HowieD's 'arris

[chrisNI]

You’re making some good progress with this

[HowieD]

So following some sound advice I took my Choke Plungers to Rob Meggitt as I didn't realise how close he lives to me.

A few days later, these arrived in the post:

And I fitted them and set up the Carb Slider sync gaps with a 2mm drill then fitted them to the bike and boxed it up. Previously there ware all sorts of problems as since I had thumb thick black fuel line I wasn't sure there were air locks or just simply no flow. So I took the option to get some Tygol translucent Silicon pipe and fitted that too - which also get rid of four joints too. This made a big differnce as well.

Fired it up and much, much better than previously and improved as the engine warmed up.

Fitted the newly bought Gunson Colourtune and all looks good as well - don't seem to be able to upload a vid of it though :-(

[HowieD]

Hello - while I have some spare time to write up an update, here we are. I fitted the restored Plungers from Rob Meggit and the damn thing still wouldn't run right so I continued to work my way through the long list of suggestions compiled from all the usual places.

In the end I took the whole set of carbs to Robs so he could work his magic on them and he certainly did

Before I put them back on, the following was done:
Worked through the ignition system checking all connections - the Dyna HT Leads I didn't realise the boots over the Spark Plugs could slide so they were slid right up to make sure the Leads were properly connected to the Spark Plugs. It's possible one or more weren't previously. The Black Box itself has one plug and that was secured in place to make sure it wasn't vibrating loose - doubtful, but one thought eliminated.
The NGK Spark plugs were replaced with new ND ones.

Brand new Carb Mounting rubbers from Z-Power to replace the eBay knock offs that had loose brass tubes.
I connect 1 & 4 and 2 & 3 Vacuum pipes to cure a flat spot off idle and this was replaced with new 6 mm ID thick wall Fuel Pipe.

Carbs were refitted without any messing about or adjustments and the bike is run like that. I did a few Test Rides out and all the seems good so far.

[HowieD]

I made a few additions to the mirrors. These are eBay knock off of Oberon and easily come apart to use longer mounting bolts to space them out past my shoulders. I had some black nylon bar machined to the size and diameter needed to tidy them up. Then they are also the top fairing mounts.

Another thing is that I needed somewhere to keep the Side Stand Foot instead of sticking it in my pocket or bag so cut and glued some closed cell foam to make a holder.

[HowieD]

Saturday morning 120 mile round trip breakfast run for a proper test flight

[HowieD]

According to the Odometer it's 900 miles since I got back on the road, so time for some routine maintenance - but of course routine maintenance can go both ways in the success department as will be revealed.

The last outing was to Squires near to the east of Leeds for a Harris Owners meet up which went well

It's not often a pic is taken with me on the bike, so here's one !

Horace has been running well the last 500 miles with nothing going wrong apart from a near disaster with the Gear Lever falling apart - luckily, I so found it in the road when I went looking for it:

And squealing front discs when they get hot - hopefully cured by lubing the bobbins - done but no road test yet.

Then onto the Valve clearance check:

So I found them mostly ok:

Apart from #1 inlet and #4 Exhaust, so the Shims need changing on those and I think I'll change all the others too to put them closer to 0.15 mm.

So off the road till parts arrive and I have time to do the required tasks:
Valve Shims,
Head re-Torque
replace the Cam Cover H Gasket as it's fallen to bits !
Oil & Filer change
drop the sump to clean and check the strainer
Fix the oil leak from the Generator Grommet.


I can't do the Head jobs with the engine as is 'cos there's no room - can't get the shim tool on the inlet valve.

So this is the scenario for the work, only using a car jack to lower the rear end

[zed1015]

All of those shims are too tight and you will have certainly been losing power on 1 and 4.
Never set them at or let them go below 0.10mm.
0.10mm is the minimum clearance at which the shim should be changed.
Always aim for 0.15mm and if the next shim size takes it a little higher to 0.16mm - 0.17mm that's ok..

[HowieD]

All of those shims are too tight and you will have certainly been losing power on 1 and 4.
Never set them at or let them go below 0.10mm.
0.10mm is the minimum clearance at which the shim should be changed.
Always aim for 0.15mm and if the next shim size takes it a little higher to 0.16mm - 0.17mm that's ok..

It's only when I went on the How Too's pages about Valve Clearances did I see the reference to burnt out valves and a Service Bulletin about them - do you have a copy anywhere by any chance Rob ?.

I'm just awaiting an opportunity to be able to start on it all next week - parts and oil on their way :-)

[HowieD]

Bloody hell - it's nearly been a month !

Well in that time I've hand to remove the head for some fettling at the premises of that well known Z Guru zed1015 (TYVM Rob )

Stripped a thread on the Cam Cap so had to do a Helicoil repair - once the kit was delivered from the Bikers Toolbox. £38 for a kit seems a bit of a bargain compared to other vendors.

Took a few goes to get the Shims right and some postal delays for the new ones to arrive in two batches but happy with the resulting gaps now:

Then, once the shims were done, the engine bolted back into place, it was time to turn the attention to the cause of the oily boot. Not a good idea to put a conduit path through a grommet. Oil was tracking through the sheathing to the outside air, then my boot.

Then once the sheath was trimmed back this horror was discovered:

Cut the wires back and connected to three core tinned cable in one length to a new MOSFET Plug. Then tested for continuity to make sure there were good connections. Protected the lot near the generator with a new grommet and several layers of Heat Shrink.

[HowieD]

Test start and check for leaks - #2 Exhaust blowing, so reseated the copper ring to seal it - all good on the second attempt.

Quick ride to fill up - 6 miles away, and the bike feels transformed !

No leaks apparent on RTB so looking forward to some rides out in the coming weeks
Oil on the floor is from priming the Scott Oiler

[HowieD]

Out on the roads of north Lincolnshire - 150 miles ride around to see how it goes.

It goes very well with no issues when I returned home

[HowieD]

My life in a nutshell !!

https://www.bikesure.co.uk/forever-bikes/harris-magnum/