Camel 501

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Chips1953
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Location: Carlilse

Camel 501

Post by Chips1953 »

Well I've managed to finish the Vespa so I'd like to continue with the Camel 501 now.
The body work has been repaired with fibre glass and wire then I re-sprayed with a Mac5 paint which is an Acrylic using normal thinners. This is a paint that has been developed for Motorcycles (so the sellers told me) and other vehicles. It goes on well and you don't need an under coat as long as you rub down the original paint well so as to get good adhesion.
I got the decals from Ebay.it. they seem fine but I'm not sure they are the correct size. Anybody notice if they seem correct.
The seat was recovered by R K Leighton in B'ham. I got them from the forum as they seem to have done several others. This is the 1st Camel/Kanguro he has done.
The Decal on the tank front was from the original shop in the US so I have tried to preserve it, seems OK.
The tank guard is an aluminum copy I made of the plastic original as it was in bad shape and I've covered it with some imitation carbon fibre vinyl, as around the tank filler.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/68202239@N ... 358217750/
I got the rear rack powder coated locally, good job.
Last edited by Chips1953 on 20 Mar 2013 16:19, edited 1 time in total.
Singer 185K
Wheel Horse commando 7
Honda SS90 1965
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Chips1953
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Joined: 02 Dec 2011 14:05
Location: Carlilse

Re: Camel 501

Post by Chips1953 »

Well here goes, the 501 is now at the garage I rent whilst doing stuff. I am going to try to get it ready for the Scottish show, how I get on is anybodies guess, but it's my first complete Morini job. Not too sure at the moment if I will strip the motor, probably not as it seemed fine before I started on the cosmetics of the body panels.
This is the bike before being loaded onto the van.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/68202239@N ... hotostream

The mirrors, can anybody guess which manufacturer they are made by?
Last edited by Chips1953 on 20 Mar 2013 16:21, edited 1 time in total.
Singer 185K
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Honda SS90 1965
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Chips1953
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Location: Carlilse

Re: Camel 501

Post by Chips1953 »

Stripped the Camel today and have posted some pics.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/68202239@N08/8405169861
The frame is very light, surprised me just how light.
So tomorrow I'll de-grease it and take it to be sand blasted and powder coated.
The center stand has taken some punishment in the past and has been welded and the main bolt has been modified by the looks of it.
The coils and the rectifier have Ducati logo's, is this normal?
I will remove the VIN plate and reattach it after the coating.
6 weeks to the Scottish show approx, I think.
Singer 185K
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Chips1953
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Re: Camel 501

Post by Chips1953 »

The Camel is getting well fed for the big trip to Scotland, here are some of the latest pics,

See you there!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/68202239@N ... 975067873/
Last edited by Chips1953 on 20 Mar 2013 16:22, edited 1 time in total.
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MickeyMoto
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Re: Camel 501

Post by MickeyMoto »

Interesting - look forward to seeing it in the flesh.

My rebuild has gone exactly nowhere - a pile of parts in boxes under the bench/

See you next Friday.
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Chips1953
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Re: Camel 501

Post by Chips1953 »

Taxed the Camel today as It was looking forlorn in the garage and I was thinking I may wait for the good weather but may have to wait all year.
Took her up Hartside, so lucky to be so near, and flashed her there. Got on and off OK even when I stalled her at the lights on the way back. It's the tippy toeing to the pavement when that happens that is so shameful, like a wide mouth frog, but different if you get my gist.
She went well and I'm really proud of her, just a couple of faults, fuel leak on a pipe, oil leak from the rear rocker box and she runs out of steam at 6000 rpm, may well be jetting unless someone else has an idea.
The bike not too loud with the new cans, sounds almost Harley, even as deep, maybe.
Anyway that's my first real outing with her and it won't be the last. Another friend in the shed.
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camel at hartside.jpg
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Singer 185K
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corsaro chris
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Re: Camel 501

Post by corsaro chris »

Hi George;

Nice photo at Hartside - might even make a January shot for the 2014 calender! (You'd need to send a copy to our editor, of course...). Glad to hear that it runs almost as well as it looks, and I'm sure that you'll fix the last little glitches without too much bother.

Glad to see that you've still got snow up your way! I understand that Spring will spring sometime later this year; the trouble with global warming is that some places will get colder. I think that's us...

Good riding,

CC
"I'll use the Morini"
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Chips1953
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Re: Camel 501

Post by Chips1953 »

Started to look at the few little bits I still need to do to the 501 to get her up to speed.
I notice that the new silencer from the front barrel is heavy with oil.
I suppose the worst case is a rebore, if that is possible on the barrel, as I think it's coated. (Nikasil)
What are the other options and where should I look first?
Thanks for any advice.
Steve do you have any ideas, did NLM get involved in this? Just asking so I can eliminate stuff.
Thanks.
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Re: Camel 501

Post by MickeyMoto »

George,

Check the rings. I believe they should wear before the plating. Of course, if you have oil in the exhaust then it will smoke, too. Could it be a valve guide? Only noticeable usually on the overrun.
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Chips1953
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Re: Camel 501

Post by Chips1953 »

MickeyMoto wrote:George,

Check the rings. I believe they should wear before the plating. Of course, if you have oil in the exhaust then it will smoke, too. Could it be a valve guide? Only noticeable usually on the overrun.
Hi Mike
The pipes are clean and the can is new, a thick residue has formed in the can and it does smoke but I thought not enough to be a worry. So I'll whip the head off and look at the valve guides, see if there is any wobble and have a look at the rings whilst I am there. I suppose a compression check is first?
Have you done this before?
Thanks.
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Re: Camel 501

Post by MickeyMoto »

No, not yet, but the odds must be stacked against me with 3 engines.... :D
morini_tom
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Re: Camel 501

Post by morini_tom »

While you have the heads off its very worthwhile checking for cracks between the valves. The 501s are very prone to this as there's not much material there. Have a thorough look as it can be hard to spot (can be bleeding obvious too!) if in doubt use some crack detector spray.

NLM do a Siamese repair which in theory is a fix and forget solution. Expensive but not compared to dropping a valve!
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Chips1953
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Re: Camel 501

Post by Chips1953 »

morini_tom wrote:NLM do a Siamese repair which in theory is a fix and forget solution. Expensive but not compared to dropping a valve!
I'm interested in what a Siamese repair may be?
I will look when I have the head off, it has been repaired with the exhaust thread repair by NLM as far as I am aware.
Many thanks for that.
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morini_tom
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Re: Camel 501

Post by morini_tom »

Chips1953 wrote:
I'm interested in what a Siamese repair may be?
It's a bit like sealing a leaky radiator with an egg, only using cats :P

Joking aside, my spare head has one so ill try to photograph it later, but essentially it's a single insert for both valve seats.
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Re: Camel 501

Post by morini_tom »

As promised I've photographed my spare 501 heads. They're a bit manky, and I've not been in long so no time to clean them or remove the valves, but I think you can get the idea.

The first picture shows a crack between the valves in the classic place. I think I can actually see this crack all the way through to the rockerbox side but is not that easy to see without more stripping and cleaning:

Image

The second picture shows the other head which had a much bigger valve seat insert (dark material concentric to the exhaust valve). I can't remember if the inlet and exhaust seat inserts were a single piece Siamese insert or slightly overlapping inserts with a portion scalloped out- and it's obscured by the inlet valve so can't easily see, but they were certainly touching.

Image

Both these heads were re-seated at the same time, and have done probably 20,000km since. The head with the smaller inserts has cracked again in this time, and the one with the full Siamese hasn't... Should have spent the extra money getting both done properly!

As a history on these heads, they came from my 1st 501 engine, of unknown mileage and pretty worn in most areas. I had them re-seated before I even ran the engine, as they were cracked then, and built the engine back up with a 2+2 cam. For most of the time that engine was in my bike I was developing the dart, various intake, exhaust, cam timing, ignition and carb setups, and it only really started to perform well towards the end, which probably explains the amount of deposits on the head!
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