"New" 2004 in Arlington

[barenekd]

I had worked at Century MC in San Pedro. At one point I was commuting to Hwood from Pedro in a car, no bike. I got a used '77 R60/7 at Century. I didn't know much about BMWs. My friend Cindy Rutherford suggested I get myself over to Matt's to get some help for setting up the old Beemer. Matt really helped me.

Bill,
Matt has just moved a couple of blocks down the street last year into a bigger, nicer shop. I kinda likes the old one better. It smelled like a good old time motorcycle shop! You probably know his wife died a few years ago and he's been spending more time chasing women than building record breakers! I don't know whether he's building up any RE's or not. He was running some new Triumph stuff the last time I saw him, at the IMS Show in Long Beach. I dont' get down to his shop often as it's 50 miles away, and I don't have too many reasons to go that way. The dealer I got my RE from is 50 the other way. I did give Matt a try, and he was supposed to call me about it, but I never heard from him. Girls were the bigger name on the line, I guess! I did get a '95 Speed Triple from him back when he was in Long Beach (Lakewood?).
 I don't know if you knew that Cindy R from Century died last October. We had a memorial for her in December at the annual Christmas Party. Great turnout. She was a lot of fun!
I moved out here is '79 and commuted to Douglas in Long Beach from Huntington Beach. Not that long a distance, but traffic on the 405 sucked and it didn't take me long to observe that splitting lanes on a bike beat the hell out of sitting in the middle of a bunch of cages. I was down to a Greeves Griffon, so I needed a street bike to participate. I got a Yamaha SR500, and haven't had to commute in a cage since then!
Bare

[Guaire]

Bare, the day I flew into Long Beach, my friend who was picking me up handed me a 'Daily Breeze'. Cindy's obit was on the front page. She was my oldest friend in San Pedro. The next day I visited with her son, Tim. He told me about the Dec 9 party. I got some photos from him. If you noticed the DVD of photos playing at Century that day, I made that DVD.
  Good to hear that Matt is running around , period. I had heard when his wife was sick. Not calling back on a potential sale was different than the usual. I commuted to Hollywood on a /7 that I bought at Century. Lane splitting down the 110 was a hoot. One day on the 405, just before the 110 turn off, several cars went NASCAR, right in front of me. Three or four cars were banging, spinning and sliding. Tires were burning rubber, radiators were spewing while the cars spun and moved to the right. I stayed on my lane, put on every brake I had and...... they all moved to my right. I stayed in my lane, no drastic manuevers necessary, then when my lane didn't have any spinning cars, I hit the throttle. What a day.
  A driver who must have been in back of me, did some sign language as he pulled along side. He was thrilled and relieved I didn't do anything to put myself on the grooved concrete.
  Oh well, it's the world's loss that Matt is doing to REs what he did with Triumph and BMW.
  Keep that head gasket happy on that SR500. At Century I did a test ride on one that was being setup for a customer for track work. Pretty perky 500.
 I got to Century back in the old days of the BSAOC SoCal. My 'other bike' is an '02 Honda ST1100. I hope to drive cross country and see the old homestead. I lived in San Pedro, mostly in Santa Monica and Pacific Palisades. I miss it much!
Cheers,
Bill

[Guaire]

I couldn't find a clutch cable ferrule on my left lever to extend its length to on NField Gear. My lower adjuster is VERY extended. I want to lengthen the lever ferrule with a second ferrule. That way I can shorten the adjustment on the lower. The one at the lever is part of the clutch cable. On eBay I found these Triumph parts.  http://www.ebay.com/itm/380597903971?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
I'm thinking they will work.  Any suggestions? Here's some pix showing all this.
Cheers,
Bill

[ace.cafe]

Well, I must say that you have a most unusual looking clutch cable there.
I have never seen any Bullet clutch cable like that one before.

I'd say it is clearly not the right cable.
Maybe it would be worth a try to get the right cable for it, instead of more bodges on to that one.

[Guaire]

Ace - I think it's definitely bodged with that hyper extended adjustment. Is this the cable you wrote about? 
http://nfieldgear.com/enfield-store/maintenance-repair/cables/clutch-cable-5-speed.html
  The PO said he installed a clutch. I'll talk to him this week and ask him about it.
I found all my old Whitworth/BS wrenches and sockets. YAAAAY!

[ace.cafe]

Ace - I think it's definitely bodged with that hyper extended adjustment. Is this the cable you wrote about? 
http://nfieldgear.com/enfield-store/maintenance-repair/cables/clutch-cable-5-speed.html
  The PO said he installed a clutch. I'll talk to him this week and ask him about it.
I found all my old Whitworth/BS wrenches and sockets. YAAAAY!

Well, either that one, or if they still sell the "premium clutch cable", that would be even better.

It's just that after putting all those various extenders and things on it, it just isn't likely to be very good.
After having that much trouble, you will probably feel very relieved to just put on the right cable adjust it correctly, and have it work.

[Kevin Mahoney]

What you see in the pictures is a modification the factory put on the cable to help reduce premature cable breakage. You NEED the ferrule. We do not list most OEM parts on NField gear. Call Tim at 800-201-7472 and he will fix you up.

BTW He has started the arduous task of posting the older OEM parts and drawings on NField Gear. We have looked at doing this for years, but the task is overwhelming. There are a lot of subtle and not so subtle changes in parts and not all are well documented. I doubt he will get much more done until the season slows down, but he made some good headway this winter. We are starting with the Iron Barrel stuff.

[ace.cafe]

Okay, well that's a new one that I wasn't aware of.
Thanks for that factory update, Kevin.

[cochi]

Kevin, great to know that the older parts will be posted in Nfield Gear. Thanks. cochi

[Guaire]

I did a little work yesterday. New chain, cleaned and oiled the K&N air filter.
    I have the RE "Micro Digital" ignition. I want to replace the spark plug wire. The seems in OK condition. Is this a regular spark plug cable with resistors in the NGK cap? Or, a resistor cable? Or, both? I'm using the D8ES plug, not an 'R' plug.
  Thanks to Bare's post, I torqued the axle nuts to 50 lbs.
Cheers,
Bill

[Guaire]

"The seems in OK condition."

Duh. The cap is in OK condition. The cable is stiff. The cable and cap are about 20" in total length, starting from the Lucas coil to the end of the cap.

[ace.cafe]

"The seems in OK condition."

Duh. The cap is in OK condition. The cable is stiff. The cable and cap are about 20" in total length, starting from the Lucas coil to the end of the cap.

These electronic ignitions usually specify that there be some sort of spark suppression. So, if you are not running a resistor plug, then it would probably be a good idea to run a resistor cap or wire.

[D the D]

I think the cable is stiff because it is a copper wire conductor, not a flexible, graphite impregnated suppression cord like most plug wires have these days.

[Guaire]

 That cap is a 5k ohm resistor. My local dealer gave me a new length of spark plug wire. I cleaned the cap and the coil connector. One kick start.
  I'll check how the Mikuni is set up. I believe I'll need a smaller main. The plug will tell.

[Guaire]

I just got a pair of saddlebags. Whaddya think?