Où Est La Second Gear?

[squirrel_hunter]

There was a small MoFo Mechanical Expedition this weekend to find 2nd gear at Cassa Del Strechie. 2nd gear was last seen around the summer of 2006, it vacated the bike for almost a year before returning. However the return was more like a fleeting visit and shortly after it decided to vacate permanently. But its worse this time as 3rd gear accompanied 2nd. Sensing a trend 4th gear has also been known to come and go as it pleases.



So the expedition proceeded bright and early Saturday morning. Who am I trying to kid!?! it was mid afternoon before a spanner was raised in anger at a 'Cat. And after a brief excursion for Breakfast around 4ish the engine was removed and the expedition expedited themselves to the nearest pub by 9.

With much tomfoolery, Strechie, Myself, Mac99 and the lesser spotted Beenz finished the day with a bike in a not so unfamiliar state...



And as one would expect, a bunch of MoFo's cannot go for a drink without some notable occurrence. And there were many. However, the photographic evidence is not as clear as one would have hoped; so Strechie can hold is head high knowing that no one will see his little 'Water Sports' adventure and Mac99 will not be teased for going to bed with an absolute Dog.

The Morning came, and went, but with many mugs of Tea work resumed. And by the end of the day the 'Cats engine was nothing more than a collection of well annotated freezer bags. There is however still much work to be done but signs of 2nd gear have been found residing in the sump.

The expedition is set to reassemble once Strechie has finished with the Baby Oil...

Baby oil? That must be the Cheryl effect.

The cat is Scrap

[_Stretchie_]

You bast... Oh.. 'Scrap'..

I'll let you off

[_Stretchie_]

I have now borrowed Xans grinder and removed the front sprocket nut.. long story short (although some will remember) the front sproket was welded on.

Tried to split the engine last night after removeing the clutch (to which we were delayed after finding some of the bolts the Haynes manual said to remove using a socket extension were actually hidden behind other bits of engine which had to come off apart and such. Now I just need to remove the piston heads and I'll be in there and ready to order the parts

which is taking longer to fix, yours or mine

[_Stretchie_]

Alright Lemmings.

Mines been 'in a condition' since July 07.. What about yours..?

mine's been "off the road" since i went sliding down the road in sept 2006

[_Stretchie_]

You win

; )

[squirrel_hunter]

As I understand there are 1's or 2's of you out there watching this thread with much anticipation of an update (optimistic I know), so here's an update...

The engine has been split and the offending cog replaced. All has been cleaned and this weeks expedition was to be - slip the engine back in and go for a little run. Things were not to run smoothly...

During the week Stretchie had problems with various engine components and a number of visits to Fowlers parts counter was made, he has his own parking spot reserved for such occasion now. A particular bearing prevented the removal of a washer, but after 100 tonnes were exerted on said bearing the washer was liberated. Thus by Saturday all was ready for assembly.

The gears were assembled and placed in the crank case, the crank was added, gasket was applied, and both case half's were mated. All bolts that were numbered on removal were replaced in order, hand tightened, and then torqued. Unfortunately there was a mild misunderstanding of torque settings and a bolt that required 24nm of torque received 48nm. Thus Saturday afternoon was spent running round local engineering firms to get the snapped bolt extracted. This mission failed, we would have to wait until Monday for the bolt removal. Disheartened, a new chain and sprockets, and some cables were added to the carcass of 'Cat.

Saturday evening was spent in the local where we got to see 'a little bit more' thanks to the hen party before retiring back to Cassa Del Stretchie. Where upon the evening ended with me lying on the floor, being straddled and covered in Baby Oil. In light of this fact I'm sure you, like me, will consider the weekend a complete success.