Owner`s Club of Southern California
Transcription
Owner`s Club of Southern California
Owner’s Club of Southern California Established 1978 A Monthly Journal June 2013 Riders Pose For The Ortega Hwy Ride The Piled Arms is a publication of The BSA Owner’s Club of Southern California. We are a member driven publication and rely solely on your participation. Technical articles, photos and “Member Experiences” and opinions are essential Meet Our Directors Burt Barrett (661) 832-6109…..…….….…………....President Steve Ortiz (951) 245-5287………….Membership/Secretary Barry Sulkin (310) 569-1383………………………….Treasurer Barbara Barrett (661) 832-6109……………..Events/Director Clive Brooks (714) 771-2534……Piled Arms Editor/Webmaster Randy Ressell (714) 448-1179 ……………………..….Director Jody Nicholas (714) 730-9257...….……………….…...Director Piled Arms Production Staff Clive Brooks (714) 771-2534…[email protected]; Contributing Members and Named Sources The Piled Arms, 820 South Esplanade St. Orange, Ca. 92869 Please submit your articles by E-Mail or direct mail. Deadline for submissions is the 12th of each month. Members may place Non Commercial “4-Sale” or “Want” Ads in the Piled Arms Free for 90 days, without renewal. Contact Editor for “Commercial Ad” rates and information. Librarian….John Gardner….310-920-3393 BSAOCSC Regalia… Randy Ressell….714-448-1179 BSA Owner’s Club Web Site www.bsaocsc.org Front Cover Photo submitted by ; Tink Tinkler Rear cover; Steve Ortiz / Internet 2 President’s Page ——--by Burt Barrett——Farewell to Bib For all of our Clubmen who have not heard, Bill Bibbiani, long time President and Dictator of the Southern California Norton Club, passed away Saturday, May 4 2013. Bib as most of you know, made the Norton Club into what it is today. Their signature ride at Hansen Dam, the first Sunday in November, is the best attended Brit Bike ride in California. This event draws all brands of motorcycles from all over California. The attendees ride mostly British bikes, but there are modern bikes there too. This event attracts celebs like Jay Leno. Cycle World editors, past and present have also been seen there. One year Cycle World brought the first Kawasaki W650 in the US to that ride. It attracted lots of attention. Bib was the driving force behind this and other Norton Club events, promoting them tirelessly. Bib was a US Marine, had a Masters in International Affairs, was a school teacher, and School Administrator as well as a husband and father. He will be missed. Big shoes to fill. Godspeed Bib! The BSAOCSC Barry Smith Memorial All British Run was held May 5th. We had an excellent turnout, with Ariel square fours, Vincents, a few Nortons Triumphs, and of course BSA's. The weather was quite chilly for this time of year, and was a little misty. Just a few days ago it was 95 in Bako. On I-5 we got a little rain on our way down. Barb and I failed to bring our jacket liners and winter weight gloves. I thought about it, and foolishly decided not to. Another lesson relearned. I did bring a sweatshirt though. When it was time to leave, I zipped up the vents in my jacket pulled on my summer weight mesh gloves, and took off. I got lost right away, but I finally made it to Pearblossom Road, and got back on the trail. When I arrived in Leona Valley, I noticed several Brit Bikes at the Gutierrez Restaurant, but none across the street. Howard Pope met me and directed me around the corner to Scrambles, as none of our clubmen were there. So I went around, and several Clubmen arrived shortly. The food was great. Clubmen who ate at Gutierrez Restaurant reported good food there too. When we finished lunch, Randy Ressell and I set out for the second leg of the ride.I got lost again after a wrong turn, which Randy quickly straightened out. It was cold and misty, but I was fairly comfortable. Looking forward to next years All Brit. Maybe I wont get lost next time? 3 Editors Page:- Oilyleaks by Clive Brooks My Fellow Enthusiasts… , Well as you now know Bill Bibbiani passed away on May 4th after a brief illness, my condolences to his wife, Janet, and two sons, Andrew and William. One Of Bib’s last big rides was the “Rte.66” ride last September, from St. Louis to Santa Monica, club member Sven Sandburg sent me an account of the ride on his ’71 BSA Thunderbolt, to publish in the PA, however it was 45 pages long, a bit to long to publish in this newsletter, but I did post it on our website, BSAOCSC.ORG under “News and Stories”, called “A Fool’s Folly”, a fitting tribute to Bib’s resourcefulness. The “All Brit”, Barry Smith Memorial Ride ,on Sun May 5th was not as well attended as previous years, mainly due to the unusually cold weather, that threatened to rain pretty much all day. However we did see some great looking bikes, along with a beautiful 1951 MG TC car. Well done, relatively new club member, Dave Zamiska for putting on a pretty well attended Ortega highway Ride, a description of which and photos are on Page 8. Members, if you have participated in a club event, please consider submitting a “ride report” to me, for the rest of us to share, it doesn’t have to be long, just the basics, weather, how many BSA’s, any breakdowns, any unusual bikes, any thoughts or improvements that could be made, and of course a few photos if you took any. I urge you all to send me your stories, articles, British Bike tech tips, photos, and commentaries for us all to share, after all this is your newsletter. Thanks again to those who have already contributed material to the Piled Arms, and I hope you continue to do so. I desperately need fresh articles to keep this going. BSAOC / SC members, we are updating our e-mail list in order to contact you for any last minute changes in our calendar events, so please contact Steve Ortiz at ; [email protected]. CHECK YOUR MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL DATE (see front of envelope) MAIL CHECK OR MONEY ORDER FOR $25.00 U.S. ($40.00 Overseas) Make Checks Payable To: BSAOC/SC Mail To: BSAOC/SC, 11125 Westwood Blvd, Culver City, CA 90230 4 2013 BSA Owner’s Club A.G.M. July 14th Dear, Members, coming up on July 14th is our BSA Club’s Annual General Meeting. It will be held at the home of club member, and current treasurer, Barry Sulkin. This location is : 11125 Westwood Blvd, Culver City, 90230. At this time we have 4 (out of 7) directors whose current term expires on that date, and will be up for election. Once the 7 directors have been elected, then that 7 will vote on who will fill the various offices, e.g. president, secretary, treasurer etc. For a list of our current directors please see the inside cover of this newsletter. Most of our current directors have served multiple terms with no other members, willing to fill those positions. As you can understand after a few years, it can become a little “old” for those serving as directors. Being a club director does require a little time each month to complete the clubs business, which includes compiling this newsletter, organizing rides and events, swap-meets, manning and supplying our club booth at certain events, and attending bi-monthly meetings. New blood is needed for these positions, not just as a relief for the current (burned-out) directors, but fresh ideas from new perspectives. Also volunteers in other areas are badly needed, such as “chase truck drivers”, selling regalia at our booth, organizing new and different rides etc. I understand many of you like to participate on the rides and swap-meets, but in order for these organized events to happen, someone has to organize them. Please consider volunteering for a directors position or nominate someone you may think would be suited to help run the club, at this up coming AGM. We really need new help. I hope to see many of you on July 14th. Clive Brooks 5 Photos of the 2013 Barry Smith Memorial All Brit Ride by Steve Ortiz John Searock waiting for coffee at our club booth 6 A couple of new members 7 A Card of Sympathy to the Bibbiani Family, Signed by Many of the Riders The Ortega Highway Ride...by Clive Brooks, photos by “Tink” Tinkler The meeting point in San Juan Capistrano, being only 35 miles from my house in Orange I decided to ride to the start, on my 1954 Golden Flash, taking the Santiago Canyon / Live Oak Canyon route to Antonio Parkway and then to Ortega highway and then west to the meeting place. This was my first “Club” ride since my hip surgery, so I was ready. In places in the canyons and most of Antonio Parkway it was foggy and quite chilly, I dressed pretty light as I knew what the temperatures were going to be in Lake Elsinore. I arrived at the assigned meeting point at about 7.50am thinking I’d be the first there, but Dave Zamiska, from Huntington Beach, and one of the chief organizers of the ride was already there with his beautiful 1954 BSA A7 Shooting Star. Slowly by ones and twos riders began showing up, many of whom weren’t BSAOCSC members but were part of the regular crowd who attend the monthly Vintage OC Meet at Beach Burgers, in Huntington Beach, including Joe Kagerer, the organizer of the Vintage OC Meet. One rider, Eric Maddison, showed up on a Honda, but he was all the way from England, on a business trip in San Francisco. He’d gone to our website and seen that our ride was 8 going to be within his window of time here, so he flew to Orange County, rented a bike in Costa Mesa and arrived in plenty of time. Soon Steve Ortiz showed up with the route sheets and after a brief riders meeting, we all left at pretty close to 10am with about 20 bikes. I counted about 4 BSAs, mine, the A7, a Victor and an A65 (not sure of the model).There were about 8-10 Triumphs and the rest were a mixture of Japanese bikes. Rider’s Meeting Continued on page10 9 Ortega Highway has a reputation for some accidents, much like Mulholland Highway In L.A.does (as the debris on the side of the road will attest to), and has similar terrain. And as we wound our way up to the top of the mountain to Hell’s Kitchen and beyond the fog had cleared and the temperature started to climb. As I crested the top of the mountain, past The Look-out Inn and down the hill to Lake Elsinore, I knew we were in for a warm one. Dave Zamiska leading the pack on his A7 Lunch stop 10 Reaching the base of the hill, we turned right on Grand Ave an rode to our lunch stop at Annie’s Café in Lake Elsinore. Annie is an English lady who’s quite a character, giving us a little song and dance after we got seated. After lunch we went south toward Murrieta, pausing briefly to browse the display of guns on view at “The Shootist” in Murrieta. I believe Eric from England was surprised to see so many guns in one shop, as in England only the bad guys own guns. Which way? Two 1954 BSA’s After The Shootist stop, we headed south east and through some of the large estates located in the Tenaja Valley, where there were plenty of open, windy roads, and it was just a tad cooler. Eventually we made a full circle, making our way back to the base of Ortega Highway and climbed the hill an back they way we came. Eric and I peeled off at Antonio Parkway back through Live Oak Canyon to Santiago Canyon, pausing for a well earned cold beer at Cooks Corner tavern, before making our way back to my house for a steak dinner. A pretty good ride I’d say. Clive Brooks 11 The JRC Carburetor, An Assessment…...By Lynn Bennett Purpose: The purpose is to find a replacement for the Amal carb that came stock on Brit bikes. That is necessary for several reasons. Even though the new Amals are offered in several models as replacement carbs, Amal managed to reproduce all the faults of the original designs and add some too. Those faults are: 1. Slides made of the same material as carb body promoting galling and fast wear leading to both sticking slides and loose slides that allow air around them through excessive clearances which makes the idle uneven. 2. Flanges from the carb body to the motor's intake manifold that when over tightened permanently distort the carb body, causing the slide to stick in its bore. Once the body is distorted the precision of the carb is lost. 3. Some have come through the manufacturing process crudely made. Are they Chinese or Indian copies or is Amal's quality control not that good? 4. Pilot jets that are pressed in bushes not meant to be removed or resized, stuck down in a passage way that is prone to clogging if the bike is stored with gas in the carb. This passage way is not easy to clean as there is access only to one end as the passage way is a right angle turn off another main passage. 5. Idle and transition circuits, including small holes into the mouth of the carb, that are prone to clogging and hard to thoroughly clean. 6. The latest one for me is the sinking float. My friend's relatively new Concentric's float filled with gas while out on a ride, about 50 miles from the truck. We had to drill a hole, drain the gas from the float, epoxy up the hole, and pray we would be able to get back to the truck before the float filled again. We could find no hole for the fuel to leak into the float in an in-field inspection of the float. The float again filled to about 20% full in less than 20 miles of operation. Add to that the comment from a Piled Arms poster that he had to buy and test about five floats to get one that didn't leak. Common fixes for these maladies is to have the slide bore of the carb fitted with a chrome or brass thin liner or have the slide hard chromed to start with. But if the body is 12 already distorted these fixes might work off the bike but once the carb is bolted to the manifold the sticking slide returns. Brute force bending the carb flanges back into place or machining the flanges flat still leaves the body of the carb distorted. The idle bush is drilled out and a separate idle jet is installed in the float area of the carb (available because the first version Concentrics came with an idle jet in the float bowl area, not underneath the air screw adjustment). Amal moved the idling function years ago because idle quality suffered initially with the jet so far from its source of suction, the idle air passage. A New Carb: In a casual request for information on the JRC (Bill Getty) carb that I only recently heard about, Bill Getty offered to allow me an evaluation carb after hearing that I write TECH articles for the Piled Arms web page. The carb arrived with a new throttle cable (which was not required or used), a plastic tee for the fuel lines, several feet of fuel line (again, I had my own which I used), a set of six hose clamps (Sorry Bill, but they were sub standard and two broke while I tightened them…used the name brand micro clamps from an auto parts store), and several main jets (130, 132, 135, 138) all leaner than the main jet installed (140) in the carb. The carb is from the Keihin PWK family and is marked as a PWK 30 but the bore actually is oval and measures 30mm vertically and 28mm horizontally, perfect for my Triumph Trophy Trail as it originally came with a 928 28mm Concentric. It is a modification of the standard PWK 26 mm carb but consideration is being made to get Keihin to make a new body for a full 30mm body. Continued on page 14 13 The JRC Carb. Continued The carb was jetted as follows: Main Jet…140. (may be a bit rich so will make adjustments on the first field test) Slow Jet…38 (same as pilot or idle jet) Needle jet was a pressed in jet (unknown size) but only one size appears in the Keihin parts catalog. Needle unmarked and in middle clip position. Slide (not marked but measures about a 2 1/2 cutaway (?) and is chrome Plated, Yea!) The air jet size is fixed. For specs, the comparison should be made between the Concentric, the JRC, and the Mikuni. The Concentric is a simple carb with only a few choices for needle and needle jets and a fixed air bleed system for the main and idle jetting. The JRC is also a simple carb with only one needle jet but about 35 needles with various tapers and needle diameters allowing a reasonable choice with only one variable for mid throttle tuning, the needle itself. The JRC slide is a modern flat slide with chrome plating to avoid galling of the carb's slide bore, unlike the Concentric. The Mikuni has virtually an infinite choice of needles and needle jets, and changeable main system air bleeds (air jets). With a dyno and enough time and knowledge a person could get the Mikuni jetted perfectly but I don't have the knowledge or the dyno and with all those variables for tuning, the Mikuni can be a nightmare to jet. Not so the JRC or the Concentric. The Mikuni's have a rubber manifold while the JRC's flange mount is rubber isolated from the body (no body distortion from flange over tightening as on the Concentric, Yea!). The Mikuni and the JRC have starter systems that include a jet and an air passage while the Concentric has a cable operated choke and a tickler button to flood the carb for starting. The floats of the Concentric are mounted to the removable float bowl while the Mikuni and the JRC carbs have them attached to the carb body. The JRC carb requires that the main jet and needle jet holder be removed before the float bowl can be removed and even then you have to snake the float bowl around the floats to 14 get it off. Finally the JRC is sized externally to fit in the space allotted for a Concentric, with an intake bell that is the same size as the AMAL carb to allow the stock pancake filter assembly to fit perfectly. Specification wise the Concentric is simple to tune but very prone to wear and damage from abusive maintenance. The Mikuni is complex to tune but pretty good for wear. The JRC is a simple carb, simple to tune, and very wear and maintenance abuse resistant by design. Bill Getty (JRC) tells me he has successfully jetted a version of the JRC carb for the following bikes: Triumph T140, TR7, TR6, T120, T160,T110, T100 and TR5T, an Ariel 4 (same jetting as TR7). He has not yet done any Norton, or BSA but has plans to do so. The jetting for the BSA's or Norton's can not be too far off equivalent Triumph displacements. He offers only the one slide but has yet to have anyone request a slide different from the one provided. Bill is willing to share tuning information and will stock jetting for the carb. He is upgrading the hose clamps. JRC Install: All went well but I did have to shorten the bike's left side manifold mounting stud as it bumped into the JRC carb body. The carb is fractionally longer than the Concentric so Continued on page 16 15 fitting it to my Rickman may be more of a challenge than the fitting I did to the TR5T Triumph Trophy Trail (no air box…just a filter sock). But the JRC Carb is much shorter than a Mikuni of the same bore size. My original cable worked fine as did my air filter sock that was on the original Concentric, formerly mounted to the bike. The bike started right up after the install. I tweaked the idle speed screw and the air screw after the bike warmed up a bit. It idled very smoothly, ran smoothly and had no flat spots anywhere in the power band that I could determine running up and down the street in front of my house. It certainly ran at least as good as the Concentric, if not better. So far it looks like a better choice for a Brit carb replacement than either a new Concentric or the Mikuni. Field Testing: The test ride was a 60 mile loop from 3000 feet to over 6000 feet, on both paved and dirt roads and some jeep roads. The bike starts more readily from cold or hot. The enrichment system (pull the plunger up and its detent locks up for starting) is adequately rich for starting but not overly rich, so you can let it idle for a few minutes with the enrichment system on. The bike ran well at all altitudes with no flat spots or rich bogs. The needle jet and needle seem perfect with the clip in the middle. The motor accelerates smoothly which tells me the slide cutaway is correct as well as the slow jet (pilot jet) is probably correct as well. The idle is smooth and can be made to be very slow without the engine stalling. At altitude I tried many times to induce a rich bog by giving full throttle at slow engine speed. No rich bog. The carburetion was near ideal, to the best of my abilities to tune a carb. I pronounce this carb a viable alternate to the Amals and a better choice than the hard to tune Mikunis or the problem prone Amals. JRC has the jetting for my bike right on. As for pricing, what a deal! At this time the price is $116 for the carb, only. All the extra piece parts I got are to be extra. Except for the gas line, the tee, clamps, and the heavy duty return spring there is really nothing else you need. It is indeed a bolt on mod. Conclusion: The JRC carb is indeed a viable, good alternative to either the stock Concentric or the Mikuni. See www.jrceng.com for the dealer list (JRC is a distributor, only, and does not sell retail). Many thanks to Bill Getty of JRC for all the help. 16 Poet’s Corner….. “A Race Machine Out Of A Toad” by Art Sirota Oh my son likes to ride in the fast lane always has and I guess always will 'til he climbed on his new Triumph triple and took a most serious spill. But I feel that it wasn't my boy's fault 'cause the highway was not laid out right the pavement was slick and off camber and the arc of the curve way too tight! Now the guy who was driving the Volvo if you ask me, well he had some nerve stayed on his side of the double yellow as he drove 'round that dangerous curve! So since I love my boy to distraction and have always given him plenty I bought him a present for Christmas a World War Two Beezer M20! When I took away the keys to his triple he cried like a teen with no car but when he saw the BSA single he had to be rushed to ER! It came with original panniers but the headlamp and horn didn't work according to both former owners it had been left behind at Dunkirk! So I promised my boy I would help him to get the old girl on the road and we started to supe-up that side-valve and make a race machine out of a toad! Bigger valves were supplied by Bob Raber Russell Motors sent us a hot cam with AV gas and oversize piston she started to run worth a damn!! Now when we go on club rides together my son wickes the throttle up plenty but I'm not concerned that he'll dump it 'cause how fast can you take an M20?! © 2013 Art Sirota 17 18 19 Members Only….For Sale / Wanted BSA A10 1959 title in hand, but bike is on none op. Bike is in running condition starts up in 1-3 kicks, refurbished magneto. Offers around $6000, call 714-313-1330 For Sale: 1988 Matchless G80 with 600cc electric start engine and orig500cc Rotax engine spare. Excellent cond, only about 200 made. Ca. licensed and reg. $5000. See walk around at : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDOqgxGyNuQ Barry Sulkin 310 398 6406 12/1/12 FOR SALE: BSA Bantam built and ridden with success by Don Alfred in the early 1950’s scrambles around So California. $1000 Call Chuck Minert 951-763-2738 11/1/12 20 Calendar of Events May 26 (Sun) Long Beach Motorcycle Swap-meet, Info: www.socalcycleswapmeet.com May 31 – June 2 (weekend) – 16th Annual Big Sur /Cambria Ride, this ride’s a little different this year. Info: - www.socalnorton.com, or call Bib at 626-791-0259 June 2 * (Sun) BSAOCSC FRAZIER PARK STREET RIDE Meet 9 AM at the Flying J Service Station Parking lot, SW corner of Frazier Park Mountain Road, just west of I – 5 Freeway. Ride at 10 AM Info: Steve Ortiz (951) 245-5287 or Burt Barrett (661) 742-5539 June 7-8-9 (Fri-Sat-Sun) ** BSAOCNC / SC NORTHWOODS RIDE – Info: Frank Forster (831) 688-2120 or Burt Barrett (661) 742-5539 June 8 (Sat) 100 Yrs of Motorcycling in Lemon Grove, San Diego. Info: [email protected], 619-460-4353 Cancelled due to lack of interest June 9 (Sun) Vintage Bike O.C. Huntington Beach. Ca. 2 – 4pm. www.vintagebikeoc.com June 16 (Sun) Father’s Day Party at Century Cycles, 10am - ?, Food served 11.30am 1640 S. Pacific Ave. San Pedro. Info: Tim Rutherford 310-832-6190 June 23 (Sun) Long Beach Motorcycle Swap-meet, Info: www.socalcycleswapmeet.com July 7 (Sun) * BSAOCSC OJAI LOOP STREET RIDE Meet at the Starbucks Coffee Shop patio just off of Esplanade Dr. in Oxnard in time to be ready to ride at 10 AM. To get there, go south on Vineyard Ave. from Hwy 101, turn right on Esplanade Dr, go about 2 blocks and turn right at the 1st stop sign which is just after you pass the patio on the right. Turn right again and come back to Starbucks parking lot. For more info call AJ Jim at (805) 485-1688 and Barbara Barrett (661) 703-9249 July 14 (Sun) * BSAOCSC 35th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Doors open at 11:00 AM. Meeting begins at 12 AM at Barry Sulkin’s home 11125 Westwood Blvd, Culver City, Ca. 90230 (MEMBERS ONLY) Info: Barbara Barrett (661) 703-9249 or Barry Sulkin (310) 398-6406 July 14 (Sun) Vintage Bike O.C. Huntington Beach, Ca. 2 – 4pm www.vintagebikeoc.com July 28 (Sun) * BSAOCSC RIM OF THE WORLD RIDE Meet at the Mervyn’s Parking Lot on Highland Ave, Highland, Ca, @ 9 AM, Ride at 10 AM. Info: Steve Ortiz (951) 245-5287 or Barbara Barrett (661) 703-9249 July 28 ( Sun) Long Beach Motorcycle Swap-meet, Info: www.socalcycleswapmeet.com Aug 2-9 *** International Rally - Norway Aug 11 (Sun) * BSAOCSC COOL RIDE meet at 9 AM at Gateway Plaza Shopping Center, 101 Fwy. at Topanga Cyn. Blvd., ride at 10 AM Info: Barry Sulkin (310) 398-6406 or Barbara Barrett (661) 703-9249 21 BSA Owners Club of Southern California Email & Phone Directory Specialists Gold Star/Winged Wheel: Dick Newby No Email (714) 839-7072 ********** Pre Unit Twin: Clive Brooks [email protected] (714) 771-2534 ********** C10, C11, C12, C15: “Position Open” To any willing volunteer, contact Editor ********** Unit Singles/B50: Jack Faria (805) 551-4982 ********** Rocket III/Trident: Burt Barrett (661) 832-6109 ********** Triumph/Sidehack: Russ Smith (818) 343-8045 ********** BSA Unit Twins: Bill Getty [email protected] ********** Specialty Tool Consultant: Craig Rich Questions: (562) 868-9389 ********** Please make calls between 9am and 9pm 22 BSA Owners Club Regalia Sweatshirts $25 —$28 + $5 S&H Official BSA Owners Club “T” Shirt. Comes in Blue, Red, Grey and Black. Large, XL and XXL. Price is $20 for short sleeve and long sleeve $25. BSA Club sweat shirts are available in limited colors and sizes. Price includes shipping and handling. Take delivery at a Club gathering and save $5. Sizes and colors are limited, so place your order quickly! Contact—Randy Ressell: Regalia Coordinator Hm. (714) 448-1179, E-mail: [email protected] 23 A Sad Farewell Bill Bibiani, President Of “The Southern California Norton Owner’s Club”, Who Passed Away May 4th 2013 At The Age Of 72 R.I.P.