's Dave you have said it all. One yes you did just turn up and ride what you brung in the Sixties and checked out all the works bikes to see what they had done ( on the outside anyway) we now know a liberal coat of black paint covered up many mod's and made them look like the bikes that came out of the factory for sale. If you wanted a billet part you got out your hacksaw and file, and made it, usally out of scrap or kitchen items parts used from tractors etc. So I just can't understand the problem. The only difference now is that we have the use of tools that were only avaliable in large factorys then . And the "Works Bikes" are now made by individuals, and we are still envious, and want to build our bikes like them. Just a new thought, now if I had mounted a chair on my Chinese engined 250 Honda TLR, and entered Class seven in this years Sammy Miller Championship, and ridden in one round, I would now be a Champion? (wish I had got it finnished now). and would anyone have bothered. Regard's Charlie.

Hi Guy's There could be a lot more GOV132 's as we have discused in the past. We know all the Ariels that a current never saw the factory(well very little of them) but you can't stop a guy building a engineering wonder and then telling him he can't ride the machine. Are there overwhelming numbers of entrys in the Sammy Miller series, so they need to change rules to stop entry's? And is it a english machine trial series or a so called twinshock? I am fast believing that we must stop bitching about what is right and wrong about each class and just get an entry so that you can just turn up and RIDE. Life is to short !!!! Regard's Charlie.

Hi Guy's Hi Marty, First, yes Alan does the hub's with alloy back plate etc. and set up right. Second To elongate the half moon side of the pivot you just need too, with a fine round file , file the shoes from the centre outwards slightly on the left and right, just so this helps centralise the brake shoes when pressure is applied, it is amazing how distorted Tiger cub and Bantam back plates are, I have in the past removed and made up new pivots on the lathe and then lined them up with a straight edge through a line from the cam to the pivot making sure this passed through the center of the spindle hole before re brazing it to the plate. I also do away with the riveted on brake retaining arm and make up one with a one bolt fixing, as the old arm not only being weak at the slot, but also tends to pull the plate to one side. I have also had new levers laser cut with twice the amount of adjustment. and in different shapes. You can keep on. Regards Charlie.

Hi Guy's Hi Alan and Roger. Now Roger are you sure that your Tigercub sub frame is not part of the missing gold from the Great Train robbery, Cos if it melted it ent from the Triumph factory, unless they were in on the job? Regards Charlie.