MoT success - and an update.

Maestro, SEI-V
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penman
Posts: 325
Joined: 08 Mar 2016 09:20
Location: Milton Keynes, UK
Location: Milton Keynes

MoT success - and an update.

Post by penman »

I thought I'd post a quick update on my 500 Strada restoration. The big news is that it passed the MoT on Tuesday and a bunch of papers have now gone off to the DVLA for UK registration. That usually seems to take about 2 weeks these days - the days are gone when you took the stuff to your local office and the nice lady did it on the spot, that's progress for you!

I go to an MoT station about 10 miles away because it gives me an opportunity to ride the bike and it's really the first chance to see how it's going. I did notice that if I brake hard, the front brake is slow to release. Thankfully it didn't show up on the test but I need to sort that. I serviced the calipers and cleaned all the pipes, but I didn't have a service kit for the master cylinder, so I didn't touch that. Anyone seen this problem before (it's a new one on me)? I've got a master cylinder service kit now, so I'll do that anyway, but any bright ideas gratefully received.

On the charging front, I had to re-wind two of the alternator coils and that worked fine. However the regulator isn't working properly and the battery voltage just keeps on rising - on test I chickened out at about 15.8v - that's enough to damage the battery and keep blowing bulbs. I took the stator off yet again and re-configured the coils by paralleling the two windings. This involves splitting it at the red wire centre tap to get the two halves in phase. I then used a normal single phase rec/reg (A-REG 1 from Paul Goff) and it is working really well. This is a fairly cheap and easy modification and a good solution if you have a faulty voltage regulator. Hopefully this saga is now ended!

I enjoyed riding the bike, it's certainly more grunty than the 350. I doubt if it's much faster, but I felt more confident overtaking and it certainly gets away more smartly when the lights change. As usual, I think I have some minor fuelling issues, so I feel a bit of fiddling coming on. There is a slight flat spot in the lower mid-range and higher in the range it feels a bit rich to me - I'll need to ride it more to home in on that, but I'd be most interested to know what jets other people are using. My line-up is:

Carb type - PHBH26BS
Pilot - 52
Main - 125
Atomiser - 262T
Slide - 40
Starter - 48
I couldn't see the marking on the needles.

One thing I like is that it idles cold after just 30 seconds or so, but when hot it isn't racing like I find with my 350 K2. On the K2 I can have good cold idling or good hot idling, but not both!

So, I'm happy so far! I'll let you now when I get the registration through.

Regards to all,
Joe.
1984 Moto Guzzi V65
1969 Honda CB450
1975 Triumph T160 Trident
2019 BMW F750GS Sport
1978 Morini 500
penman
Posts: 325
Joined: 08 Mar 2016 09:20
Location: Milton Keynes, UK
Location: Milton Keynes

Re: MoT success - and an update.

Post by penman »

Oh dear, it's embarrassing but I shall have to write out 200 times "I shall service the master cylinder before moaning about the brakes". There was so much crud in there I'm surprised it worked at all. Anyway, it's nice and clean now and it's got new seals and the brakes are fine. Another job ticked off!
1984 Moto Guzzi V65
1969 Honda CB450
1975 Triumph T160 Trident
2019 BMW F750GS Sport
1978 Morini 500
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