Ariel VB600

[nickphipps]

i am in south Wiltshire, Salisbury

[brenton.roy]

HI Nick,
Pretty well anything is fine for a tool. I ground the tynes off an old kitchen fork years ago, leaving a flat chisel face - figuring it was fairly soft metal and wouldn't scratch things up too much. The carbon will scrape off fairly easily. Keep the piston at top dead centre and be aware of what is falling into the ring grooves.
Yep, the lever moves about that much. All you need to worry about is full advance, which is where you set the timing.
Brenton

[nickphipps]

Thankyou for the advise, i like the idea of the ground down fork, and will give that a go......i had wondered about looking at the rings etc while top was off, but the bike doesnt smoke, and am questioning how far to go. I dont want to go further than needed at the moment.......but i agree the top end should be checked and de coked, with valves and seats checked....and lastly setting the timing....cant wait to get stuck in, just need to get a few tools first.......

[brenton.roy]

Hi Nick, there's no point in taking the barrel off if it is all working OK. This leaves you something to do for later.
Another positive will be the small number of tools you'll need - although you will need the proper tool for removing the magneto sprocket. Every other way of getting it off will break something.
Graham's idea of getting a Waller or Pearson book is a good one.
If you are an AOMCC member, there are heaps of resources for your bike on their excellent website.

[dave.owen]

Nick,
I live in Swindon ,let me know if you need any help

Dave

[john.nash]

HI Nick,
Pretty well anything is fine for a tool. I ground the tynes off an old kitchen fork years ago, leaving a flat chisel face - figuring it was fairly soft metal and wouldn't scratch things up too much. The carbon will scrape off fairly easily. Keep the piston at top dead centre and be aware of what is falling into the ring grooves.
Yep, the lever moves about that much. All you need to worry about is full advance, which is where you set the timing.
Brenton

Take a vaccum cleaner with you.
As you scrape then have it running and it will suck the scraped deposits away.

Should the lever move a fair amount, as mine does, maybe 120 degrees......but the effectivness of the advance /retard is only on a very small part of this..........

The cable can be adjusted where it enters the Magneto.
Take off the magneto end cover and operate the lever, you will see the cable is linked to short "cam plunger", which in turn moves a cam in the points.
If you kick the bike until the points are just opening, then operate the lever a few times, you'll see the points open and close. That's all it does.

Most ariels are tight-wire advance, where the cable/cam plunger is on the right hand side of the points , i.e. pulling the cable tight advances the timing.
The only thing that is important, as Brenton says, is that when the lever pulls the cable as tight as possible the "cam plunger" moves as far as it can (i.e. it gets to full advance).

If you are not sure, then take up Dave Owen on his offer. He needs to get out more

[nickphipps]

Thank you all again, i now have a copy of Waller on its way to me, and will be doing some reading in the next week.......i am going to attempt the de coke the engine my self, although still need to locate a sidevalve spring compressor, so i can check the valve seats........I might take Dave up on his help to get the timing sorted...as i really dont want to mess this up and would be very useful to have a hand sorting it out.........cant wait till next month to join up properly, and read some of the articles you have........thanks again..........till my next question.....

[nickphipps]

Hi i have built up enough courage to delve into to the engine and de coke it.....After removing the head it was quite apparent that it was in need of a de coke......a lot of flaky carbon, some of it quite stuck on there, i used a small scraper and as advised a vacuum cleaner to assist in the removal of carbon....although i have to admit i was very nervous that some would fall passed the piston...I reckon i removed 90% of the carbon, i couldnt remove the valves as i don't have a spring compressor yet, (something to get soon), but rotated the engine and the seats looked very clean......This also gave me the opportunity to check the opening and closing of the points, as far as i could tell they were beginning to open right on tdc on retard, with the advance full they opened with about 1 cm before tdc.....although i did notice that they then staid open for a long time passed tdc while rotating the wheel.......i cleaned the copper gasket, and refitted the bolts, oppersite each other so as not to distort the head, It fired up with 1 kick......very impressed......just hoping i havnt stuffed anything up.......my confidence is not that high when it comes to these things, although i hope will became more confident as time goes on.........

[brenton.roy]

Hi Nick, from your explanation, all sounds fine. You'll have made a difference removing the carbon, and it always feels better seeing how it works.
The valves do stay open for a while, so all is well there.
If the seats are ok, there's no real need to remove the valves. You could leave this until the weather is really crap and you are bored.
Starting first kick is a good indication that things worked out well!
Another maintenance job that will need doing is to remove the sump plate and clean out what passes for an oil filter. It is a plug in one flywheel. This is often full up of gunge.
Also, you could check the chains for adjustment - the primary and timing chains can flap around a bit an eat some aluminium.
Brenton

[nickphipps]

I have had the casings off and the primary oil looked very green and so will be replaced, chain looks to be in very good condition with minimal looseness, about 1 cm deflection, will be looking at the timing chain and also the oil trap shortly.......Just some more general questions.......What battery do people generally use? i had one in the old exide casing but is in need of relacement........also peoples general ideas on oils to use?....i know multigrade is no good as holds particles in suspension too much, and have been advised straight 50, any good makes or will any make do......?