1942 WLC build

Ok, thanks for the explanation!
So many words i don't know yet...

Here is where i am now:



I know skulls are a little worn and childish maybe, but i just HAD to...



(it will wear off pretty fast anyway )

I like the unfinished look of a split tank without a dash.



The speedo is from a 60s IWL "Berlin" Scooter like the one i own.
The ratio seems to be pretty much the same, as far as i can say now.







Tail light and licence plate holder (it's always a pitty how much junk you have to put on a bike to get it road legal, so much for the "sano" aspect... but i think i can get used to it. Have to anyway, if i want to ride it, and i do!)



This is a 50s tool box from an AWO motorcycle, it holds the battery and main light switch now. I don't have an ignition switch anymore.) And i always loved that Tom Waits song...



Brake light:



Oil pressure gauge:



Another thing i just HAD to do:



Fire up!


(i later discovered the magneto cam was 180° wrong... shame on me. But: it ran anyway...)

hehehe, that VW is a 1940 Plymouth P10.



You wouldn't believe what people in the street have already called it.
Most of the time it's an old Opel Kapitän or something from Russia...

scroll to the bottom of my intro, where i dared to get OT:

http://www.jockeyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1179881#post1179881

I don't need anyone
On a Harley Davidson
I no longer recognize anyone
On a Harley Davidson

I press the starter
And here is where I leave the earth
Maybe I'll go to heaven
But at top speed on a train from hell

I don't need anyone
On a Harley Davidson
I no longer recognize anyone
On a Harley Davidson

And if I die tomorrow
It's that that was my destiny
I don't care about my life
as much as my awesome machine

I don't need anyone
On a Harley Davidson
I no longer recognize anyone
On a Harley Davidson

When I feel the road
The vibrations of my machine
It builds up desires in me
In the small of my back

I don't need anyone
On a Harley Davidson
I no longer recognize anyone
On a Harley Davidson

I go over a hundred
And I feel myself as fire and blood
What do I care if I die
Hair in the wind

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...