1942 WLC build

Thank you all for the kind words!

JAWS: Well, i'm broke now and my first plan is to ride the wheels off of it next season (it passed inspection last monday, now i'm trying to get it registered), but other than that i know what you mean... my fingers are already itchy again

But first i have to get it running better than it is now. I'm suspecting the carb to be the culprit, but i don't know for sure yet...
Just to make sure i did the timing right, i'll show some pics of the magneto.

We modified the adapter plate and made an adjustable bedstop.
The plate came with the magneto and i was told it was for a sportster,
but i don't really know how one should originally put the magneto on it and
still be able to move it? I think there might be some parts missing, but anyway, this is how we did:



I defined the full retard point more or less by trial and error by turning the magneto as far back as possible with the engine running without killing it or having backfires. then i double checked with the mark on the flywheel, which should be 35°BTC i was told. so with a 30° adjustment angle on the mag i should end up with 5°BTC at full retard.

I now turned the crank until i saw the marking on the flywheel (35° BTC). I thought i'd have to insert the mag at full spark advance and time it there, since the flywheel mark is the only precise mark i have. Please correct me if i'm wrong!
I lifted the pushrod covers on the front cyl and made sure both valves were fully closed and piston is in the ingnition stroke.

Now insert the mag into the block:



Note the kill switch built from a nail file i had lying around. Works great.

Now i kept lifting the magneto, turning the shaft and reinserting it until i had the smaller one of the 2 lobes, which belongs to the front cyl, just short before opening the points, at full advance.



Afterwards i adjusted the points, closed everything and fired up.

Is that correct so far?

What points gap are you running on your magnetos?
This one is a Joe Hunt, cast housing i think?

Are there better methods to do this? I feel like it's pretty rough somehow,
and i do this for the first time, so i'd be glad for advice.
I checked the magneto threads but didn't find a step-by step timing walkthrough.

You're right, of course.
If i start it like this, it tends to bite back pretty violently
(i had a nice blue foot after the evening the first start video was shot,
since i am such a smart ass and wore chucks all the time... here goes the hipster rant ),
so i turn it back nearly all the way.
2 kicks with closed choke valve, then open up, little throttle, and kick.
Normally it fires right up. Sometimes even earlier.

It runs ok in idle, and responds to the ignition advance by raising rpm just like it should,
but when i ride it it's not revving up too well.
It feels like when i ride my 2-stroke-scooter with the "air" lever closed.

I think i'll have to pressure check for air leaks first and then go take a look at the Linkert again. There's quite a lot of black smoke coming from the exhaust,
i got the carb on factory settings (low speed needle 5 turns out, high speed needle 2 turns out is what i read about it) and turned the low speed like 1 1/2 turns back in, but i really don't know if that's the right thing to do...

Thanks! It will stay as it is for now.

JAWS: had some time to fiddle with the carb yesterday, a friend came over
to help and we found that, amongst other little things, the throttle plate wasn't fully closed.... so all my earlier adjustments were futile.
In the end, after double-checking everything (valve adjustment, ingnition etc)
the bike ran pretty calm. On hot engine we turned the low speed needle in until we heard misses, and then a few clicks in the other direction until it stopped. I hope it works now!

Here's some nice pics a good friend took on his last visit:





Always amazing how much cooler a real photo looks compared to the ones my little digital camera can take...

Funny thing, Jaws, i was just about to dig this up last night, but i forgot my
board login secret magic words and i was at home with another computer...

The bike got registered on wednesday and is now officially road legal!
And it runs great! ... until yesterday evening. But i will start at the beginning:

We got the carb tuned and finally it ran very good, i was surprised the first times in the saddle because to me it felt it pulled like a freight train!
I know it's still a snail compared to OHV big twins and stuff, but for now it's
really just fine for me.
Then came the ice and snow and i couldn't really think about getting it on the road, but in the beginning of this week the weather changed and i got my plates.





I really hate it that we have to put these ugly large plates on the bikes here, but it's no use crying and at least i can finally ride!

I took it for a spin, first thing that went south was the speedo, i guess that goddamn speedo drive in the rear drum disintegrated. i really hate that construction.
Second thing was the rear plug, it started running real rough and lost most of its power, and when i checked i found the rear cylinder quit work. changed the plug and i was good to go again. Strange, though...

I rode for a while and grinned and ate some dirt (running without a front fender is new to me, but i think i can get used to that) and afterwards put it back into the garage and fixed some minor things.
Then, in the evening, i wanted to ride it again in the dark to check the lights, because i thought i had noticed the front light going dark from time to time on low idle. But, when i kicked it, this happened:



Serious amount of oil spilled out of the cam housing breather valve!
The oil tank is nearly empty now!

I guess some valve in the feed pump is stuck, and the crank housing got flooded...?
What to do?
I think i read something about similar events somewhere here on the board, guess i'll go use the search tool now.

thanks guys!

Jaws: good to know about the plugs... never had that before.
guess i go get me a pack of spares...

Richbob: good eyes there, it DOES sorta look like an alligator...
and i was horror struck indeed, because before i got the engine rebuilt it was leaking as well when it sat for a few days, but nothing in comparison to that spill!

the pic where it sits with the puddle underneath, that was just one or two kicks, it didn't even run! and it sat for like 3 or 4 hours the most since i last rode it. i talked to my engine builder and he too thought it wasn't normal, so he told me to check if the bilge pump was working.
i did, here's some crappy footage:
hightech hillbilly test rig!

but it seems to work fine, and after i filled another 2 litres or so into the oil tank it stopped puking and ran like before. made quite a mess until then, though.



i must say i really don't get it yet, but we'll see.
both pumps were part of the overhaul and are rebuilt with fine parts,
i trust that man and i know he did well.

i'll start i again on monday or maybe tomorrow and see if it starts puking again.

Jaws, i think the valve is design is all the same principle,
a ball is pressed into a seat and seals the passage. in theory...

I talked to my engine guy and he told me
on flatties you can only try machine the seats,
as the pump housing is cast iron.
the later ones, like shovel e.g.,
are made of aluminium and you can drive the ball against the seat
with tiny hammer strokes to make it sit better.
Obviously not a good idea on the cast iron ones

He told me to keep going and watch it closely, just like all of you,
so what i'll do.

Rusty:
I really had to refill after i got it running,
no oil traces on the dip stick anymore...

So i put about a 1000 miles on the bike and was a very happy man for a while.
It ran great and performed quite well for such a small bike.
Linkert works great and i get around 47 miles per gallon.

then 2 weeks ago on my way back from a meet it started to make gruesome noises from inside the engine... i checked and took the generator off. Noticed that the locking pin on the generator shaft holding the gear was missing.
So, after some thinking and talking to my engine builder, i took the darn thing out and built a box for it to ship it back to the builder for a "1000miles great inspection". I think the damage will be marginal, but i don't have the time to look into it myself right now, and it will be a much better feeling for me when it's done right by someone who knows better than me...

thanks, TigerAlex.
everything will be fine soon -making progress here.
the engine didn't take any serious damage, happy about that.

it got its heart back and now for some small improvements...

didn't do any updates here for quite some time...
well, most of the time it was just ridden and worked pretty well!

over the winter it got new handlebars and some more small stuff.
not finished yet, but this is as it sits now and i'm getting used to the new bars.
riding position is great, we'll see how they work on the road.

I have been messing around with a new setup
for the tail light and licence plate holder...
came up with this last night and i think i'll try it.
It's made from pieces of the old one, so it's a little
patchwork / shabby...
Looks pretty retarded in comparison to most of the fab work
here on the site, but it's a slow and steady process, soooo....

At least i can lift the bike on it so i guess it won't fall off.







Now i got to clean it up a little, put the regulator back on
and finish the wiring.

I like it now, i think.
Will go with this for the season.











A thousand little details done and still more to come,
but i'm beginning to see the light...