Damper

vibrac

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
damper 003.jpg
damper 001.jpg
damper 002.jpg
Back on the old forum I said I would get some pictures of my steering damper. As now I am doing the pre season check up here they are.
NB:The plug is a dummy (you cant get LODGE RL51 anymore) the bonfire is lighted on the other side
the spring box is held with a cap screw inside the carrier center hole
 

greg brillus

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
Hi Tim, Does mounting the damper to the springbox upper mount still give you full travel lock to lock.....? And what kind of shockers are you running.....? Cheers........Greg.
 

vibrac

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
yes Lock to Lock and it runs just under the tank base very unobtrusive. (You see even I can be seduced by the keep it looking fairly original bug) spring boxes are standard I am experimenting on spring strength (purely out of interest since the racing Comet has always performed faultlessly on standard outers plus inch of broom handle) shocks are standard Vincent plus seals and recirculating ball valve but I will go to IKONS if they prove to be not as good as I remember the design was 20 years ago:D (the comet is on a four or so year old home brewed AVO but the comet of course has no real requirement to look original just what we can get away with to get performance)
The Comet damper has almost identical mounting except its fork end is on a eye bolt which has proved OK but the carrier allows me to use a cap screw which is stronger in shear and moves the damper curve in a wider arc and that makes the adjustment more sensitive- adjustable I will make a carrier for the Comet after some more feed back from G Flash.
The dampers are a fairly cheap e-bay one I change every couple of seasons
 

greg brillus

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
Thanks for that, I will show you the mods to my front end components when they come back from the paint shop. The lower link has double sealed ball bearings where the eccentric bushes were, and needle rollers at the front. I have assembled it all up using new parts made to adapt it to the new steering stem that Norman (Timetraveller) had made up. And a modified coilover shocker unit replaces the original shock absorber, so I won't be using any original springboxes......even on the rear for that matter, which will be a single coilover as well. I have had a batch of new springs made up with different spring weights, so I can set up whatever load the bike needs....I have anticipated the bike to weigh in at around 150 to 155 Kg's as I have made some significant weight reductions to many items, replacing many steel parts with either aluminium or titanium. Cheers for now...........Greg.
 

vibrac

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
Now that set up sounds good what a pity the scrutineers of the BHR meeting would have a fit with their leg in the air if I tried to run with that set up in the upto 48 class:eek:
 

greg brillus

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
The class I will be running is period 3 classic, from 1st January 1946 to 31 December 1962....All Major components are All engine and gearbox external castings, Frames, Swingarms, Brakes, Forks and Fork Yolks. All other components shall be considered as minor components. Note also we are allowed to run any mechanical drum brake up to 230 mm ( a definite plus for a Vincent). Remember that most of these suspension modifications are quite inconspicuous, except for the coilovers and the missing front springbox's......Also bare in mind, how different is what I am doing to the original front spring on a set of Bramptons. I could put a black shroud over the spring to hide it a little, but most race bikes of the same era that I see run modern coilovers on the rear....so what is the difference..? The reg's do say that you cannot use shocker units with a separate reservoir.
 

greg brillus

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
Hi Tim, do you ever remember seeing any racing twins that used the kickstart cover compartment as the breather catch tank. Only I've seen pictures up close of John Surtees Lightning, and this is how he has done his. Also do you know of any benefits or not, to running separate oil feed lines from the top of the timing cover to each cylinder head, verses the usual of running all the return oil via the heads and back to the tank. The reason I ask is because I am running a two start pump, and wondering if the extra oil could benefit in other useful ways, such as.....if the cam bushes and spindles are as new, why can you not do away with the oil restrictor in the timing chest, and just run full oil pressure to the whole lot....Surely if the cam/ spindle clearance is ok, then the crank will not starve of oil would it......Any thoughts much appreciated, cheers for now............Greg.
 

vibrac

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
What a good idea I knew that cover was almost oiltight for some reason. To what restrictor do you refer? the jet or the discs behind the rubber seals in the cover? If its the discs then I have always put them with the joggle wires in the bin (saves weight ;)). I have little experience of a two start worm tried it on my first twin racer on mineral oil but never bothered since I swiched to R, kept it all standard seems to work.
 

greg brillus

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
Tim have you seen the pictures of the right hand side of JS Lightning, I had to look really close to see what the strange braided line was running from the standard breather outlet to the plunger abutment fitting on the lower front of the kick start cover. I would like to do the same.....do you think this would pass.? Our regs say you must have a catch tank with a capacity of 500 ml, but would they class this as being ok, or do they need to see a separate tank. The restrictor I was talking about is the one with the 170 carb jet in the bottom. The separate oil lines to each head seems a good idea, and I have seen this on the Irving Vincent engines.....although they do run a full pressure oiling system. What are your thoughts re the cylinder oil feeds......I was going to use them, but with restrictor discs installed to limit the flow, as surely this can't do any harm so long as the hole in the liner is bellow the oil control scraper rings. I have just picked up most of my parts from the paint shop....so there will be some serious progress happening on the assembly front, and I will post some pictures to show you....Cheers..........Greg.
 
Top