1954‘ish VH

[SimonFletcher]

The speedometer back in situ:

[SimonFletcher]

hi i mest up my HN brakes years ago by over greasing the old type bearings now i fit the one piece bearing that are sealed for life and no leaking or re greasing

Same here – got the sealed bearings from Draganfly – No big deal, pretty cheap! I did have some fun with the pressed in top-hat bush on the brake side front, though. It was significantly undersize, so I returned it. The next one was closer, but the new spindle I had from Acme still wouldn't go through it. Without a lathe on hand, I had to indulge in some unprofessional techniques that I won't go into here, but eventually I made it fit

[JohnnyBeckett]

hi Simon years ago DRAGS done the bearing with the top hat in it but now you have to fit the top hat i put a little chamfer on the top hat to make it fit easier

[Julian Murphy]

Simon.

Interesting about your experiences with the speedo.

Reminds me that I need an extension piece to the trip meter, as its a fiddle to zero with the nacelle in the way.

I did not know that they were available.

[SimonFletcher]

Simon.

Interesting about your experiences with the speedo.

Reminds me that I need an extension piece to the trip meter, as its a fiddle to zero with the nacelle in the way.

I did not know that they were available.

Yes – available from Draganfly and others. Writing this stuff up makes me realise that I should have taken a lot more photos. I'm okay on the after pics, but not very good on the before…

[SimonFletcher]

The photos above also show the resprayed top yoke. This, and a few other parts I painted, surprisingly given the circumstances, turned out not too bad.

When I bought the new stand, I took a punt on a couple of aerosols of RAL3007, which turned out to be a very close match indeed to the rest of the bike. The paint I'm using is only 1K cellulose. My set up for spraying is just about as basic as you can get. After a bit of 'research' on YouTube, a fine still day was chosen, the items were suspended on wire under a tree in the garden, well away from anyone, I donned a mask bought from the paint factors and did the best I could. Two coats of etch primer, and then two thin and two heavier top-coats.

I would have liked to use the 2K aerosols you can get (for a tougher finish), but since I have a respiratory condition, I was put off by the more hazardous nature of the material. Also, with significantly slower drying, I would have had to set up a much more controlled environment for drying than the back yard!

Once the paint had hardened off for a few days, I cut it back with some T-Cut and finished off with some wax. I'll post a bit more on my amateur painting efforts later.

[Roger Gwynn]

Simon, the speedo should go further down into the yoke, perhaps it isn't fully fitted yet but the lower vertical chrome part of the bezel should fit in side the yoke. There are 3 bezels and they do get confused but that looks like the right one.

[SimonFletcher]

Simon, the speedo should go further down into the yoke, perhaps it isn't fully fitted yet but the lower vertical chrome part of the bezel should fit in side the yoke. There are 3 bezels and they do get confused but that looks like the right one.

Roger, thanks for that, and I can see what you mean, but with the OD of the repro bezel, there just seemed to be no way that was going to happen. I’ll have another look at it though… might as well try and get it right!

[Roger Gwynn]

They can be rather tight and the original retaining strap is a flat bar that engages with grooves in the casting that will not line up unless it is the correct position.

[SimonFletcher]

They can be rather tight and the original retaining strap is a flat bar that engages with grooves in the casting that will not line up unless it is the correct position.

Had a go at this today (damned cold in the workshop!). I took the speedo out again and confirmed that (even without the O ring to seat it), it wouldn't fit in the yoke. I then spent a while sanding away some of the overspray that had inevitably occurred when painting, and reached a point where it was right back to the metal. Still no joy. Got the vernier out and measured it up. The 'hole' in the yoke is 3.175", with a bit of variance – it is a casting after all… The new bezel (see previous pic) is 3.250" + or – a bit, below the flange. No chance really that it will sit right into the yoke; I'd have to enlarge the opening by nearly 2mm!

That will have to wait for next time around… i.e. probably a task for the next custodian…

I was quite pleased with how the speedo turned out; As to whether it works on the bike, watch this space.

The dust is on the outside – honest! I'd bought a 'U' bracket to mount the speedo from Draganfly, but I believe it must be for the enclosed nacelle (5213-56). I cut the uprights off it, and measured so it would engage the slots in the yoke. Intentionally left a bit sharp, so that it bites into the ally yoke.