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Upt'North ¹ said :-
Timing up a V8 Merc with new components, oooo a real head scratcher, it might already have the better chain on of course. I would imagine it's a fit it once and check it 20 times sort of job. I think the last chain cam engine I timed was a Gardner 240. That was on an engine stand too.
We want pictures!
10/04/2026 11:25:01 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Oh yes....that was about 45 years ago. But you never lose it?
10/04/2026 11:26:58 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Just read that Lancashire lad Jeff Smith has died aged 91. Great motocross rider in his day. Ian will know but I think he was on the BSA and British teams.
Upt.
10/04/2026 12:34:26 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Yes, he started on Gold Stars when but a youth and went on to be world class on the unit singles especially the B50 motocross bike. I actually met him a couple of times as he used to come over to the UK and visit his old mechanic from those days, the late Fred Barlow. Fred ran a small bike shop in Tamworth specialising in Norton Commandos (which is how I knew him) and the BSAs which he could make go very well.
Jeff seemed like a very nice bloke and very approachable.
10/04/2026 12:41:56 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Re the Merc: I'm quite often tempted by cars but then I remember (a) I have nowhere to put one and (b) as Ren says, car parts are heavy and awkward and also require lying down underneath them. I was cured when I had a Triumph Stag as a daily driver in the late 1990s. Mid life crisis me? I did 70,000 miles in 5 years and had to replace, amongst other things, the engine (twice due to a foolish error I made), gearbox and differential. Not to mention multiple other parts. As I was using it as my only car, much of it for work, I had to pay people to do the heavy lifting so I wasn't without wheels, although I did borrow Electra's MG Maestro (which I'd donated to her) as backup. That was actually a very capable car despite the knockers.
The Stag was a lovely car but in the end it was only financially viable with the mileage allowance from work. I decided to move it on before it ruined me.
Stag and Maestro......
10/04/2026 13:01:07 UTC
nab301 said :-
All this reminiscing about timing chains and old Brit classic cars (Maestros and Stags )reminds me of the 10 yrs I spent in a motor factors way back , customers would come in looking for a service kit ( points , plugs , condenser, rocker cover gasket )" oh and better give me a timing chain , it's a bit noisy" ! I used to cut them from a large roll (standard 3/8 simplex or duplex)and supply a split link , (mercs I think had a different pitch) I only ever fitted one ( to a friends car) A Dolomite 1500 , so relatively easy.
More recently I realised that The Enfield primary duplex chain is just a std 3/8th and that purchasing a 5metre roll locally is cheaper than ordering a chain from a bike specialist ...
Nigel
10/04/2026 14:58:24 UTC
Glyn said :-
The Merc chain pitch would be different otherwise they wouldn’t be able to be charging £136 for it. It is over 2 metre long and seems to change direction 6 times per revolution.
10/04/2026 20:49:29 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
So are you going for it Glyn? I look forward to many tales of frustration, challenges overcome and finally success....
11/04/2026 14:11:31 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
What do you think Ian?
Customers will be able to purchase the complete package for £8995 on the road, including VAT, with the finished machine assembled at Watsonian’s Moreton-in-Marsh factory. All sidecars will be finished in black, with five colour options of Bantam available.
“We have a great working relationship with BSA and it’s rewarding to develop new products with British brands,” Managing Director, Ben Matthews said. “The 29bhp Bantam is more than capable of powering a lightweight sidecar and is the perfect introduction to ‘a bit on the side’ for novices.”
11/04/2026 21:15:37 UTC
Glyn said :-
I visited the Watsonian website Up’t and have to say the Bantam is rather good looking. They are the experts but I would think 29hp out of the 350cc will leave you wanting on any incline. I’ve considered turning my Suzuki 600 Intruder into a Rhino trike but suggestion is that it’s not really powerful enough and I should be looking at the 800 as a minimum capacity. I’m still interested in the big Merc Ian but the owners son in law has suddenly gone very quiet on me even cancelling an appointment I had on Thursday.
12/04/2026 09:00:59 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Upt': lookes quite good. They also do one using the Benelli Imperiale which has a more powerful 400cc engine and is a similar price. There's someone who regularly posts on a couple of FB pages who has one and appears very pleased. Interesting that the front tyre on the Bantam (why use a name that's associated witha weedy 2 stroke?) has the same very round profile as the one currently on my B'Zuki.... Less than £9K is a decent price. My outfit stands me in at under £5K which seems like good value. Provided I can sort out the handling of course! It's interesting that both have illegal left hand indicators.......
Glyn - might be good news on the Merc. For some months I was chasing a CCM SR40 at a local bike shop. Apparently it belonged to the son of the proprietor and despite my showing lots of interest the deal never happened, which is how I ended up with the B'Zuki after some aimless scrolling. With regard to the Intruder, I'm not sure why the 600 shouldn't be able to drag a trike OK although obviously not as fast as a bigger engine. It should be able to do 70 all day even with the extra weight.
Have you tried a trike yet? Not sure where you might be able to do so.
12/04/2026 10:02:08 UTC
ROD¹ said :-
I believe that the Bantam is a replacement bike, because Benelli have discontinued the 400cc Imperiale.
12/04/2026 11:02:33 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
You're probably right Rod, I lose track.... I do wonder why they didn't use one of the larger models but I suppose the target was to retail as cheaply as possible.
12/04/2026 11:27:05 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
The B passed er MOT bless er.
I might have a beer to celebrate. Still isn't taxed for this year yet and with 10 of your c's showing on the display it might wait until May. It might have to be nice warm English beer.
Pffffffftttttt.
Upt.
13/04/2026 17:10:59 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
That's a blummin big picture.
13/04/2026 17:11:22 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
So if the bike's not taxed - how'd you get it to the MOT station?
13/04/2026 20:02:01 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
The Regulations covering Sorn are the Road Vehicles (Statutory Off-Road Notification) Regulations 1997 and they came into force on 15th January 1998. All vehicles can attend a pre arranged MOT and return afterwards but only for the purpose of attaining a MOT test and this whilst the Sorn is in place. So you can't stop for a cuppa and must attend a station at a reasonable distance. In my case I attended my nearest Station at Spittal. A round journey of just over 30 miles.
That's the case for the defence m'lud.
Upt.
13/04/2026 22:32:05 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
For Boggers reference, the beer of choice has turned out to be Banks*s Amber Bitter.
13/04/2026 22:34:03 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Very nice too. You can take upt' out of the midlands.....
Before the no MoT for old bikes rule came in I usually tried to find an MoT station with a decent run. I don't think there's anything that says it has to be the nearest one. I adopted this strategy when a local bike shop - Fred Hanks in Erdington - failed my BSA to which I'd just fitted new front brake linings. It needed 20 miles or so to bed them in.
I'm still mulling over whether a 400cc single cylinder 4 stroke carburated engine has the same "technical characteristics" as the 400cc single cylinder 4 stroke carburated engine that could have been originally fitted. It would help if someone who wasn't technically illiterate drafted the regulations. Although no doubt it was a lawyer who thrive on ambiguity.
14/04/2026 10:04:51 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
I think my memory dates back to a classroom in Ryton Upon the Dunsmore in 1981 (!), flipping ink.
It would basically be down to the court to decide if the law was being complied with, I think the example was something like, a bloke puts his family in the motor and drives from Walsall to The Lizard in a car with no MOT and pre books the MOT in Penzance before leaving. Would that be reasonable and of course if it failed he could do it on the return. All this before ANPR and digital records.
Obviously this example would never work because no one from Walsall can accurately communicate anything to someone in Cornwall, ooooo arrrr rrrr kid.
Upt.
14/04/2026 12:22:58 UTC
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