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nab301 said :-
Just for the record, my foray into lower front wheel tyre pressures on my solo Enfield didn't appear to improve anything , it is possibly a little more stable with the higher pressure..
Ian, how on earth does that bead breaker operate?!
Nigel
14/04/2026 13:21:09 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
I'm glad you saked Nigel - shows someone's paying attention. I think I did post about it years ago - it must be nearly 20 years since I made it. Essentially it's a square made out of 4x4 timber with the dimensions such that the rim rests on the square and the hub, disc etc drop through. One of the arms of the square is elongated - to the upper right in the pic. Then it's a simple matter of taking another 3 foot length of 4x4 and loosely attaching that to the extended arm with a strap. A short length of - wait for it - 4x4 is then positioned on the tyre wall. If the far end of this long length is pushed down, the block pushes down on the tyre wall breaking the seal on the rim. The whole lot sits on a workmate to bring it to working height.
That picture shows it in use on the Tiger's front wheel, removing a tubeless tyre (although fitted with a tube). I sealed up the spoke nipples with a heavy duty aircraft fuel tank sealer to allow the use of tubeless tyres which was a great success. The Tiger was still on the road last year so despite the dire warnings from "experts" it hasn't killed anyone.
14/04/2026 16:19:07 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Of course the main use for the frame is to act as a support when fitting / removing tyres as the rim sits on the frame while the spindle / sprocket / whatever drops through.
Anyway, successfully fitted the Mitas this morning although the flanged rim was a bit of a tussle even with the softer tyre. This picture shows another weapon in my tyre / wheel armoury: a jig for adjusting spokes and balancing wheels which is what I'm doing now. It's not perfect for this job as it depends on the wheel bearings being very free, and most sealed bearings offfer slight resistance. This pic makes the tyre look huge - it's not.....
The jig is made from 1/2" MDF (which I had to buy, shock horror) and various bits of scrap wood. It and the tyre fitting frame have been in my shed for 20 years or so. I have a pair of Dunlop tyre levers that are about a foot long and 1.5" wide so help preserve the rims from damage. Both are perforated with a series of holes where I've used them to make impromptu pullers at various times.
15/04/2026 12:04:12 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
....a dn now the wheel is back on the bike, fortunately without fouling anything although it's a little closer to the mudguard than ideal. Will it have the desired effect? Will I come back and tell you if it does? Is the moon made of green cheese? All these and others will be answered in due course.
15/04/2026 16:28:46 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Green Cheese, I prefer a nice Cheddar or maybe a brie if the mood takes me.
15/04/2026 18:01:00 UTC
ROD¹ said :-
Red Leicester for myself, but I did develop a strong preference for Mimolette when I was in France last year.
15/04/2026 19:05:09 UTC
nab301 said :-
Thanks Ian, working with what I had at the time years ago I made my bead breaker and balancer frame out of 1" square furniture metal some threaded bar and a few nuts... . Currently I have a couple of pallets so will probably make a square, wheel rim support frame and might even place it all on the workmate.
I remember you posting about the Tiger rim sealing job but I think that was on the Guzzi forum, as you mentioned there a failure couldn't be any worse than a tube blow out.
Nigel
16/04/2026 13:29:03 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
This is my bead breaker...
16/04/2026 15:26:56 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Good to see variations on a theme..... I must say both of yours look heftier than mine. But yours don't have the rim-supporting frame. Wood is much easier to work with, plenty strong for my needs and also kind to the rim and tyre.
Yes I think I did refer to the tubeless conversion on a Guzzi forum but wrote it up more fully on a Triumph one. Not sure if it's still there or whether I am still persona grata.
16/04/2026 16:42:21 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Ed, Leader, love the gate, it's a real Trigger's broom.
Upt.
16/04/2026 23:18:17 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Aaaaah the gate. It's a security feature. Not only is it there to keep people out it also ensure anyone passing by isn't misled into thinking there's something worth stealing inside. I apply the same principle with the bike - if it looks nice then it looks nice to thieves.
17/04/2026 08:07:24 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Now for something slightly different. Again.
I was tinkering with the little C11 when I noticed that the back wheel would only rotate part of its circumference in both directions. I checked it wasn't in gear and removed the outer primary chaincase (I hate all those tiny screws!). Couldn't see anything wrong in there so started worrying about bent gearbox mainshaft etc so I stripped out the primary drive and removed the inner chaincase.
Then I saw it. Somehow a 2BA nut - no idea where from - had lodged itself on the lower rear chain run and was getting enmeshed with the gearbox sprocket / rear wheel sprocket so stopping wheel rotation. If I'd spent a little while longer pondering I may have seen it before all that work.....
Anyway, screwed it all back together but could I get the mainshaft retaining nut on against spring pressure? Could I buggery. I don't know why as I've done it before. Just getting weak I expect. After much thought I decided I could compress the spring in the cice and make a couple of retainers out of 16 gauge steel to keep it compressed. A crude version of spring compressors. I used a couple of cable ties to stop them making a premature bid for freedom.
The photos show the clips in place on the compressed spring with a couple of cable ties to stop them flying off. The next photo shows the spring in place with the clamps still on. I then screwed the retainer on by hand till it was nearly in contact then (very) carefully snipped the cable ties then wrapped the lot in a bit of rag and prised the clips off. No fingers damaged!
I have to say that was very successful. Maybe I should start making the clips and selling them at an exorbitant price!
Sorry about the quality of the photos - new phone.....
25/04/2026 12:40:57 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Spring in situ before taking the clips off:
25/04/2026 12:41:36 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
That looks like one heck of a spring. Proper Brumingham spring arr kid.
25/04/2026 17:06:21 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Yes, it was pretty scary. I don't like springs, they sneak round and catch you when you're not looking.
26/04/2026 09:43:25 UTC
nab301 said :-
When you said spring I was looking at the photos saying what spring! until Upt commented and it all became clear, that is some spring...
Nigel
29/04/2026 13:06:31 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Just to explain what it is: there is no cush drive in the clutch or back wheel. The cush drive is the 4 lobed device just inboard of the spring. The theory is that power pulses (not very large as it's only a 250 single) are smoothed out as the cam faces move slightly under torque. A bit crude but very typical of prewar bikes.
30/04/2026 14:20:33 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
.
30/04/2026 14:21:11 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
I need a diagram or something Ian - I'm not seeing it in my head yet.
01/05/2026 07:56:48 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
See below. The sprocket is free to rotate on the inner plain end of part 67-1097 (et al), which is is keyed to the engine mainshaft so turns with it. The sprocket has the 4 lobe cam shape to the left, and this engages with part 15-1555 which slides on splines on the exterior of 67-1097 so turns with it. The giant spring holds 15-555 firmly against the sprocket but if there is sufficient rotatonal force the cam lobes will slide against the spring pressure allowing some shock absorbing function.
Not sure if this helps......
01/05/2026 10:05:09 UTC
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