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The Lakes Weekend
I
knew I was gonna get slagged off for going on the trusty V-Max, rather than
Flipper (my S&S/Ness custom softail), especially when Friday morning turned
out wet. Actually I would have preferred to take Flipper, despite the rain,
but carrying a heavy backpack on my knackered shoulder was a definite no no.
Once off the M6 heading for Keswick, a boat would have been more use than a
bike. It was that bad, I was half expecting Dave Feeney to pull over and get
his tackle out. (Pardon??) Anyway, once
I 'd got some dry socks on the next seven hours were spent in the pub. Doesn't
time fly etc…
Saturday
morning, and it's still wet. I was nominated back marker, cos you lot obviously
didn't want me polluting the long line of Harleys with my Jap Crap, and I was
the only rider who wasn't sporting a matt black helmet, so at least I'd be easy
to spot.
The first bike to succumb to the
conditions was an old Honda owned by one of the lads from down south, whose
Harley had failed just before leaving home. He got an AA van to collect him.
Next to have problems was our own Pres, who had pulled over with his new Harley
which was emitting a strange noise from the gearbox area. The starter motor
was engaging all by itself. Just don't ask how I knew what the problem was.
After a few minutes, left to dry out, the problem seemed to fix itself, so I
left Dennis and Jan to make their way back to Keswick.
By now I'd lost contact with the
rideout. After half an hour of flying around the countryside, I eventually found
the first stop, about five minutes before everyone else arrived. Apparently
Pat learned to swim in the lake behind the hotel. Must have been bloody cold
even in summer. Oh yes, going over that railway crossing at seventy was a er…
memorable moment. From now on the weather improved, some of us bypassed the
stop at Hadrian's Wall to get to a TV (sad I know..).
Important Note - when the local council puts
up signs saying 'Slow - Dip in Road' they mean it.
By the time we arrived at the posh hotel for lunch,
the sun had finally made an appearance. Even better England stuffed Denmark
3:0 in the World Cup. As always we had a great route, and Robert did a good
job marshalling as usual..
Back in Keswick, we didn't have long to wait before
catching a minibus to the pub where the evening entertainment and food had been
laid on. The band played some S.R.V so I was happy.
Sunday morning, still a bit wet, I had to get home,
Dave Feeney and I headed back to the M6, for the long ride home. Dave peeled
off at Preston, as he wanted to 'check the River', since he was fishing on the
Ribble the next day. Why? Did he expect the fish not to move 'til he got back?
Soon after I hit about ten miles of slow moving traffic. After a mile of weaving
between the 2nd and 3rd lanes, I did the remaining nine miles on the hard shoulder.
Much safer if you ask me.
The Ed.
Hattech Number 3 (or how to cock up your Evo without even trying)
After
my recent problems on the Lakes trip I thought an appropriate topic for this
issue would be Ignition Systems! Actually I think my erratic running
was all down to sabotage by Lee so he could win best bike at this year's Rally!
Now in days of old, when
men were bold and solid-state electronics were not invented everything was very
simple. All you needed were a few thousand copper windings (coil) to provide
the high voltage spark and something called a contact breaker (points) to tell
the sparkplug when to fire. As the engine had to spark at a different time for
starting there was also a lever or twist grip called an Advance and Retard.
You only forgot to retard once, as the resulting kick back through the kick-start
lever would send you 'arse over tit' into the nearest privet hedge and was not
to be recommended.
Things then moved on to an
auto advance system driven by bob-weights behind the contact breaker and people
no longer ended up in the shrubbery. One other option for providing the spark
was a fully self-contained unit called a Magneto, which used the turn of the
engine to generate electricity to fire the plug. Advantage being no battery
needed, and you knew exactly where to look if things went wrong. Had to spin
the engine hard though to get it to start but it kept you fit.
In the nineteen twenties Harley
model 'A's had a Magneto and no lights, model 'B's had a coil, battery and lights.
So what have we got now, well if you are the lucky owner of a twin cam then
you have a fully electronic single fire system.
Single fire means each plug fires
separately and therefore has to have its own coil. Previous to that Harleys
were dual fire, using one coil to fire both plugs at the same time and therefore
twice per engine cycle. Single fire is better as you do not get the coil working
overtime and unwanted firing of the plug that can reduce performance and lead
to vibration. It is however more complex and dearer to manufacture.
Harley Electronic ignitions have
been used since 1979 and my Ironhead is still running on the very first version
where the contact breaker is replaced by an electronic 'pick up', which still
used a mechanical Advance and Retard to alter the timing. On Evo models this
mechanical system was replaced by a black box call an Ignition module and a
VOES. No that is not the name of a furry animal spelt wrong but a vacuum operated
electrical switch working off your carburettor manifold which helps dictate
how much spark advance to give the engine under different operating conditions.
(Yes Chris, I am admitting some things are better with a Twin Cam - factory
part 396591a-00 for example)
If you have an Evo big twin then one of
the easiest ways to make your engine pull well is to buy a Screamin Pigeon,
sorry Eagle, Ignition module. As might be guessed the standard unit is mapped
to meet emission regulations and not performance. From all reports Sportsters
respond less well to a change of the module as they have better performance
curves already, although I have no direct experience of this myself.
Aftermarket variable curve modules are also now
available for Twin Cams, something you may wish to try if you have more money
than sense? Alternatively you can buy a full single fire conversion that lets
you set your own performance options, and rev limits which is where my troubles
began. A few years ago when I did the conversion the standard system to buy
was a Crane HI-4, which replaced the complete ignition system with a programmable
black box in the cone and a pair of coils moulded together as a single unit.
After eighteen months of intermittent starting problems (a few of you will remember
the push starts and thanks to everyone who helped) and poor wet weather running
I discovered that having the coils too close together is not a good idea as
the insulation breaks down too easily. When the coil was replaced with individual
Dyna coils my problems disappeared, it was just an expensive exercise to find
out. (Single coils also means you buy a nice dangly bracket to hang them from).
My more recent problem at the lakes appear to be a
pick up failure, luckily there are two pick up's on the Crane system so I was
able to get home using one cylinder only. Not a pleasant event as I was 60 flat
out, doing thirty to the gallon and everything on the bike that could, fell
apart. Standard Harley pick ups are not always reliable either as found out
by Mr Bailey on his new Heritage a few years ago. Typical of ignition faults,
the following day I could find nothing wrong and it took another 20 miles of
running to make the fault reoccur. I have now black listed Mr Crane and will
not be buying any more of his goodies, instead I will be changing to the 'state
of the art' Dyna 2000i system (Guaranteed 5 years!)... if Zodiac ever deliver
it.
The easiest way of updating a Evo to single fire
is to just replace the coil and ignition module, using the original HD pick
up to provide the interruption for the spark. This requires a small amount of
rewiring and mechanical work. More complex but tidier is a full system change,
however this does require some wiring skills. Incidentally the vacant spot on
your chassis provides a nice home for the Badlander module to work your custom
indicators. Timing is relatively simple as most modules include a timing light
that you set at front pot top dead centre - just follow the simple instructions
and 'Bob's your uncle' although I am sure he will deny having any carnal relations
with any member of your family.
One area I have not explored, does anyone know
if you can retrofit a Twin Cam single fire system to an Evo?
Perhaps the moral of my story here is that often things
are better left alone and the use of standard proven parts is best? Have you
ever noticed that it's always the so-called 'technical expert' who breaks down?
Still if it wasn't for idiots like me wanting to experiment you wouldn't have
this boring page to read and to provide useless chatter. (Also Custom Chrome
would be out of business!) Hatman's Presidential tip Number
492: If your starter motor comes on unexpectedly for no reason unplug the
small black box under the seat with the four spade connectors, that should call
it to halt?
The Ed comments… I also run a single fire ignition,
with crane's 2-in-1 coils. Which failed during last years' Lakes trip. Though
I got home ok on one mighty 800 cc cylinder. Also hear on the grapevine that
the Crane Hi4 ignition module is very good, when it works. Their quality control
isn't all it could be…
A Few Words From Our Secretary
I don't know whether or not anybody read the little note about items for the
newsletter that I pinned up at the Rally. So I am writing a few lines about
some of our recent events, and hoping that somebody else will write a few more.
Hofstade
I
think everybody enjoyed this one, unfortunately I couldn't go and Dennis had
to drop out (he can't cope without me!). So that meant that none of the committee
were there - but hey, 'we' are allowed to choose which events to support, just
the same as everyone else.
Calderdale Bike Show, Halifax
In my opinion this wasn't as good as previous years, but overall I enjoyed the day and we had a couple of winners - Ann Ingram with Spike the Trike (best Engineering) and Lee with Flipper (best V Twin).
Lake District Weekend
I was really looking forward to this one but it wasn't one of the most memorable trips. The rain on Friday was unbelievable, Saturday wet again and the bike decided to keep starting itself. But Saturday night was really good and Sunday my back worsened, as did Dennis's chest problem, but we made it home. Monday resulted in a joint appointment at the Doc's and a week off work. The arrival of a beautiful bouquet of flowers (some of which are still living) made it all worthwhile - so thanks very much.
The 8th NHC Lakeside Rally
Three
weeks on and its Rally time. Everything seemed set, then on Thursday the weather
forecast said rain and more rain! Oh well ! Then a phone call at 10:15pm just
as I was savouring my first drink in the pub - The Natural Born Swillers singer
was in Hospital !! Friday morning rain - and continuous phone ringing - no band
- Sue was ill and my Boy Scout wouldn't be coming 'til later, as he had to shop
for maggots! The rain stopped, Lynne managed to contact her music partner, Neil,
and they stepped in at the 11th hour (with a brilliant performance I must add).
Then just as you think things were going to be okay, the tattoist phoned to
say he was ill. Luck eh! As some of you will be aware I don't
particularly enjoy camping but we bought a new tent to try to improve things.
This tent was much better, I can walk in the door, stand up inside, sit in the
armchair and sleep a little further away from the Prez's snoring. But it was
cold on Friday night wasn't it! Saturday went quite well without too many disasters
- Grant Hood (the artist) didn't show and apparently the band were not the best
we've had. But on the good side the Poker Run was a great success (despite Brian
being thrown off one pub's carpark), I won the Balls-in-the-Bucket contest (and
I hadn't been practicing, honest). Dudley was his usual brilliantly funny self
and some old friends came over to see us, and enjoyed themselves, as I did,
but then I'm biased!
The Rally Winners Were…
Best Bike W996 WEC Lee
Best Big Twin J864 EYB Owen Astley
Best Sportster G402 PWR Mick Dennison
Best Custom/Engineering W996 WEC Lee
Best Paint M815 TBA Paul Wolfendale
Balls in the Bucket Janet Brooks
Poker Run Dave Ingram
Best Ladies Tattoo Liz Pollitt
Best Mens Tattoo Bro Glouster, A38
My thanks go to the Rally Committee, Ian Dewsnip, Elaine, Barbara and Janette,
the Security Contingent and all who donated raffle prizes My condolences to
all those who didn't mange to enjoy themselves and to Dave's 800 maggots who
suffered in his absence and died.
Janet