One of the earliest 1000cc Square Fours

[ray.tolman]

Congratulations Paul. The hard work was all worth it.
Ray

[robjameson]

I think I ought to road test it. Purely from a professional point of view of course

[Steven.Carter]

I think I ought to road test it. Purely from a professional point of view of course

No No, pick me Paul, I won't take it far

[paul.jameson]

I took the Square up the road today as we had a brief respite from the salt following overnight rain. I only did about 4 miles but in general I am well pleased. The overwhelming impression is one of an incredibly smooth engine. So it should be, with club rods and original dished pistons but it does seem smoother than my last 4G and is one heck of a lot smoother than the last 4G I rode ( which belongs to an exceptionally prominent and long serving officer of the club but is rough as old boots. (I am not referring to John Mitchell's 4G, which is a lot better)).

Power seems a little low, but this is very early days and I was going up a fairly steep hill with very little throttle opening. Handling is promising ( but it should be with Avon AM26 tyres) although the steering seemed slightly sluggish. Having checked the tyre pressures after the ride (fool) I found the front was at a mere 16psi which explains that one.

I would have gone out again, several times, but found on returning home that the rear number plate had made a bid for freedom and was now held on by one bolt at the top, plus another which was still present, less nut and washer. That meant I had lost the spacer between number plate and mudguard so the paint was being removed to avoid which was why I had made the spacer so carefully in the first place. Further examination revealed that I had tightened up the final bolts for the rear mudguard as a whole, but not the first ones, notably the double ended studs at the bottom of the Y shaped stay. There are always some items I fail to tighten properly, no matter how careful I aim to be.

I have solved the oil leaks which appeared the first time I ran the bike but, true to form, they have migrated elsewhere. No doubt I shall be chasing them around the bike for some time to come.

So far so good, but I do need to get the QD rear wheel assembled and installed. Has anyone got a surplus side stand incidentally? This is the one which fits to the front engine plates on the right side and is completely useless! It would be nice to have one, as they were original equipment, even for a sidecar machine, which mine was.

[Steven.Carter]

There's always something not tightened Paul. I find the salt on dry days not too bad but today for me was awfull as the salt and rain was know a brine solution that got everywhere, including my eyes! When I get home I usually hose the bike down and me and then spray over with ACF50.
Steve

[david.anderson]

Paul
Congratulations, the bike looks superb.
David

[mboelis]

Congratulations Paul.
btw, on my 4F i mounted every bolt and nut with Loctite 248 threadlocker.


/Marco

[paul.jameson]

I think I have finished it so here are the completion photos. It will be on display on the Club stand at the Stafford Show this weekend and then I can get down to the serious business of sorting the snags so that I can run up some miles on it.

[mboelis]

WoW Paul, great Bike!

[Bob.Murphy]

Beautiful .
Bob.