10/31/24 We still have no word about the arrival of the cylinder barrels except “soon”, so we started in on porting the head. My guess is porting will gain upwards of 20% more power than a stock head. Performance is dependent on how much and how quickly fuel/air can enter and exit the motor. Porting is one of […] Keep reading
9/9/24 One of the last machining jobs to the engine cases is called decking. For us, it involved using a large 90 degree angle plate bolted to the mill table, and fly cutting the top of the cases to insure that... Keep reading
Several years ago I remember coming across an interesting exhaust manifold gasket for a Ford V8. This gasket had a clever design where it folded down into the exhaust port, effectively raising the exiting exhaust gases. This setup was meant... Keep reading
7/19/24 The first part of this post I never imagined I would be writing. We had an unplanned setback that really upset me. Ro-Dy Crankshafts, the maker of our new forged crankshaft made a bonehead mistake that we are now paying for. As... Keep reading
June 8, 2024 We started the line boring by bolting the drive side (DS) case to the mill table and indicating the existing bearing bore to find the centerline. We locked the table in both the X and Y-axis and then... Keep reading
The 1975 Norton Commando 850 Mk3 Electric Start was the last Norton model to hit the U.S. market while Norton was under Triumph/BSA’s umbrella. This bike marked one of the final attempts to rescue the faltering British motorcycle industry, which had been thriving at its peak just a decade earlier. Despite its many attempts at […] Read More
April 15, 2024 This post Is technical in nature and may not interest all the readers on my email list. It is a detailed record of our modifying my 1964 BSA Hornet engine from a bushing to a roller bearing on the timing side (TS). It also is about “blueprinting” the engine at the same time. It’s long […] Read More
March 25, 2024 First, a quick update on the track starter I have been making. It’s now operational but has an issue we are working on. It spins beautifully. At least until we placed the Rickman on it! It could not turn over the engine. I’m using a Ford 150 Truck starter, but this being my first attempt at a […] Read More
3/14/24 It’s been a while since we have made any changes to my Rickman, but this new pair of carburetor modifications has blown us away. Last Christmas, Eric gave me 2 products from the same company, thunderproducts.com which made some hard to believe claims. The first product is called a Quad-Flow Torque Wing, which has horizontal and vertical […] Read More
January 15, 2024 We ran into another delay in the beginning of November so this edition is a couple of months behind schedule. Not the usual type delay however, but one that involved me. I took a fall from a ladder while working on a solar project on my one-story kitchen roof and broke 17 ribs, 2 […] Read More
November 5, 2023 In my last post I referenced every time I started to my make a little progress on my BSA Gold Star something got in the way. Immediately after finishing the head work on the Gold Star, my Triumph twin, which has had an ongoing issue of fouling plugs, hit a point where […] Read More
November 4, 2023 I have been working on a BSA DBD34 Goldstar 500cc single cylinder motorcycle for several years now. This has been a back burner project as every time I make a little progress, another motorcycle needs some TLC. The Goldstar gets put aside and then my time frees up and we find time to […] Read More
October 19, 2023 We spent far more time on the rear fender and related parts than I ever would have imagined. Ditto for the painting. Since the fender is a really narrow 4” stainless steel (SS) un-drilled fender (sold as a blank front fender), its alignment in relationship to the rear wheel needs to be right on […] Read More
August 4, 2023 After our preliminary frame alignment, I cut out a pair of steel plates matching the plates already on the frame, which support the swing arm axle. I wanted to double the thickness of these plates in order to stiffen the frame where the swing arm axle goes through it. BSA’s frames are a combination […] Read More
June 3, 2023 Before I get into this report, the big news for us it that we now have a Bridgeport vertical mill in my shop. Eric found a 1974 J-Head model in pristine condition from a shop in Berkeley, about ten miles away from San Francisco. A J-Head model clears my low ceiling garage by a […] Read More
April 25, 2023 As of this writing, this post in now going to a larger audience and my son Eric is also turning it into a blog. Because of this, I won’t know everyone who receives this post and future posts, so I want to take the time to explain a couple of things some […] Read More
January 16, 2023 My Rickman report has finally turned into my BSA report. After slightly over a year delay from my original plans, my son Eric and I have finally started on the teardown and rebuilding of my 1964 BSA Spitfire Hornet. This was my first motorcycle, which I bought in 1965. In a couple […] Read More
March 11, 2022 I have been slowly making some headway on my Rickman. The two main areas of effort for me, with my disability, were to start the bike myself, and to get it re-registered so DMV wouldn’t suspend my registration. A third issue, shifting, is still in the works with a temporary fix. The DMV […] Read More
Originally written: 12/5/2021 Blog Publication Date: 8/12/23 I wrote this article for publication for a website called “The Return of the Café Racers,” a couple of years ago. Geoffrey read my story, edited it to his liking and then published it. I am re-writing it now for this blog in the interest of adding context to the […] Read More
September 27, 2021 Last Saturday morning my son Eric came over and we loaded his 750, 1970 Triumph and the Rickman into the back of his truck and drove down to a parking lot at the intersection of Hwy 35 and 92. We met Al, Bob, Gabriel, his son and Nancy and we unloaded the […] Read More
September 15, 2021 The good news is that the Rickman is back running again and hopefully the oil leaks are no more. The engine breather hose now goes into a very cool, baffled catch container before exiting out the rear of the bike as just vapor. There is a petcock at the bottom of the […] Read More
August 28, 2021 After replacing all the seals and gaskets on the primary (left) side of the engine it was time for another run. This last Wednesday Mark came over and fired the Rickman on the first kick. We didn’t leave the enriching lever down this time and I suspect I was flooding the engine […] Read More