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 »

My left thumb has now emerged from the splint so I can contemplate removing the silencer for welding or silver soldering the crack to make it gas tight again. My thumb is a bit stiff but at least bends. I'll get physiotherapy once the splint comes off the mallet finger that needs another couple of weeks or so for the tendon to heal.

The 375 throttle cables are on and shiny new super clean S&B pod filters have arrived. I'm torn between putting them on the road bike or the project. It won't take long to swap them anyway. Flashy knurled alloy bar end plugs are also ready to go on the project bike handlebars. The upgraded ignition is all properly fixed on that now, including new HT leads and caps. It certainly starts very easily, despite using 5K caps with resistor plugs. They are fancy electrode plugs though, which I have now standardised on across the fleet, including the MkI MX5 1.8i (the car version of a 350 Sport in my view) which has had them in for ages.

Time to talk to Avon and finalise choice of a new front tyre. It will go on the barn find wheel, as the finish on that is better than on the one with the old Dunlop.
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Re: Forgotten Era Speed Hill Climb 350 Morini MKII

Post by 72degrees »

Hmm. I finally got round to fitting the new S&Bs on the 375 and started it up with a view to getting an MoT as soon as my clutch hand is well enough. It definitely has a livelier throttle response than the FE bike. So I started that up to find it not just sluggish but actually running on just the front cylinder. I must have missed something doing the ignition upgrade perhaps. No spark on the rear cylinder but no obvious loose connections. I was more than slightly suspicious of the flashy orange HT lead that came with the Naraku coils that I had left on, but fitted an NGK cap to. Seemed to spark OK without a cap at all but the core wasn't brilliant. So I made up a new lead from the good rubber type HT cable that I got from sparkplugs.co.uk to match the front. Also matched in length, so that swapping cylinder sparks is easier (given the coils not being under the tank on a 250 - though these little 2 pin plugs could be mounted up there I suppose). While I was at it I swapped the connections to see if the problem went from back to front. Normal 2 cylinder running was resumed but I will definitely bring the original transducers to events I think.

I tried getting the carbs balanced roughly with the new Tomaselli twistgrip and while I was at it raised the needles to the bottom groove. My but it is *very* QA. Seemed to be responding to a fast opened throttle better but I couldn't get the idle speed reliably down to much below 2000. I'm assuming that's because of the big leak in the rear pot header to silencer joint. Time to get it off and have ago at welding it.
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72degrees
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Re: Forgotten Era Speed Hill Climb 350 Morini MKII

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I've managed to bodge up the silencer joint with my stick welder but I may do some silver soldering for perfect gas tightness as it was difficult to reach the split between the two input pipes. I must check the carb balance now and see if the idle is more reliable. If it isn't I suppose it could be the ignition, in which case I'll try reverting to OEM (including the 'can' thing).

Otherwise it's a case of waiting for my hand to heal fully. Both splints are off and I should start special hand physiotherapy soon. The consultant said I shouldn't try using a clutch a lot for another four weeks yet though. That means I should be OK for Loton in mid July. I think I really need to do that event if at all possible in 'get up and get back on your bike' way. All being well I can at least ride the ER6n, GFR or 2C/375 a bit before then. Time to make a final check with Avon about front tyre choice. Apparently Loton is being totally resurfaced at the moment and that weekend will be the first time it has been used, so it may be a bit less grippy, even when warm and dry, for a while.

The 2C/375 is pretty much ready for an MoT once clutch grabbing is on the aganda again but I decided there was a little bit of end play (not rock) in the swing arm. Following Evguru's instructional video I set about tweaking it. The spindle was very, very tight in the frame once the nut was off. Top tip - when trying with a 13mm (or is it 12?) open end spanner to loosen the spindle, if you use a combination spanner you can put a big Allen key through the ring end at a cunning angle to get extra leverage. The same size key as fits the Paoili fork top nuts on a 2C luckily. This dodge wasn't discovered before I managed to crack the 45 degree grease nipple I have on the end of the spindle, when the spanner slipped while adopting a less secure strategy. New ones have been ordered so that I can treat the FE bike to one - though interestingly, being a later model, that has a grease nipple on the swing arm itself.
norbert
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Re: Forgotten Era Speed Hill Climb 350 Morini MKII

Post by norbert »

.... when trying with a 13mm (or is it 12?) ..... It should be 15 mm, a size that you can find often on bicycles :wink:
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Re: Forgotten Era Speed Hill Climb 350 Morini MKII

Post by 72degrees »

norbert wrote:.... when trying with a 13mm (or is it 12?) ..... It should be 15 mm, a size that you can find often on bicycles :wink:
On a 250? I'll have another look. For clarification - it's the 'flats' on the end of the spindle I'm talking about.
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Re: Forgotten Era Speed Hill Climb 350 Morini MKII

Post by norbert »

Ups :oops: I was thinking of a 350/500 swing arm
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Re: Forgotten Era Speed Hill Climb 350 Morini MKII

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norbert wrote:Ups :oops: I was thinking of a 350/500 swing arm
I thought you might be ;)

The last remaining issue for the 375.2C was sorted by modifying a split barrel nipple from a Triumph/BSA to go on the clutch cable as even Venhill hadn't got a 10mm one. A bit of attention with a file and drills got it fitting OK.

My first appointment with the hand therapist was yesterday. She showed me the Xrays and declared that my thumb was "really mashed up". The existing osteoarthritis and bone loss in the bottom joint was also clear. On being asked what hobbies I had that a less than 100% hand might interfere with I said "one that led to my thumb being mashed" and explained I needed to be able to operate a motorcycle clutch lever. Manipulating small objects like nuts and screws was also high on the list, and in particular holding a Partridge & Orange fly between thumb and forefinger while tying it on to fly cast line. Being able to form some basic three chord trick chords on a guitar again would also be a bonus (though not for listeners perhaps).

After a lot of measuring of movement and showing me exercises to do she said that a bit of not too frequent clutch pulling would actually benefit me as long as it wasn't too painful. My left grip is down to half that of my right hand, but the advice was that if I didn't overdo it I wouldn't cause further damage and it was better than keeping everything immobile, as it would seize up.

Inspired by thinking of Dick Mann in 'On Any Sunday' sawing a cast off to ride I decided nothing ventured. So this morning, after dropping off a front wheel (a spare 250 one , not the one with the ancient KR825 tyre of doom) at Magnum for the Avon Roadrunner in front race compound to be fitted, I booked a slot for the 375/2C to have an MoT. On arriving, it transpired that a senior moment had made me think it was due on 27th June but it was actually 27th July. I let them do it anyway. I've been going there for years and, as they sometimes do, they failed it on something (brake light staying on) then passed it on an immediate re-test (just a sticky switch from not being used since last November). Just one advisory on the rear brake pedal touching the frame on full depression (although fully on by then). I had a look and saw that in the haste of putting the 375 engine back in I had secured the left hand footrest one serration too far round/down on its mounting. That will be sorted soon, but armed with a new MoT certificate I went off straight away on a ride to the greasy spoon for lunch. The wee vee was going very well and I found that my hand wasn't an issue. The clutch is lighter on that engine now as I borrowed the special clutch spring assist washers for the 'race' engine. Clutchless changes are also pretty smooth going up anyway and down is fine by just easing the clutch. It was finding neutral pretty easily so that helped. A long traffic jam would be a pain in the thumb, but filtering on such a small bike isn't hard work. My it was good to be back on a bike and a Morini in particular. My thumb will be ache for a while but I have industrial quantities of Voltarol. The only down side was the realisation that the 375 with L5 cam definitely has more oomph (particularly mid range) than the 'race' engine. Oh well, there is an obvious strategy available, but I'd still rather keep 'legal 350' if an L5 cam should materialise. I've entered for Loton Park on Sunday 16th July anyway.

If the weather sets fair for the end of next week I shall ride it over to Cadwell for the track day (but not going out on the circuit) and camp at the Three Horseshoes for the craic. I might call in at the Aviation Heritage Museum at east Kirby. Bikers night was this Wednesday (14th) but it still sounds like an interesting visit, and it is more of an excuse to the go the 'pretty/interesting' way. Crossing my fingers for good weather. I won't be riding a 250 with camping gear in pouring rain - even to watch the MRC stalwarts (or boring old farts as Benjy Straw used to name one session group in the old days? ;)) do their thing on circuit.
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Re: Forgotten Era Speed Hill Climb 350 Morini MKII

Post by MickeyMoto »

The one and only track day I have done there was a BOF group. Being a careful person I entered that group on my Kanguro. Hmm, bit quick. I gave up when I had a bike come under me at the end of Park. Appears BOF meant Balls Out Fast. Never been back.
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Re: Forgotten Era Speed Hill Climb 350 Morini MKII

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MickeyMoto wrote:The one and only track day I have done there was a BOF group. Being a careful person I entered that group on my Kanguro. Hmm, bit quick. I gave up when I had a bike come under me at the end of Park. Appears BOF meant Balls Out Fast. Never been back.
But what an all round excellent event you have missed since then. There's much more to MRC Cadwell than just the track action!

The 2C/375 performed faultlessly apart form one indicator end beginning to rotate if I spent too long above 6000 rpm. Though I didn't go on track I enjoyed the ride immensely, well, to be fair, perhaps more on the way back when it wasn't like being inside a fan oven. Starting very easily - unlike some other machines of the marque there! It also seemed to enjoy its diet of premium unleaded and engine oil topped up with some Castrol 10w-60 full synthetic left from the Voxan days. The ride back was not so interesting twisty wise, but I had the 375 singing along very well, with the mid range carburation better than it's been for a long while. Despite a dire warning from Chris at NLM, for the umpteenth time, about my S&B pod filters, it didn't burn the exhaust valve on the rear pot (I suspect that if it was going to it would have done so by now in 25+ years of running them, including track days). Then I do err on very much the rich side (132 mains in the PHBH28s on this L5 equipped motor). Maximum forward velocity was satisfying though limited by the rotating indicator and the vibration at high rpm which is more intrusive with a 375 in a 250 frame featuring only three mounting bolts at the front.

The L5 engine very definitely has much more urge, particularly mid range, than the FE project motor with reground cam. So I suspect I shall stay 350 class legal for next year by simply swapping the engines across (again) and then transferring the +60 Sport 350 cylinders on to the hill climb unit. I also have a pair of what look like very good condition Kanguro heads sourced from Ebay Italy (or was it Germany) waiting to be fine tuned and port polished a bit during the coming (well it is past the longest day :() winter.

The Paoilis on the 2C/375 are also much better damped, so I really must finally get round to seeing if the FE ones have any fluid in them at all! Also ages ago I beefed up the springing on the road bike by using old valve springs. No shortage of those so I might try that as well on the FE.
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Re: Forgotten Era Speed Hill Climb 350 Morini MKII

Post by Papa Lazarou »

You had a Voxan? Jealous face.
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Re: Forgotten Era Speed Hill Climb 350 Morini MKII

Post by 72degrees »

Papa Lazarou wrote:You had a Voxan? Jealous face.
A 2000 model year Roadster which I bought in 2004 - naturally I hill climbed it. It still holds my personal best at the 'fast' hills. Unfortunately being one of the first 100 built it suffered from flaky main bearing/big end bearing shells which failed. If I had done more miles on it sooner Voxan would have repaired it under warranty but by the time they went (rumbling and particles in the oil) the factory had closed down and the dealer who supplied it wasn't even sure that he would be able to get the parts :( I sold it to an enthusiast in Limoges and I'm happy to report that he rebuilt the engine. Imagine riding a 1000cc version of a 72 degree Morini :)

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Re: Forgotten Era Speed Hill Climb 350 Morini MKII

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Hmm. What was I saying about fork oil? I suspect that the dribble of filthy, foul smelling goo that came out of the Paoilis on the hill climb bike may have contributed to my downfall in April. I'm also hunting in the shed for four spare valve springs to make my DIY version of progressive fork springs as on the 2C/375. Might revisit the seating department. One option is to get Leightons to recover the 2C seat as a 250 version of a sport single seat. Seems a shame to lose a good condition later 2C dual seat though. Anyone got a rough 250 seat base they would part with? Alternative is a universal "BRAT SCRAMBLER TRACKER CAFE RACER" type job. Should look a bit more purposeful with one of those.
https://caferacerseats.co.uk/products/4 ... eatherette

Putting a proper clevis pin (rather than a set screw and nut) on the rear brake pedal on the 2C/375 has addressed the advisory on the MoT. I'll not put the new front master cylinder that I picked up at NLM in yet, but it's ready for when the stickiness when hot gets worse. Now for some wheel swapping.
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Re: Forgotten Era Speed Hill Climb 350 Morini MKII

Post by MickeyMoto »

72degrees wrote:
Papa Lazarou wrote:You had a Voxan? Jealous face.
A 2000 model year Roadster which I bought in 2004 - naturally I hill climbed it. It still holds my personal best at the 'fast' hills. Unfortunately being one of the first 100 built it suffered from flaky main bearing/big end bearing shells which failed. If I had done more miles on it sooner Voxan would have repaired it under warranty but by the time they went (rumbling and particles in the oil) the factory had closed down and the dealer who supplied it wasn't even sure that he would be able to get the parts :( I sold it to an enthusiast in Limoges and I'm happy to report that he rebuilt the engine. Imagine riding a 1000cc version of a 72 degree Morini :)

Image
There was a Pox van at the French rally. It had to have running repairs at Yport when the engine management light came on. Cue the Police - Voxan, you do not have to put on your red light today... courtesy of an idea from the esteemed Editor of the parish magazine ...
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Re: Forgotten Era Speed Hill Climb 350 Morini MKII

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MickeyMoto wrote: There was a Pox van at the French rally. It had to have running repairs at Yport when the engine management light came on. Cue the Police - Voxan, you do not have to put on your red light today... courtesy of an idea from the esteemed Editor of the parish magazine ...
Ho,ho :lol:

It was a very characterful machine. Apart from the starter sprag clutch (a long story), and two cooked batteries, it never let me down - unlike some modern Morinis I've been hearing about recently ;) It still ran perfectly well with rumbling big ends. I have to confess that in some ways I preferred it to the Corsaro 1200 I had for two years (mainly height and centre of gravity). If the factory hadn't closed down I would have had it repaired and kept it. With only 100BHP it was much less demanding to ride. The Corsaro required too much will power to ride sensibly and I'm sure it would have led me in to a big off sooner or later.

Anyway, my never throw anything Morini related away strategy triumphed again and I dug four old valve springs out of shed#2. Now nestling, nicely pre-loaded in the forks which have been provided with the correct quantity of fresh ATF. I can't test them yet for springing/damping as the front wheel with new Avon tyre is going to be out for a while yet (ask me no questions and...).
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Re: Forgotten Era Speed Hill Climb 350 Morini MKII

Post by 72degrees »

Well the shine has been taken off the Roadrunner and it has been through a couple of heat cycles. It feels really good despite the rather outmoded tread pattern and not that racy profile and was impressively warm to the touch after a short test. The wheel is now back in the project. Lunging on the forks of the FE bike now properly supplied with ATF and with 'enhanced' springs feels much better.

The silencer still needs a bit more gas tightness so I'll have a go with the small silver soldering kit I've acquired. I tried the carb balance again before that however and discovered that the problem was more to do with the routing of my DIY throttle cables from the PHBH28s to the Tomaselli QA throttle. As others have criticised, the fit of the Venhill ferrules in to the carb top adjusters isn't brilliant and they are also a bit sloppy in to the adjusters on the twistgrip. I re-routed the rear pot cable and zip-tied the cables to the frame above the carbs to keep things more stable and even after just a balance by finger and eyeball method it is now much better. I'll leave the final manometer setting until I've had another go at the silencer though.

My entry for Loton Park on 16th July has been accepted so the proof of the pudding...

The 2C/375 was going very well on a visit to the greasy spoon. What a difference a cam makes. Plan B may well be put in to practice come the autumn, plus a semi strip down of the FE unit to check on the state of things, short of a crankcase split (unless someone finds a genuine L5 cam in their shed!).
The original road test 250 will get an outing to a meeting of the N Birmingham VMCC near here on Wednesday 5th July. Featuring a concours d'elegance apparently so I best park it hidden in a corner, as I haven't got round to fitting the better instrument binnacle yet. In any case, it is very far from standard and I suspect VMCC types are 'rivet counters'. Apparently one or two of them are venturing in to the wonderful world of Morinis though, so it will be good to do a bit of PR for the MRC. Anyone else local (Wolverhampton) interested in turning up? The Round Oak, 100 Ounsdale Rd, Wombourne, Wolverhampton WV5 8BU. Also 'steak night' apparently.
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