Forgotten Era Speed Hill Climb 350 Morini MKII

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72degrees
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Re: Forgotten Era Speed Hill Climb 350 Morini MKII

Post by 72degrees »

One or two little settling down jobs done. The front header pipe was a bit loose and was also starting to pull out of the silencer joint. All tightened up but I really must tweak the 2:1 properly before next season to get better ground clearance on the left hand side.

Gear linkage adjusted to suit my snazzy new Alpinestars boots.

I discovered the plain clutch plates were pitted with rust (despite being new last November) so I've cleaned them up and the clutch is now not so binary (the shimming was still perfect), but I will borrow the 375 stack for the next event anyway. Riding that yesterday reminded me how sweet the clutch is.

Still starting OK on the NLM pickup but it requires more than the one kick that the 375 does. I keep meaning to dig out a pair of the 350 Marzocchi rear shockers I have in the shed to compare length and stiffness of springing. I could do with them being longer but a bit more softly sprung than the Konis currently on it.

So nothing to do now except wait for Manor Farm and Wiscombe in September. Time to get the GFR an MoT.
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72degrees
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Re: Forgotten Era Speed Hill Climb 350 Morini MKII

Post by 72degrees »

Well the FE MKII is starting reasonably well now on the NLM pickup. Needs a starter jet open for a while to warm up though. I thought I'd give it a last manometer balance before this weekend and was gratified to find it spot on, despite having tweaked the throttle stop screws by ear to get a consistent idle while fiddling with the ignition timing. It may be my imagination but perhaps the accurate (by my standards of accurate) timing on both cylinders is assisting with the balance. I think I'll pop the strobe in to the van anyway to possibly do bedding in checks on that - though the weather forecast doesn't sound to good for outdoor fettling. We will see how it feels on the first practice run.

I dug out the (350) Marzocchis to find that they are shorter than the Konis. No wonder the steering is nice and sharp. So they are staying on to keep ground clearance until I can adjust the rear header pipe.

I'm also going to ride the KTM for a change to make the diesel cost for a 350 mile round trip worth it. Two events on two bikes means - wow, a total of possibly as much as 10 minutes riding!
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Ming
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Re: Forgotten Era Speed Hill Climb 350 Morini MKII

Post by Ming »

72degrees wrote:...I'm also going to ride the KTM for a change to make the diesel cost for a 350 mile round trip worth it. Two events on two bikes means - wow, a total of possibly as much as 10 minutes riding!
Well, you could always ride them more slowly... :wink:

Good luck, keep the black side track side down.
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72degrees
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Re: Forgotten Era Speed Hill Climb 350 Morini MKII

Post by 72degrees »

Ming wrote:Good luck, keep the black side track side down.
Not so much black as mud coloured. I 've never seen the paddock at Wiscombe so muddy in <calculates> 37 years of going there.

Well at least it carried on starting OK, but if there's a performance boost from the NLM pickup I can't say I noticed it. Not ideal conditions to be fair.

Possibly the slowest ever runs up that hill on any bike. Still, I got to the top four times on the wee vee and at one stage I was only a second or so quicker on the KTM - then it dried up a bit and I just pointed and squirted the two stroke. The new carb on the KTM shows promise but it's not quite right - a good job the lad wasn't riding it.

The 'Vincent Straight' handlebars are perfect, so they will be staying on.

Whether to bother with Hartland Quay next month - now that is the question.
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72degrees
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Re: Forgotten Era Speed Hill Climb 350 Morini MKII

Post by 72degrees »

Very sedate at Manor Farm. Note the two stroke finger hovering over the clutch lever. Old habits die hard and to be fair I had just jumped of the KTM.
Manor Morini.jpg
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Butch
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Re: Forgotten Era Speed Hill Climb 350 Morini MKII

Post by Butch »

Looking good. I'm fortunate to have a few bikes, but whenever I'm tramping on with the H1 the left hand figures start to hover expectantly. Mostly subconscious - before I notice I'm doing it. And it's the only bike I find myself doing it on.
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Re: Forgotten Era Speed Hill Climb 350 Morini MKII

Post by 72degrees »

Morini Hartland Oct 2.jpg
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So the end of season meeting at Hartland Quay turned out to be another wet one. Despite getting soaked on the way down and overnight the Morini started OK (helped by keeping plastic bags over the pod filters until ready to go). I couldn't summon up much enthusiasm for pressing on through the wind and rain so my times were pretty rubbish. Not helped by a tendency to feel as if it was going on to one cylinder as I opened up after the first hairpin. Because it was starting OK, idling impressively slowly and reliably, and cleared if I dipped the clutch and got the revs up I didn't check the obvious. Washing it this morning I found the front plug cap wasn't clipped on to the plug properly!

I've decided that the proposed engine/top end swap is not really worth the hassle so I'll leave it as it is but tweak the rear header pipe to give more ground clearance (for when the lad rides it at least). The winter fettling will concentrate on putting some parts on the 2C/275 from the donor 250 that are in better condition. I've just put some new Hagon shocks on that with adjustable damping. They seem very promising just on the standard settings but I also probably need to treat the forks to an ATF change and review the spring pre-load arrangements. Then there's the latest result of the n+1 effect to fiddle with - a 1970 Gilera '98' Seigiorini ;)
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72degrees
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Re: Forgotten Era Speed Hill Climb 350 Morini MKII

Post by 72degrees »

The 2018 season has been a quiet one. I didn't do any events until Loton in April. I was so slow then that I've decided to go in to semi-retirement.

My lad has just graduated and hasn't really got a chance to do any events for a quite while as job hunting takes precedence and he may end up working in London. I never really got on with the KTM 250 stroker so he agreed it could be sold. The proceeds of that were turned in to a 1956 Gilera 175 to fill the garage vacuum. That might be fun on the hills but the only one it will go to will be the Coalport do on August 5th, that I rode the 2C/375 at last year.

I thought I'd put an entry in for Curborough this Sunday though. Not the Saturday, as that's a N Birmingham VMCC do, when I shall proudly arrive on the 175 (and hopefully also get home on it).

Anyway, part of the reason I didn't enjoy Loton in April as much as I used to was the binary clutch on the FE bike. So sudden that it was 'bogging' off the line.
The 'end float' is perfect but it's horrible in comparison with the 2C/375. When I first built it I borrowed the clutch from that and it was OK, so the logical step was to at least try swapping the plate stack. One obvious difference is that the 375 must have a very, very slight weep on one seal and the plates were just mildly moist with a trace of oil. Also, the 'half plate' was the 'other end' (but the conical plate in the same position and orientation). The FE plates are very dry (as they should be as it has done few hours of use since a full rebuild) and slightly rusty again. Anyway, with the 375 stack in the FE, but still using the weevee hex nuts and spring assist washers, it is transformed. Nice and progressive, well up my drive at least. I'll see how it stands up to several launches off the line at Curborough.
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Re: Forgotten Era Speed Hill Climb 350 Morini MKII

Post by 72degrees »

Well the 2018 season is over. I didn't do the last Hartland. Too busy doing VMCC runs on the road Morini and the VMCC Levis Cup/Marjorie Cottle Trophy Road Trial on my 57 Gilera 175 Sport. That was great fun. FTD wasn't really the target (24mph was) but the route went past Shelsley Walsh on some cracking B roads so I was enjoying revving the wee beast to 5000 rpm too much.

Curborough was mainly wet so my times were useless. Not helped by the FE seeming to be down on what little power it has. So for Manor and Wiscombe I reverted to a red type 2 OEM pickup. Significantly livelier. I suspect my fettling to get the NLM one to fit wasn't up to scratch. I borrowed the 2C/375 clutch plates again (a swap confirmed that strangely it is just the plates, as the grabby action was transferred - perhaps a tiny bit of oil might be the quick and dirty fix?). Not brilliant times but I enjoyed the two days of utterly traffic free riding and the craic in the paddock.

Next year is the 40th anniversary of my first hill climb, so I think I will make it a relatively full season. So the engine swap seems worth it. I have a pair of Kanguro heads complete with valves in really nice condition (good exhaust port threads and no cracks) I got from Austria on a shelf, so I can afford to try a bit of port work on the pair currently on the FE. I'll swap in the light alloy valve caps from the 375 while I'm at it. That still leaves a couple of heads that can be reclaimed if needs be. I'll take the mechanical tacho off and either run 'seat of of the pants' or rig up a digital tacho/hour meter. I have one on the 175 Sport just zip tied to the top yoke and it works surprisingly well. I can make it QD in case the Forgotten Era secretary complains that it isn't 'period' ;)

I sold the Giubileo 98 Seigiorni so the garage vacuum is making its siren call again. I fancy a Husqvarna 401 Vitpilen or Svartpilen for my dotage when I'm not doing pillion carrying on the ER6n.
Morini Manor 2 MRC.jpg
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Morini Wiscombe MRC.jpg
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72degrees
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Re: Forgotten Era Speed Hill Climb 350 Morini MKII

Post by 72degrees »

Things I learned this week.

Pollini 90 degree carb intakes and foam filters will fit on PHBH28s on a 350 in a 250 with standard tank. May not work on the FE with 125H tank.

However, they seem to need significant leaning off compared to using the tapered oval S&Bs that were on the 375, so I might stick to S&Bs on the FE.

Not quite there yet but showing promise and should be more resistant to wind and rain so I shall persevere.

The cam in the 375 is definitely an L5 and possibly a (II):

IO 35 IC 60 EO 61 EC 34

The mystery cam in the FE still is!:
IO 28 IC 60 EO 53 EC nearly 40!

All a bit 'ish', given a timing disc stuck to the alternator rotor nut with blu tack and a bit of wire screwed to the crankcase as a pointer.

So once the last VMCC run is past, an engine swap will be put in progress. Also to be given the nice Kanguro heads, gas flowed a bit ,wee vee light valve collars swapped from the 375 and treated to new valve springs.

That should keep me busy over the winter.
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Re: Forgotten Era Speed Hill Climb 350 Morini MKII

Post by EVguru »

72degrees wrote: The mystery cam in the FE still is!:
IO 28 IC 60 EO 53 EC nearly 40!
Closest to the 2+2 perhaps.
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72degrees
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Re: Forgotten Era Speed Hill Climb 350 Morini MKII

Post by 72degrees »

EVguru wrote:
72degrees wrote: The mystery cam in the FE still is!:
IO 28 IC 60 EO 53 EC nearly 40!
Closest to the 2+2 perhaps.
I did wonder about that. I did run the 375 with a 2+2 for a while years ago which I sold to a racer. I can't remember exactly how that behaved but the L5 equipped engine picks up the revs much more smartly when the throttle is banged open. Can't rule out not 100% up to scratch ignition (though running the same NLM module/coils and OEM red pickup arrangement) I suppose as the stator winding on the FE is not as high resistance as the 375, but it starts very easily.

The proof of the pudding will be Hartland next year, though I may do the top end work while it is still in the road bike so that a bit of jetting and evaluation can be done before swapping. I'm also hoping to rejig the FE 2:1 to give more ground clearance on the left and persuade the pipes to be a bit rounder where I had to bend them. I can always nail the NLM system on to see if that makes any difference.
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Re: Forgotten Era Speed Hill Climb 350 Morini MKII

Post by 72degrees »

Winter draws on!

Spare cylinders acquired - thanks Paul!

Piston choice still under consideration. King of Pistons in Italy are touting forged Sport ones in 62.5 or 63 but not available until late January. That leaves getting the rebore done and engine reassembly time, plus running in on the road before an engine swap, a bit tight for Hartland in early March. We shall see.

I made a pilgrimage to NLM and got new valve springs (which do indeed prove more feisty than the ones that came with the heads I intend to use, by the old compress end to end in a vice test). Also treating these heads to new stainless inlet valves. A set of rocker arms as well so that I can take my time re-facing the old ones (quite grooved) and consider a bit of judicious lightening.

It will soon be time to start wielding the Dremel on the ports of the Kanguro heads as stage 1 of the winter refresh.

The most guaranteed sprightliness boost, however, has been to buy a new 13T 520 gearbox sprocket (PBR) from Italy (Omnia Racing). Not too bad a price considering the delivery charge and the nice stickers and key fob goodies. A nearly 8% reduction in overall gearing means it could be doing in 4th what it was in 3rd, plus flat out at 90 in theory - perhaps if I take it to Gurston. Should have it pulling wheelies out of the first corner at Hartland ;)
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Re: Forgotten Era Speed Hill Climb 350 Morini MKII

Post by norbert »

This rockers were reduced stayin on the safe size (hope so, 10 000 km without problem till now) from 40 to 38 gr. I guess you can take of more, but I`m not racing :wink:
k-DSCI0179.JPG
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It´s quite a lot of work for 2 gr. I saved much more with this valve spring retainers, each one 4 gr., that´s a 70% less than the originals. A friend of the Hamburg Meetup made them years ago.
k-DSCI1233.JPG
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But all that doesn´t help much, the motor is far from working how he should and could, allthough doing a 5000km spain trip this year :roll: :lol:

cheers
norbert
Last edited by norbert on 19 Nov 2018 20:33, edited 1 time in total.
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72degrees
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Re: Forgotten Era Speed Hill Climb 350 Morini MKII

Post by 72degrees »

I already have light valve caps (WeeVee specials from back in the Benji Straw days). I shall be using those. Thanks for the photo. I also have Phil Irving's drawings on page 145 of "Tuming for Speed" to inspire me, but to be fair Lambertini made a pretty good job of the original design.
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