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Topics - Mike Sal

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76
Engine & Transmission / Bike Dissassembly
« on: February 16, 2012, 10:51:37 AM »
It appears Simplex used the same design process as the outboard motor industry of the times.....nothing is modular.  To pull the engine you gotta get the belt off the tranny & to get the belt off the tranny you gotta pull it apart....unless I'm missing something.

I'm going to pull things off so I can fix up that kick starter shaft, and do some cleaning. 
Mike Sal

77
Other Things Simplex / T-shirt Project
« on: February 12, 2012, 06:49:20 AM »
Cool.  I've got a 1952 singer that i use to sew auto upholstery (I packed home a Singer industrial macine (w/ the big matching table from an auction, but it's buried in the shop & I haven't used it yet).

I really like the idea of T-shirts.  My vote would be for the winged logo on a colored shirt (you don't know how many ruined white studebaker t-shirts I have from crawling in or under cars while at shows).  Many years ago I had a home silk screening set up....sure wish I still had it.  I could handle 3 colors.

I can ask our local graphics business to give us a quote (we can compare numbers if your shop also does shirts).  I'll order a winged decal from Wayne tomorrow so they've got something to scan.  The 64 dollar question becomes what quantity to quoted & how many of the different sizes?
Mike Sal

78
Frame, Tank, Seat, Controls, Etc / Ignition Switch
« on: February 11, 2012, 06:25:38 PM »
My bike doesn't have one.  Can't really tell where or how it might have been mounted or attached (there is one short wire with a plastic coupling coming out of the mag that's not hooked to anything).  From the photo's, it appears the switch is in a tall housing & mounted near the head bearing nut???  I can figure out which wire is supposed to go to the switch but don't know what goes on at the switch end (does it ground, or un-ground the ignition coil)?
Mike Sal

79
Frame, Tank, Seat, Controls, Etc / Wheel Pants or Skirts
« on: February 11, 2012, 03:23:22 PM »
While I was tinkering in the shop I ran across some cardboard I use for patterns & got to thinking....Hmmm wouldn't it be cool to have some wheel pants (just my guess at what they are really called....maybe skirts?) on the Simplex (I saw an image of one with skirts somewhere).  I'm not to crazy with the rear fender (maybe eliminating the curve at the back & bringing that line down, so the whole piece has a accute angle from front to back).  Sorry if the pictures are too big, but I haven't figured out how to size them correctly yet.
Mike Sal

80
Engine & Transmission / Carburator Mud Flap
« on: February 11, 2012, 10:34:14 AM »
That Parts manual that just got posted is really cool, and helpful.  I see that I'm missing 2 brackets, one to support the aircleaner and the other is called a mud flap (#897, shown on page 6).  Does any body have one of these they could share a picture of?  The illustration isn't too clear.  I'm sure it won't be much trouble to fab one.
Mike Sal

81
Engine & Transmission / Engine.....Kick Starter
« on: February 07, 2012, 11:49:03 AM »
One of the things I noticed after getting the bike home was that sometimes the gear teeth would slip when trying to kick the engine over.  The things I see are that there is some wear on the frame mounting shaft and the brass bushing in the kicker.  The other thing I notice is that the left "pivot piece" which connects the sector gear to the kicker has a very large hole vs the size of the pin of the pivot piece.  This seems to be the greatest contributor to the gears not being close enough together.  

I can weld up & re-turn the mounting shaft from the frame, if I can get it off.  It doesn't look like there's any way to get to the nut for the bolt that holds the shaft without removing the motor first.  I wasn't really wanting to pull the engine yet.  This bike is in decent enough shape, I'd like to get it running before starting any restoration projects (meaning re-painting).  

82
Engine & Transmission / Engine.....Fuel System
« on: February 06, 2012, 05:21:51 PM »
Pulled the sediment bowl & tank off this evening.  Both with lots of mud which used to be gasolene.  The quart of dark stuff that came out of the tank was doing it's best to convert to varnish.  I'll take the tank to a local shop tomorrow to get it boiled out.

You guys didn't tell me it's a real pain in the butt to pull the carburator off.  I ran out of time before getting if off tonight.  I'll have to dig out my odd bent wrenches to get that back side nut off.  I did notice that the front side nut wasn't snugged up to the carb flange & I could wobble the carb a little.  Not sure if this means the flange is warped or if the guy just didn't get it snugged down.
Mike Sal

83
Engine & Transmission / Engine.....Exhaust
« on: February 05, 2012, 07:27:16 PM »
Instead of having 2 long exhaust pipes going back to the rear of the the bike, mine has one short pipe which is cut off at an angle & is bolted to one of the engine mounting bolts.  The exhaust exits at the motor mount plate.  This doesn't seem right to me.  Do you think it's been modified, or was this also a system they used? 

I'd prefer the double pipes.  Are they hard to come by, or do i need to modify the muffler I have?
Mike Sal
(I was kinda rooting for the Patriots......)

84
Wheels & Tires / Wheels & Tires.....Spokes
« on: February 05, 2012, 06:26:14 PM »
I got to spend a little bit of time wiping off 10 years of dust from the Springfield bike today.  I'ts a very complete bike.   Anyway, the worst thing I've found so far are the spokes in the wheels.  The guy who gave the bike a cosmetic spruce up started with wheels that had rusty spokes.  He just painted over the rust when he re-painted the wheels.

Where's the best place to get replacement spokes?
Mike Sal
(can you tell I'm not that into the game tonight?)

85
Other Things Simplex / Bike Registry?
« on: February 05, 2012, 07:44:17 AM »
Could we create a registry page on the site for logging in our bikes?  I'm a nut over stats (I'm working on a registry for 1966 studebakers for the studebaker club).  I think it would be interesting to see the serial number spread of the surviving bikes out there.
Mike Sal

86
Other Things Simplex / Cautiously Stoked about a bike
« on: February 01, 2012, 04:29:59 PM »
A simplex that was on ebay a few weeks ago turned up again today.  It's an ad, rather than an auction & the price listed was $1500.  It looked like it had been somewhat restored some years ago.

I called the guy & he was bummed to find out the price that was listed.  His business partner was supposed to re-list the bike at a higher price, but he told me that since I was the first to call, he would honor the price. 

He runs a bicycle shop & collects old bicycles.  He's interested in my '36 Hawthorne bike, so I offered to trade it in to help offset his cost delta.

He's 3 hours away, so Saturday is the soonest I can get there.  If nothing happens to muck up the deal, I think I've made a pretty good deal.
Mike Sal

87
Other Things Simplex / The Company Brochure
« on: January 25, 2012, 05:22:35 PM »
Wow, that is a really cool brochure kartjockey posted.  I recognized a lot of the office furniture, drafting boards, & machinery from when I first got into the engineering/manufacturing field. 

Did you notice the tape on the crash bars to keep the paint from getting nicked.  I was surprised that they said each bike gets dyno tested.  I wonder how they handled the fuel (were they shipped with some small amount of gas in the tank, or did they disconnect the fuel line for the test stand)?
Mike Sal

88
Manuals Only / Instruction Manual Model M
« on: January 19, 2012, 10:15:31 AM »
Not sure if I know what I'm doing here, but here's the manual I have to share.
Mike Sal

89
Other Things Simplex / Motor Bikes & Horseless Carriages
« on: January 16, 2012, 08:20:34 PM »
Do any of you folks also goof around with other forms of motoring?  There's a yahoo group called HCR Builders Group, for people who make replicas of Horseless Carriages.  Some are full scale, others slightly smaller.  These are guys who want old cars, but can't afford the real thing.  There have been some awsome builds so far....like curved dash oldsmobiles & Ford quadracycles.  One guy is building a replica of the original Daimler.  Some of the other guys build the projects you used to find in the old Popular Science magazines (go carts, motor bikes, etc).  Some of the guys build their own engines from scratch, others use lawnmower or 4 wheeler engines.

Some day I plan to build a replica of a 1908 Brush Pie Wagon.  I've got a spare Model T frame & axle set aside for the project.  Not sure what engine to use yet.
Mike Sal

90
Other Things Simplex / Vintage Motor Bike Club
« on: January 15, 2012, 08:27:04 PM »
I was just watching the youtube video of last year's Portland get together & then reviewing their website.  In the links section, I notice that the servi-cycle site is not mentioned as a link.  They seem to be heavy on the cushmans, but shouldn't  we get our site linked to theirs?
Mike Sal

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