Author Topic: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners  (Read 1438599 times)

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Offline wobblywalrus

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #360 on: January 22, 2011, 12:50:57 PM »
The other Team Go Dog, Go! modified partial streamliner is up and running.  It last ran at BUB in 2009.  Werner put a 175cc kit in it with a cam and I ported the head.  The picture shows it last night at arenacross practice in Salem.  The engine runs good but it smokes.  The oil level is OK and the crankcase breather is not plugged.  The bike sat for about 9 months after it was put together and it was never run since 2009.  Today I am going to spray some fuel injector and choke cleaner down the bore and let it sit for awhile.  Then he can start it and I will spray some cleaner in the carb while it is running.  Hopefully a stuck oil ring is causing the problem and this will free it.  Any suggestions are welcome.

Offline wobblywalrus

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #361 on: January 24, 2011, 01:04:40 AM »
Two Model B roadster questions.  Sometimes I cannot figure out everything on my own.

My books discuss the original Ford drop axle with kingpin setups and they also show a lot about independent front suspension options.  Did Ford go directly from the kingpin arrangements to independent front suspension?  Were there some intermediate steps?  My books do not discuss these.

My plans are to run radials and I am a caveman kind of guy.  The info I have says it can be tricky and mental to get radials to work on front suspension setups other than the independent ones.  The exact reasons are sorta unclear.  Is independent front suspension the best for a beginning level guy who uses radials?

Any help is appreciated.

Offline Dr Goggles

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #362 on: January 24, 2011, 03:06:13 AM »
.....surely they went Independent with king-pins then to ball joint spindles?......
Few understand what I'm trying to do but they vastly outnumber those who understand why...................

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Offline RidgeRunner

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #363 on: January 24, 2011, 08:54:37 AM »
.....surely they went Independent with king-pins then to ball joint spindles?......

Ford passenger cars yes, '49 kingpin/independent, '54 ball joint/independent.

                       Ed

Offline wobblywalrus

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #364 on: January 24, 2011, 10:50:23 PM »
Thanks, Dr and Ed.  An 50's vintage Ford independent suspension with ball joints would not be inappropriate on an old style hot rod.  I will look into this.  Thanks for the help.

Offline wobblywalrus

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #365 on: January 26, 2011, 12:50:44 AM »
Keihin CR flatslide racing carbs will work on a street bike.  The carbs do not have chokes or enrichener circuits for cold starting.  It took quite a bit of fiddling for me to get them to work.

First, the spark.  The ignition system should be in tip-top shape for maximum performance.  A strong spark at the correct time will successfully ignite a mixture with wider range of air fuel ratios and gasoline quality.  This is critical with CR flatslides and the sometimes funky Oregon gasahol.  The battery terminals and the battery, engine, and coil grounds are undone, cleaned, lubed with dialectric grease, and retightened every year just before leaving for Bonneville.  New NGK iridium racing spark plugs are installed.  Nology coils and wires are used.  All of this keeps the spark strong.

The lights on bikes sold in the US are lit when the ignition is turned on.  This is an idiot concept.  Little bike batteries do not have the power to light the lights, run the starter motor, and create a good spark.  This is a worse problem with high compression engines.  An English light switch is installed so I can turn off the lights when I start the bike.  This is a big help.  I ordered the switch from London at www.jacklilley.com.

The battery was replaced every two years before I put on the flatslides and I was not picky about its quality.  Now I put in a new high quality battery every year and I trickle charge it weekly during the winter.  The flatslides need to be a bit rich on the starting mixture so the bike will fire up when cold.  This fat mixture can foul the plugs when the engine is warm and it takes considerable battery effort to start the bike.  The fresh battery is essential.

The next post will be about jetting.


Offline grumm441

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #366 on: January 26, 2011, 03:35:29 AM »
Keihin CR flatslide racing carbs will work on a street bike.  The carbs do not have chokes or enrichener circuits for cold starting.  It took quite a bit of fiddling for me to get them to work.


So are they CR's or FCR's
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Offline wobblywalrus

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #367 on: January 26, 2011, 11:30:22 PM »
Graham, they are FCR's  - Bo

Offline bak189

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #368 on: January 27, 2011, 10:00:47 AM »
Regarding replacing the Batt. on a yearly basis......take a look at the new Lithium-Iron batteries like the
Shorai LFX we are using......Hold a charge for at least one year without maintenance....can be mounted in any position.....Ultra light.....longer service life....Safe-no explosive gasses...no lead...no acid...............
Question authority.....always

Offline dadsolds

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #369 on: January 27, 2011, 12:05:03 PM »
Bo,
about your gas-ahol- there should be a couple of stations that sell ethanol-free gas to street vehicles in your area. Check this link
http://pure-gas.org/
BGB
Brain says no, right hand says go
1979 UJM 750

Offline wobblywalrus

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #370 on: January 27, 2011, 11:47:31 PM »
Thanks for the tip.  At first, the ethanol was a problem.  Now the bike works OK.  When I get the time I will write the second post I will tell what I did.  Flood damage repair is using most of my time lately. 

Offline wobblywalrus

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #371 on: January 30, 2011, 01:42:48 AM »
The first post on this subject described electrical system upgrades.  The new battery and light on-off switch are essential, based on my experience.

The main jet is sized for running at Bonneville.  The needle and cutaway are chosen using dyno runs to provide the best street running mixture at the elevation where I live (150 feet above sea level.)

The low speed mixture is set by trial and error.  First, the idle mixture screws are turned to a reasonable setting.  I never wrote the setting down.  1-1/2 turns out is what I almost always use as a starting point.  Overly large #55 pilot jets are installed.  Cold starting is great.  Hot starting is not.  Sometimes the plugs foul.  The exhaust gas has the nauseating smell of unburnt hydrocarbons.  The exhaust baffle is sooty.  I run these jets for a week or so to get a thorough idea about how they work.

The idle mixture screws are not touched.  One size smaller #52 pilot jets are installed.  Cold starting is OK and warm starting is better.  Less foul exhaust smell and soot on exhaust baffles.

Again, the mixture screws are left alone, and one size smaller pilots #50 pilots are put in.  Cold starting sometimes requires a blip of the throttle to make the accelerator pump squirt in some extra gas.  Hot starting is great.  No soot on baffles.

Mixture screws remain at 1.5 turns out and smaller pilots are installed.  Cold starting is a pain.  Lots of throttle blipping needed once it gets running.

The ideal pilot jets are the best compromise between cold and hot starting.  In my case, #50 in the warmer months and #52 in the colder.

The starting procedure is to turn off the light switch, not touch the throttle, and use the starter motor for 1/2 second only.  The bike will fire right up if it will start.  Cranking on the starter does nothing useful.  If it does not start, I try half second bursts again for a couple of times.  Fouled plugs are the probable culprit if it does not start.  I wait for a few minutes and try again.  Eventually I have always been able to get it running.

Offline wobblywalrus

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #372 on: January 30, 2011, 01:01:19 PM »
This last carb related post compares the standard Keihin 36mm CVK constant velocity flatslides against the Keihin 39mm FCR flatslides.

The 36mm mixers are large enough for all but the most heavily modified engines in street use.  Dyno data for this Triumph shows the size of the larger carbs helps only at full throttle at the very high rpm.  These engine speeds and throttle openings only happen at Bonneville for a guy like me.  The vacuum operated throttle slides on the little carbs compensate, to a large degree, for varying altitude.  This is a very important feature in the western US where tall mountain passes are almost always between us and where we want to go.  There are plenty of jets available for the CVK's.  The CVK's are paid for when the bike is purchased.  These are their advantages.

The Triumph is not a powerful bike.  The way to go fast on the road is to stay on the throttle going into and out of corners and only shutting off completely, if at all, at the apexes.  The CVK's do not give the throttle control to safely do this.  The vacuum slides do not work in precise coordination with the throttle.  The acoustics of some cam and exhaust combinations will confuse the CVK's.  It is impossible to jet the carbs for the correct mixture when this happens.  The CVK's wear in use like Amals.  The needle jets and slides are especially vulnerable.  The float bowls need to be removed to change the main jets.  These are the disadvantages of the CVK's.

The FCR's are large enough to give flow capacity for heavily modified motors on the street and lightly modified engines like mine on the salt.  They give excellent throttle control for fast riding when leaned over in corners.  They are less susceptible to adverse acoustics.  There are plenty of jets available and they are easy to jet.  Screw on caps cover the main jets.  These are FCR good points.

The FCR's are more susceptible to altitude changes.  They lack an enrichener or choke and there is the starting problem mentioned in previous posts.  They are something a person has to buy and they are not inexpensive.  These are FCR disadvantages.

Both setups give similar fuel mileage when properly set up and the rubber parts work OK with racing gas or 10% corn likker/ 90% gasoline pump gas.

Offline wobblywalrus

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #373 on: January 31, 2011, 12:32:31 AM »
It was a nice day and we dropped the engine.  Timing is so critical with children.  Usually it is the middle school years when they will work with a parent on these types of things.  This is important for the child.  This might be the only time in their life when they will be exposed to mechanical things.

Years ago I saw a show about chopper building.  A father and son were building a bike.  The old man was constantly yelling at the kid.  This is not the right thing to do.  A positive attitude is best.  Gretchen occasionally strips threads and rounds off bolt heads.  She feels bad about this and it is no problem.  We simply fix as needed and resume work.  Actually it is a good thing.  She learns how to get the job done when things do not go as planned.

 

Offline wobblywalrus

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #374 on: February 02, 2011, 01:43:00 AM »
Children are individuals like the rest of us.  They learn how to do things in different ways.  A good method to teach them is to create a learning environment they enjoy.  One way is to have a project that the adult and child work on at the same time doing the same things.  My two girls like to do this.  Another situation is for the child to have an independent project of their own.  This was preferred by the boys.

Time is perceived differently by youth and adults.  An hour spent cleaning parts is no problem for me.  It can seem like eternity for a youth.  Usually I spend no more than half an hour to an hour working on the bikes with a young child.  We vary the tasks to keep them fresh and interesting.  The photo shows Gretchen welding up a stripped thread on a plastic part.

Young teenagers are going through stages when their brain circuitry is changing from child to adult configurations.  It is important to recognize this.  There are times when they do the craziest things and they are unable to grasp simple concepts.  It is best to ignore this and be positive.  They will outgrow the goofy stage, eventually.

My two older boys worked out at gyms a lot.  There were a lot of characters in those places and everyone got along well.  One of my boys said the people "check in their baggage at the front door."  In other words, the gym is a neutral place.  Teens can have a lot of problems like drugs, not doing their schoolwork, being knuckleheads, etc.  As much as possible, I try to temporarily forget about these issues and keep the shop a neutral place like a gym.

These are four thoughts about introducing kids to our world.