SP: Spring Boxes (Rear) Rear suspension springs

[nigsey]

I am sure this subject has been done to death, but please help me..

I am not the tallest person in the world and therefore I am having trouble reaching the ground on my Series C Rapide. I have no issue reaching the ground on the Series B's that I have sat on, so there must be a difference in saddle height between the two models.

Chatting with one of the club members (Andy) he explained that I should in the first instance focus on the rear springs. Therefore armed with his advice, the quest to get rear suspension lowered on my bike starts with the springs.

Referring to the Harpers Engines Limited parts listing for Series B & C models, it shows three different springs to suit rear suspension. It quotes part numbers
F84/0 (.324") for the Rapide Sidecar,
F84/1 (.300") for a solo Rapide
F84/2 (.276") for the Comet and Meteor.

To unravel and understand the above part numbers, please let me know, can the different springs be identified? perhaps by measuring the section diameter of the material which was used during manufacturing?

On the assumption that all the springs are all the same length, has anyone fitted Comet/Meteor springs on a Rapide? or since the rear springs use the same pivot mounting points, has anyone tried one Comet/Meteor spring and one Rapide solo spring?

I am not precious about using standard Vincent parts so I would be just as happy to use a modern fix should it exist

Many thanks in advance

I had the same problem with seat height and my legs being too short. On advice I lowered the front of the seat an inch by drilling new bolt holes in the front bracket about an inch above the original holes and grinding off the the excess metal, it made all the difference and didn’t affect the ride or suspension travel. I also screwed in the spring box eye bolts as far as they would go to gain a bit more. This obviously depresses the springs a bit and probably makes the suspension a bit firmer though. Just a word of warning about the Hills stand though, Dave Hills normally tailored stands to fit each bike dependant on the height of the swinging arm pivot, even the size of rear wheel and type of tyre can affect this. My point being, if you reduce the spring length it may make the bike harder to pull up onto the stand. Nigel

 

[Robert Watson]

Actually Nigel it does not depress the spring any further as the eye bolts thread into the spring claws and have no effect on the spring itself. Think of it as the spring claw being a nut fixed inside the spring box. Screwing the eye bolt up or down the has no effect on the spring just makes the whole assembly longer or shorter.

 

[Damien McGouran]

Hi Nigel,
Many thanks for the advice. As I have a pair of Pettiford springs in the spring boxes, they will be swapped out for standard ones first, I will see if I can get any more out of the spring box mounts and finally I will modify the front seat mount.
The Dave Hills stand will be fitted and I finalise the height of it when I check out and perhaps modify the front end of the machine. At the same time... I hope the prop stands will work without having to shove lumps of timber below them..

 

[bmetcalf]

If you feel the urge for timber, here is a handy way to carry it:

 

[Bill Thomas]

The prop stands have always been a problem ,
A lot of us make up our own side stands, Working off the left pillion plate ,
The spares company do a Plastic screw on thingy , for the ends of the standard props',
Might be worth thinking about for now ?.

Sorry, Just looked for the prop add on's , Can't find it , Maybe stopped now ?.

 

[Damien McGouran]

Sorting out the prop stand issue is top of the phase 2 list....if the lowering modifications don't automatically fix it (I can but hope)!

 

[craig]

I bought This Spares printed ext a year ago, not installed yet.

 

[Bill Thomas]

Do they still have them in the Spares Company Craig ?, I couldn't find them .
Cheers Bill.

 

[craig]

Do they still have them in the Spares Company Craig ?, I couldn't find them .
Cheers Bill.

I don't see it listed at Spares, must be a limited collector item.
I have a wood block similar to Bruce, but it is becoming more difficult to pick up as I patina.

 

[Bill Thomas]

They did stock them , Brother Ron had some for a friends Bike we were doing,
I thought they were good , But you have to be gentle ?.
Cheers Bill.