Monday 13 April 2015

A100 Restoration: Sprockets, Chains, and Stuff

Some progress has been made on the A100 out of province inspection mission. Keep in mind - my goal is to do the absolute minimum to get this bike to pass the inspection so I can register it. Once it is registered, I plan to tear it all apart and restore it properly.

Here is a list of things I've done recently:


  • Checked brake wear
  • Changed oil (both the CCI and Transmission oil)
  • Adjusted clutch 
  • Added reflectors (more on that later)
  • Changed both sprockets and the chain
  • Fixed high/low beam switch which had rattled loose and required a wee bit of soldering

Here are a couple images from changing the sprockets:

Old vs. New

The pump for the 2-stroke oil injection
(note all the dirt, he wasn't lying when he said it was a farm bike)
I also was forced to add some RIDICULOUS reflectors for the inspection because Alberta law requires amber reflectors on the front of the bike and reds on the rear. Of course, the first thing anyone does when they get a new bike here is remove these eyesores. I made a trip to Princess Auto to re-eyesore this bike. Yuck.

Here is a shot of the brake shoes if anyone is interested.

The little cam on the right rotates when brake is applied which pushes shoes against drum


Also here is a shot of the stock regulator which is giving me all this trouble:
Stupid.
And here is a photo of the inside of the headlight/signal switch casing. Luckily, the loose wire was immediately identified and I repaired it with little difficulty. I'm always nervous taking apart little fiddly bits like this in case I can't get them back together, Top tip: take photos!!!




Until next time.


Sunday 12 April 2015

A100 Restoration: Regulators and Regulation Issues

Regulator

Good news: my diode arrived in the mail! This is the zener diode which I was going to use as a regulator. Bad news: is that the headlight is just as dim with the new one. I believe that I might actually need a bidirectional zener diode to use as the regulator - this would give me the full regulated wave rather than just the half which I had with my first attempt. New zeners have been ordered which I will use to try to construct the second iteration by putting 2 regular 50W zeners in series as shown below:


This circuit should produce an AC signal clamped between (Vz + Vf) and -(Vz + Vf) where Vz is the zener voltage and Vf is the forward voltage of the zener. Hopefully it looks something like this:

Left: From engine, Right: After Regulator

In any case, I will give it a try.

Regulation

My other problem: for some reason Nordic Insurance requires that I register my bike within a certain time period of insuring the bike. This is different from my previous dealing with Intact Insurance. I am now unable to get my inspection done in time so the insurance policy will have to lapse. Unfortunately this means I will lose a bit of money. I thought I was being clever and proactive by getting my insurance sorted out so quickly, It is very annoying indeed. 

Anyway, more parts and stuff has been arriving lately in the mail. Will update on all that soon.





Tuesday 7 April 2015

Motorcycle Observations YYC - Episode 1

Little break from the A100 content (mode coming soon though!) to show a quick helmet camera shot of this guy generally being an ass. Just caught a glimpse of this clown in my mirror before he decided to pass me in the same lane.