Author Topic: The worlds fastest Weslake.....well maybe!  (Read 111095 times)

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Offline wobblywalrus

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Re: The worlds fastest Weslake.....well maybe!
« Reply #45 on: March 10, 2011, 12:01:15 AM »
Gretchen, my 13 year old, is learning the pythagoran theorem.  The teacher said this would help her.  She did not think so.  We looked at your engine.  She is impressed.  Her question.  Where are all the triangles?

Offline bones

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Re: The worlds fastest Weslake.....well maybe!
« Reply #46 on: March 10, 2011, 05:36:43 AM »
Hi Briz
    The wourld is getting smaller
   Alan, the guy in Aus with the V twin gave me a Mk 4 which I have been making int a lsr.
   He is a wealth of information about anything speedway and.
   I got a bunch of parts through nortonist's mate and speedway services.
   Maybe we should have a gathering--- Weslakes at Bonneville.
   I hope to take mine over this year
    Good luck with the project.
   cheers     Bones

Offline Briz

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Re: The worlds fastest Weslake.....well maybe!
« Reply #47 on: March 10, 2011, 05:42:31 AM »
Theres only one; I took the measurements for crank-to-rear-flange and the gearbox mainshaft-to-front-flange, but I wanted to mount the gearbox high, so the diagonal hypotenuse dimension needed to be 11.3125".
I also have 1/2" alloy plate in stock and figured that I'd raise the gearbox enough to make the engine-to-gearbox adapter plates exactly 1" thick. Which worked out nicely.

Offline Briz

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Re: The worlds fastest Weslake.....well maybe!
« Reply #48 on: March 10, 2011, 05:49:20 AM »
Bones, sounds good. The weslake gang! Only thing is we're not going until next year. Is the Mk 4 a single or a twin? Good luck with it. I'm also unearthing a heap of weslake info. Just got contact details of a guy who laid down a deposit on a v-twin but never got it as the firm went bust. So Ron Valentine gave him all the plans & drawings for the engine instead!
Julian Cranfield has been helpful too with much technical data. He's in touch with Brian Valentine who is going to dig out some original paperwork.

Offline Briz

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Re: The worlds fastest Weslake.....well maybe!
« Reply #49 on: March 24, 2011, 08:29:08 AM »
Some progress; Swingarm done - modified Honda Blackbird:



Setup on jig:



Main frame loop almost done:



Offline oz

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Re: The worlds fastest Weslake.....well maybe!
« Reply #50 on: March 24, 2011, 04:13:03 PM »
Looking good!
Newcastle born and bred a City built on Coal and Steel and a people built of stronger stuff

Offline Briz

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Re: The worlds fastest Weslake.....well maybe!
« Reply #51 on: March 26, 2011, 04:50:24 PM »
Frames off the jig & fully welded. Still brackets to add of course, but the big bits done.
I think I understand why all the guys making featherbed frames bronze-weld them. Its nothing to do with the desirability of brazing or tradition etc.
Its because those crossover tubes around the headstock are a complete bitch to get a TIG torch around! Had to finish the last bit of the lower front tube with oxy-acetylene. Admittedly thats not a part of a normal FB,(theres a gusset instead) but the other joins were no party either.
Took the bathroom scales down & weighed it - 28lbs, which is typical of a 17g chrome-moly frame.

Offline Briz

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Re: The worlds fastest Weslake.....well maybe!
« Reply #52 on: April 01, 2011, 06:08:06 PM »
Onwards & upwards.... Hagons have kindly agreed to sponsor the bike with a pair of shocks, which arrived yesterday. Thanks guys :-D
Got the oiltank done. Nothing fancy just an ally box with a big spout. Holds about 3.5 litres.
Having it under the gearbox will stop it wet-sumping. Return goes into the spout so you can see it returning.


Made a pair of basic 1" thick triple clamps, shortened up the CBR1000 forks by 5.5"; there was a 4" spacer in there over the springs, so I eliminated that and shortened the stanchions by that amount. The last 1.5" was taken out of the damper rods. I dont need 5 inches wheel movement with 3" ground clearance!
Knocked up a pair of clipons - at least on this bike theres no agonising about handlebar choice :D
I know I gotta have a steering damper, so I incorporated a lug on the bottom yoke to attach it. Dug the damper out of a box of junk where it had languished for 20 years! Everything becomes useful eventually.


And heres the rolling bike - at last!
« Last Edit: April 01, 2011, 06:14:42 PM by Briz »

Offline wobblywalrus

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Re: The worlds fastest Weslake.....well maybe!
« Reply #53 on: April 01, 2011, 11:56:13 PM »
Briz, it is hard to see the oil tank details but it looks like one side is bolted to the frame.  Is there enough room for it to expand and contract when the oil gets hot and cools, with no fatiguing of the metal?

Offline Briz

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Re: The worlds fastest Weslake.....well maybe!
« Reply #54 on: April 02, 2011, 02:34:16 PM »
Yeah, not a problem. Its rubber-mounted on 4 HD softail tank mounting bushes. What you see in the pic are the alloy top hat spacers I used to weld the brackets.

Offline beerbellykelly

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Re: The worlds fastest Weslake.....well maybe!
« Reply #55 on: April 27, 2011, 06:37:28 PM »
really good looking salt ripper-the FB frames are hard to beat for trad good looks.like the idea of the underslung oiltank.
we found that putting a ratchet strap round the fork leg between the two yokes was all we needed to hold the bike firm after a run.
GOD BLESS THE HUMMIN' CUMMINS
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Offline straydog2012

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Re: The worlds fastest Weslake.....well maybe!
« Reply #56 on: August 31, 2011, 06:21:10 AM »
Briz, don't know if you saw these pics, but seem to show Alan's bike:





The burb (July 2010) says "Jonesy" owns it  ...here is the link:
http://ozvmx.com/community/index.php?topic=14242.15

Geoff

Offline Briz

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Re: The worlds fastest Weslake.....well maybe!
« Reply #57 on: August 31, 2011, 08:31:10 AM »
I hadn't seen those shots Geoff; thanks.
Looks like the transmission is just an empty case there. Hope he's got the rest of it!

Should be able to report more progress soon, been on it for a couple of weeks. Done a dunpy little gas tank, seat unit and some complicated induction parts so far.
Less than a year to go now - gotta get serious!

Offline straydog2012

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Re: The worlds fastest Weslake.....well maybe!
« Reply #58 on: September 01, 2011, 03:58:49 AM »
Looking forward to your updates, Briz. I wondered if you have any idea where I can get hold of a pushrod Weslake v-twin engine? I am in the UK...this is my email:
gstray@btopenworld.com

Geoff

Offline Briz

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Re: The worlds fastest Weslake.....well maybe!
« Reply #59 on: September 01, 2011, 08:18:44 AM »
'Fraid not Geoff. Last one I saw was in 'classic bike' magazine classifieds a few years ago.
I have an ongoing ebay search for anything 'weslake' - nothings come up in the last year.
You might ask around the grasstrack sidecar bunch; but you'll have figured that out yourself I suspect.