It's been a very long time since my last blog (April) and it would appear that nothing has been happening. Well that's not been through lack of trying, but I've found it much harder to get the parts and rebuild information for the Ariel than I did for the BSA.
So far I have bought 4 different manuals and they are all not very good. Each manual shows various states of strip and repair but not enough detail. For example, the parts books shows the rear hub with bearings, grease caps, spacers etc. But, as with the dished grease cap or the spacers with flanges on them, which way around do they fit in the hub?
In the end I resorted to the Ariel owners club forum, and low and behold after a while someone with real knowledge answered my questions. At last I could rebuild my front and rear hubs and get them ready for re-spoking.
Firstly The hubs were washed and all the old grease residue removed. They were then shot blasted and then sprayed with new black paint, carefully ensuring not to get paint inside the bearing area or on the brake area.
Next I fitted all new bearings, circlips and grease retaining caps and packed them with new grease.
Having stripped the old rear sprocket, I found that the cast boss on the inside of the sprocket that holds the bearing in place was broken. So that meant finding a replacement sprocket. This eventually arrived not showing signs of wear but very rusty. So it was back in the shot blasting cabinet to get it down to bare metal and then several coats of new silver spray paint.
It was whilst re-assembling the rear sprocket assembly, that I sent this picture of the two rear hub spacers to the Ariel forum page to ask "which way around do they go into the hub?" . The reply I got was not good news. The eagle eyed enthusiast who answered noticed that the smaller spacer had only a circlip groove at one end and pointed out that it should have a groove at both ends and two circlips. That meant going back on the parts trail looking for a replacement spacer. You can see why it's taken so long!
Eventually I got one and the rear hub could be rebuilt and fitted with it's new rear sprocket, bearings and spacers. Now at last I can send the hubs away to be mated with their new stainless steel rims and spokes. I'm not going to attempt re-spoking myself as the people at Shirebrook Motorcycles did such a good job on my BSA I'm taking these to them as well.
While they are away, I can concentrate on preparing the brake back plates with a large helping of buffing and polishing. Then I can re-fit the existing brake shoes, which unlike the rest of the bike, seem to be in quite good condition.
OK time to take a look at the front forks. What a strange set up!. The shock absorbers slot up the inside of the forks leaving a strange loop on the bottom of the shock absorber. The trailing arm front suspension pivots on bolts at the front and then the front axle passes through bushes in the trailing arms and these bushes move inside the loops on the shock absorbers both up and down and forward and back as the wheel rises. These are very awkward to assemble and it took considerable time to figure out exactly how they work and how to get them back together again.
But eventually they went back together and could be offered up into the headstock. Guess what? The bearings were worn out and some of the individual ball bearings were missing. More shopping and waiting. When the new bearings arrived, it wasn't too difficult to knock the races into the headstock or onto the column, but holding the new balls in place while the forks are pushed up into place requires lots of sticky grease and patience. Once in place the top ball bearings could be put in with more grease and then the final inner race, spacer and nut. Once tightened down hard and then slackened off to allow the forks to turn easily without any play, the second lock nut could finally be put in place and the bike has gained it's new forks. Excellent!
Copyright K. Hopcroft 11.08.14 All rights reserved
You can contact me on: hopcroftscoot@gmail.com
My other Blogs:
1961 BSA A10 Super Rocket Motorcycle:
https://60sclassicmotorbikes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/before.html
Miniature Land Rover Defender:
http://miniaturelandrover.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/1-miniature-land-rover-defender-idea.html
1971 VW Karmann Ghia Convertible Car:
http://karmannghiarestoration.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/1-karmann-ghia-retoration-project.html
Motorcycle Trailers / Caravans:
http://motorcycletrailersandcaravans.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/1-motorcycle-trailers-problem.html
So far I have bought 4 different manuals and they are all not very good. Each manual shows various states of strip and repair but not enough detail. For example, the parts books shows the rear hub with bearings, grease caps, spacers etc. But, as with the dished grease cap or the spacers with flanges on them, which way around do they fit in the hub?
Firstly The hubs were washed and all the old grease residue removed. They were then shot blasted and then sprayed with new black paint, carefully ensuring not to get paint inside the bearing area or on the brake area.
Having stripped the old rear sprocket, I found that the cast boss on the inside of the sprocket that holds the bearing in place was broken. So that meant finding a replacement sprocket. This eventually arrived not showing signs of wear but very rusty. So it was back in the shot blasting cabinet to get it down to bare metal and then several coats of new silver spray paint.
It was whilst re-assembling the rear sprocket assembly, that I sent this picture of the two rear hub spacers to the Ariel forum page to ask "which way around do they go into the hub?" . The reply I got was not good news. The eagle eyed enthusiast who answered noticed that the smaller spacer had only a circlip groove at one end and pointed out that it should have a groove at both ends and two circlips. That meant going back on the parts trail looking for a replacement spacer. You can see why it's taken so long!Eventually I got one and the rear hub could be rebuilt and fitted with it's new rear sprocket, bearings and spacers. Now at last I can send the hubs away to be mated with their new stainless steel rims and spokes. I'm not going to attempt re-spoking myself as the people at Shirebrook Motorcycles did such a good job on my BSA I'm taking these to them as well.
While they are away, I can concentrate on preparing the brake back plates with a large helping of buffing and polishing. Then I can re-fit the existing brake shoes, which unlike the rest of the bike, seem to be in quite good condition.
OK time to take a look at the front forks. What a strange set up!. The shock absorbers slot up the inside of the forks leaving a strange loop on the bottom of the shock absorber. The trailing arm front suspension pivots on bolts at the front and then the front axle passes through bushes in the trailing arms and these bushes move inside the loops on the shock absorbers both up and down and forward and back as the wheel rises. These are very awkward to assemble and it took considerable time to figure out exactly how they work and how to get them back together again.But eventually they went back together and could be offered up into the headstock. Guess what? The bearings were worn out and some of the individual ball bearings were missing. More shopping and waiting. When the new bearings arrived, it wasn't too difficult to knock the races into the headstock or onto the column, but holding the new balls in place while the forks are pushed up into place requires lots of sticky grease and patience. Once in place the top ball bearings could be put in with more grease and then the final inner race, spacer and nut. Once tightened down hard and then slackened off to allow the forks to turn easily without any play, the second lock nut could finally be put in place and the bike has gained it's new forks. Excellent!
Copyright K. Hopcroft 11.08.14 All rights reserved
You can contact me on: hopcroftscoot@gmail.com
My other Blogs:
1961 BSA A10 Super Rocket Motorcycle:
https://60sclassicmotorbikes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/before.html
Miniature Land Rover Defender:
http://miniaturelandrover.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/1-miniature-land-rover-defender-idea.html
1971 VW Karmann Ghia Convertible Car:
http://karmannghiarestoration.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/1-karmann-ghia-retoration-project.html
Motorcycle Trailers / Caravans:
http://motorcycletrailersandcaravans.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/1-motorcycle-trailers-problem.html