bike motorcycle magazine: March 2009

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Sympathy for the Devil

Traditionally, The Devil was a symbol for Everything Evil; we're not living in the dark ages no more and more recently the symbol has been used to mock others. A nice example is the 'Dunhill Devil', or 'Tweenie Devil', first used as a mascot for the Tweenie car that was sold by Alfred Dunhill for a short period around 1913. The Tweenie Devil was mounted at the back of the car, facing backwards, conveying the message " Up Yours!" to anyone chewing the dust. For that reason, it is perfectly fine to stick it on the mudguard of your motorbike; we expect to see a lot of them fitted to Nortons!

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Flat Tank M18 engine rumble

The 1928 Flat Tank M18 started making weird noises on the way back home last saturday. Our first guess was that the bigend is gone. This sunday afternoon the engine was opened up to have a look. And everything looks pefectly fine; no vertical play on the bigend, no play on the main bearings.

So perhaps it's the gearbox after all. There seems to be more vertical play on the clutch than intended by the makers.

Rebuilt engine

Finally the engine is back in the frame. New seals in the cambox, new bearings for the vertical shaft, a new gudgeon pin and new valve spring top clips. Bigend and main bearings appear to be OK and were left well alone. I would have fitted new valves and guides if I could have got them in time, they will do for another season. Fitted the BTH magneto.

At least I can start the engine to see what it does, no disasters should happen.

Harley Davidson Pecos Motorcycle Boot Review

Harley Davidson Pecos Motorcycle Boot Review

When I was getting geared up for the Motorcycle Safe ty Foundations Basic Rider Cou rse I was looking for a black biker boot that looked more like a cowboy boot than the regular bikers engineer boot. One day at lunch I was browsing a local bike shop in Grapevine Texas called Biker Alley, which has since closed, and found what I was looking for. They were Harley Davidson brand and were a cross between an engineer boot and a cowboy boot. The price was reasonable and I purchased a pair.

The boots looked great but after wearing for several hours in the rain they became soaked and my feet were all wet. So, I went looking for something to make then more water repellent. I picked up a can of Penguin brand Himalaya Wax and coated them excessively. Then I polished them up to a beautiful black leather shine. Himalaya Wax is made of beeswax and is very water repellant. My feet have been dry since, however I have not had them immersed in water for any great length of time.

I have had the Pecos boots now for over a year and they have held up well. I do not wear them every day. Usually I wear them on Fridays, on days that are raining, or when it looks like it might rain. The leather has held up well, even the top of the left one, used for up shifting. They have picked up some minor scuffs, but do not look that bad for not having polished them again. For sturdiness and protection these boots are equipped with an inside metal support shank.

The Harley Davidson boots are as comfortable to wear as any good quality made boot should be. Rumor has it that Wolverine manufactures these boots for Harley. There is a metal insignia plate with the Harley Davidson Logo on it located on each heel. The tooled leather straps with steel harness hoop are riveted together. As a nice touch Harley Davidson Motor Co written around the head of each rivet. The uppers are constructed of supple full grain leather. The stitching is of good quality and the pull tabs have lasted with me using them to pull and tug the boots on every time I wear them.

The soles of the Harley Pecos boots are made of Goodyear welted construction. A Goodyear welt construction is good for water protection and the possibility of resoling. The Dual-density rubber/EVA outsole is oil, water, and slip resistant. The traction of the Pecos boot is good on cement and blacktop roads, but get them on wet painted or polished smooth cement and they are not so slip resistant. Part of the tread pattern is bright orange in color and is very aggressive. The Harley Davidson logo is embossed on the sole shank towards the heel. There are parts of the sole that are starting to wear smooth from all my walking and riding in them.

The interior of the Pecos boot is lined with a full length cushion sock made of Taibrelle. This liner helps wick perspiration away from your feet. The insole is removable and is made of dual-density polyurethane for comfort. These boots are very comfortable to wear, but may take some time to get used too if you have never worn boots with a true heel on them.

If you enjoy wearing a comfortable pair of cowboy boots but want something to ride your motorcycle in, these boots fit the bill. I have enjoyed wearing and riding in these boots. They offer a lot of protection for your feet, ankles, shins, and calves. Torch gives the Harley Davidson Pecos Motorcycle Boots a M.M.M Rating of 8 on a scale of 1-10.

Ride on,
Torch

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Stebel Nautilus Compact Dual Tone Horn

Stebel Nautilus Compact Dual Tone Horn Installation on 2003 V-Star 1100 Classic & Review

One of the items on my Christmas list last year was a Stebel Nautilus Compact Dual Tone Horn for my 2003 V-Star 1100 Classic, named Mistress. Oh, did I mention they come in chrome? When Christmas came around my dear wife informed me she had ordered the horn I wanted and an installation kit to go with it. I could hardly wait for it to come in.

It came in the next week. I learned that my wife had ordered the Stebel Nautilus Compact Dual Tone Air Horn from Twisted Throttle. She also had ordered their Plug-N-Play wiring

installation kit. I checked to make sure everything was there, and it was. The Horn itself came with a relay, one mounting bolt, one mounting nut, one mounting bracket adapter for mounting the horn separate from the small air pump, and directions. Twisted Throttles wiring kit came with, pre-wired relay connector, horn ground wire, two blue Posi-Lock connectors, one 30 amp ATC fuse, one six inch wire tie, six four inch wire ties, wiring directions and electrical schematic.

I decided to install the horn when I replaced the battery on my V-Star. I started by removing my Corbin Dual Tourer seat. That is accomplished by removing both seat lean backs and the nut and washers at the rear of the seat. Then I lifted the seat assembly up from the rear while pulling the assembly rearward unhooking it from the seat holders. I made sure the fuel valve was turned to the off position, removed the fuel line, and disconnected the wiring harness going to the instrument cluster, removed the two bolts from the fuel tank bracket, removed the front ignitor unit panel quick fastener and removed the fuel tank.

With those out of the way I removed the battery side cover, disconnected the negative battery cable and then the positive cable. I went on and replaced the battery which you do not have to remove to install the Stebel Nautilus Compact Dual Tone Air Horn. I opened the wiring harness and horn packages and spread everything out ready for the install.

First I installed the relay and fuse into the wiring harness setting the relay part of the harness near where I would be mounting it under the seat. I routed the red power wire down to the battery positive cable area ready to hook up. I snaked the black and blue wires, which come twisted together, from the relay along the factory wiring harness route up to where the Original Equipment horn is located. I had previously replaced the OEM horn with a Fiamm Freeway Blaster Horn.

This is where I deviated from the instructions that came with the wiring kit. I wanted to keep the Fiamm Freeway Blaster horn hooked up so I could use both the Fiamm and the Stebel Nautilus Compact at the same time. I accomplished this by employing two Quick Splice connectors that I had on hand in my electrical supplies. I attached one to the positive, and one to the negative OEM horn wires. These simply crimp connect onto the wire using pliers. The center of the connector pinches through the wires insulation making the connection for the attached female lug. This made easy hook ups for the wiring kits male spades on the black and blue wires, blue to the positive brown horn wire and black to the negative pink horn wire.

Next I snaked the yellow wires from the relay along the factory harness under the fuel tank area and down to where I was going to mount the Stebel Horn by the rear brake master cylinder. Now it was time to mount the horn assembly itself. I had picked up a scrap piece of bracket and now needed to tweak it into the correct shape and make the mounting hole for the horn larger to fit the bolt that came with the horn.

I held the metal and horn up together where I wanted to mount the horn assembly next to the rear brake master cylinder to check clearances and get some idea where to bend the bracket. I then bent the metal bracket and re checked clearances. That done, I drilled out the hole in the end where the bolt from the horn assembly would go. The other end already had a hole to mount to the rear brake master cylinder bracket. I then removed the brake master cylinder mounting bolt and added in the new horn bracket and horn ground lead supplied by the wiring kit, and reinstalled.

Now that I had the new horn mounting bracket in place I attached the Stebel Horn assembly to it using the supplied mounting bolt and nut, making sure the horn was mounted in the correct orientation and angle as per the instructions. I hooked up the yellow power wire from the relay to the Stebel Horn power connector. Next, I connected the negative black wire from the ground at the rear brake master cylinder and the just added horn bracket, to the negative connector of the Stebel Horn.

I finished up installing the new battery by connecting all the positive leads and then the negative leads. I attached the Stebel Horn relay to the frame using a tie strap. I reinstalled the fuel tank and reconnected the electrical harness. It was time to test the horn before I put everything back together on the bike. I turned the key to the on position and hit the horn button. There was a slight delay after hitting the horn button from when the Fiamm Freeway Blaster starts and the Stebel Nautilus Compact Dual Horn kicks in. It takes a split second for the Nautilus’s air pump to get pressure to the horn. It’s worth the wait.

The Stebel Nautilus Compact Dual Tone Horn is loud. It is rated at 139 decibels and I believe it’s every bit of that. It is way louder than the Fiamm Freeway Blaster. It sounds like an 18 wheelers horn. Here is an excerpt from the Twisted Throttle website:

“Keep this in mind: sound energy doubles for every 3 points you go up in the decibel scale. It means that the Stebel Nautilus horn, which produces 139 dB of sound, puts out a LOT more sound than these popular horns: - 800% of the sound energy of the more expensive 130dB FIAMM Freeway Blaster; - 600% louder than the $140, 130 dB Pro Pad Mini Beast horn; - 650% louder than the $179, 128dB Rivco dual trumpet horn.”

Lastly I used the supplied wire ties to secure all loose wiring out of the way. I buttoned up the bike in reverse order of the disassembly and got it ready again to ride.

Just the other day I had the opportunity to use the Nautilus Compact Air Horn. It was on my commute home westbound on SH183 around Hurst Texas. A vehicle whose driver was not paying attention, was unaware or uncaring started drifting over from the center lane into the fast lane while I was in it. I guess even with his window down he could not hear my

Cobra exhaust next to him above all the traffic noise. I hammered on the horn button and the Stebel responded with a very loud honk. He stopped moving into my lane but was still straddling the white line so I just sped up and got out of there.

The Nautilus Horn worked as designed and I was very happy with how loud it is above the sounds of the traffic. The installation on my V-Star 1100 Classic was not that complicated. It can be installed by someone with an average mechanical ability and electrical aptitude. Torch gives the Stebel Nautilus Compact Dual Tone Air Horn a M.M.M. Rating of 9 out of 10.

Ride on,
Torch

Saturday, March 21, 2009

D.V.M.A. te gast bij Alltimers - Open Dagen 2009

ALLTIMERS OPEN DAGEN:

We schrijven 21 maart, de 1e Lentedag.

De crocussen knalden de grond uit, prachtig weer, wat wil je nog meer?
Nou weer eens wat "brommers kieken" natuurlijk...

En dat kon...

Normaal is Alltimers alleen te bezoeken op afspraak, maar op zaterdag 21 en zondag 22 maart staan de deuren voor iedere klassieke motorliefhebber wijd open.

Op die zaterdagmiddag vanaf 13.00 uur vertrokken een aantal (uiteindelijk zo'n 12 lidjes) afgevaardigden van de Dutch Vintage Motorcycle Association vanuit het Biltse richting Alltimers te Zeist.

Zoals ik al zei was het uitzonderlijk mooi weer en men had er dan ook zin in.

Ik stond erbij en keek er naar...

COPYRIGHTS MGS'09

Alle deelnemende mannen zijn het huis uitgejaagd!

D.V.M.A. Lidjes

*NORTON BRAND ONLY
*Ditmaal stond het in het teken van het merk Norton.

"Zusterclubje", de Veteraan Motoren Club (VMC), zou een bijeenkomst bij Alltimers houden waarbij enkele Norton Clubleden met hun Nortons aanwezig zullen zijn,

Tja...

Wel strak...

en een fraai blokje met koningsas...

een dikke open Toeter met heel veel deci-Bellen!

Mooi in balans en met vliegenschermpje.

de Norton Manx 500 cc 1937 van Aad v.d. Oord,

de Norton Domi racer 1957 van Peter Nieuwdorp

Echt serieuze "brommers"...

Wat latere Manxen op rij...

Wel eerst goed warm draaien...

een fraaie Norton Scrambler 500 cc uit 1949.
Nortons van Albert van der Heide van het Norton Museum te Best.

Titus Nietsch, de Alltimers Direkteur himself, had het allemaal weer goed voor elkaar.

Naast een goed verzorgde catering waren er ook bijzondere Nortons met historie
te bewonderen... te zien én te horen, oor- & neusdopjes zelf meenemen ;-).
en bijzondere gasten te spreken...

Zoals onder meer oud-coureur Cas Swart.

Leuke details als je er oog voor hebt...

Motorzaak: Piet van Wijngaarden

Categorie: Nederlands GP Wegrace coureur
Piet van Wijngaarden was een Nederlands motorcoureur, en op zijn Norton winnaar van de allereerste TT van Assen in de klasse tot 500 cc. Hij zou deze race nog drie keer winnen: in 1926,1928 en 1930. Daarna was hij (ook op Norton) in 1932 en 1937 nog Nederlands kampioen in de 350 cc klasse.

(Bron: Wikipedia)