My VB has been running well for some time and done some reasonably long runs however the last few times I've had it out it's been first kick starting from cold but difficult to start after that when still warm. In fact, I took it for a warrant of fitness yesterday and it flew through, however when I ...

Hi Graeme,

I had a similar problem with my BA box on my 1937 VB. I had it to bits 4 times before I sorted it. During those strip downs I followed all the excellent suggestions on this forum. I replaced top gear, the sleeve gear and third gear, replaced bearings and made new bushes, checked ...

Hi Simon & John
I didn’t use any steady support as the mandrel is quite a large diameter and when the carburettor is mounted, it is almost right up against the chuck and very firm, so I figured it had all the support it needed really.
Because it was only about .010 out of round and I was using a ...

Simon,
I'm sorry I have been very slow in reply to your question on how I machined my carburetor. Whilst I didn't at the time have the presence of mind to photograph it I'll do my best to explain what I did.

I figured the lower section of the carburetor where the jet assembly is located would still ...

Now I seem to have all the bugs, that I am aware of, ironed out, I plucked up courage and headed out for a longer ride with a mate for support if needed. The ride was pretty solid with a lot of long climbs consisting of top and third gear and a good mix of some long straight runs. Always aware of ...

Well I now have a set of handlebars that stay where they are put. There is fractional movement which is the rubber doing it's job as I imagine they might have originally intended. It is very reassuring that they are not going anywhere now and as a bonus the mirror consistently retains the blurred ...

On my VB the handlebars have rubber bushes mounting them into the carrier attaching them to the girders. This was presumably to soften the vibration a bit.
My handlebars were rechromed by a previous owner and I did wonder if in the area of the bushes they were supposed to have a roughed area so the ...

Hi Mike,

The hole in my valve chest is 1/8" and is correctly aligned with the hole in the crankcase so I'm not sure about your larger diameter hole.

As a further update for everyone who has offered so many useful suggestions. I have now bushed the MORGO pump down to 3/16" on the delivery side and ...

Hi Nev & Paul,

Thank you so much for your valuable help. The oil pump was fitted by the previous owner at some stage before I got the bike. I hadn't realised the Morgo one had a higher delivery rate.
That could also explain why it is still a bit smokey. I just thought the rings I had fitted hadn't ...

On my VB, the breather pipe from the valve chest which comes out the side of the cylinder barrel into the banjo nut, drops through a 3/8 pipe down the side of the engine and finishes just below the bottom frame leg. Because of the big volume displacement of the engine there is a lot of air movement ...