A rider ...

[admin]

Reese ,

I do have new linings on those shoes . I guess I'll just have to do a few burn outs .

Burnouts, now you are talking my language!

[pd]

The talk about transmission shoes brought to mind the fact that my brake adjustment was near totally used .
I had to remove the rear wheel anyway , so I pulled the brake panel for inspection . I found that my brake shoe rocker ends ( as opposed to the pivot ends ) were just aluminum . They had no hard surface to protect against wear , like most more modern shoes have . The brake actuator , where the rocker ends rest while mounted on the panel , had small ridges close to the tips ( likely left from casting ). Those ridges were cutting into the flat surface of the rocker ends of the shoes .
I filed the ridges smooth and made protection 'clips' out of that hard , unforgiving copper pipe that I couldn't bend for my exhaust pipes . That copper is about 3/32" thick , so I ended up with almost an inch more of adjustment on the brake rod .
Hopefully , the copper will save the shoes from too much more abuse .

I can't believe I didn't take any pics while I had the panel and shoes off .

[pd]

For comparison sake , here are my brake shoes without the protective 'clip' on the rocker surfaces :
These were originally mounted in the transmission , so , they show no friction wear . This pic was taken before the shoes were mounted on the brake panel .



And here's a set of brake shoes , from a different application , that have the 'clips' on them from the manufacturer :

[Ricks]

Interesting Pete. Those other shoes, do they fit our bikes, and where do you buy them?

[Mike Sal]

I wonder what the weight difference is between those shoes & the originals?  That will have an influence on tranny engagement.
Mike Sal

[pd]

Reese ,

The grooved pair of shoes will not work on our bikes .

Mike ,

I can't imagine that any shoe that would fit our applications would be much different , weight wise . But if they were , I'd agree that the weight might effect the transmission engagement point .

[Ricks]

Reese ,

The grooved pair of shoes will not work on our bikes . Look at the pivot ends of the shoes . They are a rounded outward pivot as opposed to our cupped pivot .

Mike ,

I can't imagine that any shoe that would fit our applications would be much different , weight wise . But if they were , I'd agree that the weight might effect the transmission engagement point .

Pete, I would think we could adapt that bottom pivot no problem.  First, belt sand flat and then a little work with a die grinder equipped with a sanding roll.

[pd]

Yup . A little careful measuring and the right tools ...

[pd]

I rec'd my new sediment bowl . It's a decent fit and very acceptable replacement , in my opinion . It is just a bit shorter than the original , but the width is very close , maybe , as Matt said , a tad ( CH , to be exact ) narrower , but not by much .





I installed it , alone with a new cork gasket . No leaks .

[Ricks]

Pete, are those your plug wires tie wrapped together next to the cylinder?

[pd]

Good eye Rick .

Yes , plug and lighting wires . All are new . I know that's not the OEM wire routing configuration , but it's much less hectic . I also ran an extra wire for ground to front and rear from the magneto plate . The lighting wires have an extra layer of protection as they are routed through a plastic jet ski harness 'tube' . And the plug wires should be OK . I figured as tight as things are through the magneto plate and mount , running them together shouldn't be a problem . Not to mention they fire at the same time . There is about an inch clearance between the wires and the cylinder .

[admin]

If you run them through the upper motor mount, they hold them in a nice position.

[pd]

I like that 'nostalgic' look of the separated and supported wires . I'll probably end up rerouting , but I wanted to get the bike running reliably ( if that's possible ) . Just my impatience showing brightly , again .

[pd]

I rode the Simplex around the yard a couple of times today . It doesn't seem to want to rev up ( power up ) enough to really take off . Almost like it's slightly out of time . Completely opening the throttle seems to make no difference . It only revs to a point and that's it .

Maybe I have to increase the exhaust back pressure

[Ricks]

Did you adjust the carb?  If not, screw both screws in all the way, then back out 1 turn each.  It sounds like you may be way too rich.

If you set the points to .020, the timing should be good, as there is no adjustment.

The stock simplex muffler doesn't have any baffling, so I don't think back pressure is the problem.