Streamline Update from Max

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Graham Smith

Guest
Lenny and John arrived on schedule last Saturday afternoon. Spent the day shooting the breeze and making plans. Sunday and every day since have been work days--a few snags here and there, not many, the rear wheel bearings had to be replaced and the rotor turned, the side car wheel bearings were frozen, they had to be replaced, two of the 12N12A4A batteries had to be replaced, the bleed valves on the brake caliper were frozen, needed to be replaced, other than that the exhaust pipes, intake duct work, and the outboard carrier bearings for the right side primary went pretty much without a hitch.

The bike was finished, ready to go, yesterday afternoon--fuel and oil, ready to fire. The weather was HOT HOT HOT. Decided to go over and pick up the dyno. By the time we got the dyno back to the house it was around 3:30 in the afternoon. Decided to wait until today to fire it up. Forecast high for today is 97o, with a heat index of 105o.

Stainless has been over lending a hand, so I've had three guys hovering over the bike, with me assuming the job of air traffic control. Let me tell you after 4 months of working, mostly alone (except for Stainless from time to time) it feels good to have some extra help.

Delvene Manning wrote saying they must have a picture of the streamliner with safety items designated for the emergency rescue crew, so they would be able locate the area of the canopy release latch, firebottles, etc. at a glance, and know what fuel is being used. Stainless took care of this for us.

Sonny Angel's shop will be holding a fundraiser this weekend to raise shekels for the Vincent streamliner's 2010 Bonneville attempt. If you'd like to attend, Sonny's shop number is (619) 477-8120. Contact them for further info.

Rolled the liner out into the driveway. Had to play a game of musical cars to clear the drive to make room to set up the makeshift dyno area. We'll be doing that this morning, and before long we should be making some noise.

I'll keep you posted.

Max
 
G

Graham Smith

Guest
After a week of work, spanning from last Saturday to today, Black Lightning is ready to challenge the Great White Dyno again. Some of the unexpected things that had to be fixed or corrected were time consuming, but have all been worked out to better than satisfactory results.

One of the ignition triggers on my home built Dyna ignition system went south. No parts available in Wichita, so overnight UPS got the needed part to us the next day before noon. The first time we fired the liner it was only running on two of the four cylinders. You can catch the video on Utube. The blower pulley, that's the one on the engine, was rubbing and was causing quite a bit of drag when hand turning the engines over. This required removing the pulley and adding a couple of shims. No big deal. Had an oil leak on the cam cover rear engine, popped it off, found the gasket screwed up, threw the gasket in the trash can, put some uck-um-pucky on it--she don't leak no more.

After running the bike, each time we would check the big monster chains. There's a certain amount of initial stretch, sprocket seating in the rollers, and of course, a small seating process on the adjusters. John was taking care of the chains, and was reporting to me that it was only taking a flat, or a flat and a half of turning on the adjusting bolt each time, which proves that things seem to be running pretty well in that area. We made a couple of pretty hard pulls on the dyno, which BTW can also be seen on Utube. After the hard pulls it was the same thing, only minor adjustment required. It seems that the two primary chains are running better than they ever have before.

All of the electrics have been checked, i.e., chute deployment, water pumps, and of course, the newly installed Dyna triggers. The ignition has been set at 40o before TDC, and at this fixed setting, provides a very easy start, and runs awfully clean at 5000 rpm. All the troops, Lenny, Stainless, John, and myself included, agree on one thing, that it definitely sounds as good, if not better, than it ever has before. It really sounds impressive and shows a lot of grunt when you put the water to the water brake. She DO make horsepower.

Stainless has invited us over to his ranch (3 acres) for BBQ pork. He escaped before the teardown of the dyno, and getting it back into the owners hands. All of this is taking place, mind you, while the mercury is expanding to the 100 F. mark. Lenny and John both got a bit of a tan. (I'll be billing them later for that) So the liner's back in it's home. Still a few minor things to take care of--put it back into it's cocoon, and get the side car on it--line up the wheels, and install a new rear chain. After that I'll be sorting through every nook and cranny and shelf in the shop to insure that nothing that may be needed, or may possibly be needed, is left behind. I'll also be checking all of the consumables-- "making a list and checking it twice". This includes band aids to rubber bands.

Lenny and John will be leaving first light in the morning. I'll have to tell you, Iris is really going to miss them. (my Cocker Spaniel, 7 months old now) All kidding aside, they were both troopers, fixed all the things that needed fixing, and even put up with a lot of my old sea stories. We'll all be heading towards Bonneville soon, and I think we're going to kick some serious butt this year.

Max
 
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