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You have a lathe, slowest speed and run them through. Things are assembled I'll do them by hand so I can feel any tightness, maybe a hair misaligned kinda deal. Valve guides cast or bronze, power tool, big 1/2" IR air drill. Love my Neway set for seat cutting.
Okay, sounds good on the bushing.
Yes, I really enjoy cutting valve seats by hand, and also bought a Neway set for the Hog back when I had to correct the ready to run S&S heads. Works great.
This, has GOT to be a first. Never seen an Akront shouldered rim with a disk rotor. Nope, not ever.
Well done!
Thanks very muchthough theyre actually Borranis (Buchanans didnt have the Akronts in the right size in stock). That is a DIY front disc kit that I designed to replace the twin-leading-shoe OEM binder on my 71 OIF (oil in frame) Bonny. Weirdly, no one offers a disc conversion for the 71-72 OIF bikes, so I rolled my own.
I used 73-and-later Triumph disc sliders (Max is right about the approximate emergence of discs on Brit twins; the racers used to fit aluminum hoops), a 2000 Sporty hub (just needed a few thin shims), and Harley-spec 11.5 rotor.
I made a wooden prototype of the adapter to mount a Wilwood 4-pot caliper (you can only see the upper profile in the pic; the inward side was the real challenge). Together with the aluminum rim, it shaved 4 lbs off the unsprung weight, and is far better than the drum lump at dodging wild horses coming down through the canyon from my pad to the Rio Grande. I thought the 5-spoke Performance Machine rotor evoked the 70s mag wheels, too
Youll also notice the DIY rear-sets and flipped gear shift, which is now like an old Norton, 1 up, 3 down. Triumph put the riders feet too far forward IMHO.
I love riding the Trumpet but am badly missing the paint shaker 51 FL, so am eager to get those rod bushings reamed!
Last edited by NM Pan-shovel; Apr 20, 2025 at 08:37 AM.
Finally getting reamer in today but shouldnt have assumed local stores would have a ball hone in 7/8. So, yet another delay while 7/8 hone in 240 grit makes its way to me. Ah, well. Used the time to do other stuff Ive been putting off. Should have her running next week. Thatll give me time to fashion a T-handle to turn the reamer, too
Curious to see how clean the reamer leaves the bushings. Some touchup may be required, but hopefully it leaves a nice surface with a good fit.
Paul
Far from perfect but not terrible. Nobody has a 7/8” ball hone in town, so I ordered one (240 grit) to have on hand.
My only concern is if I hone it to remove the uneven finish, it might loosen up the fit? Right now, it’s near perfect with a singe pass from the application-specific reamer. No rocking and gentle press to get it in...
If it fits well now, I might cut small stips of fine (320 or finer) sandpaper and lightly remove (polish) as little as possible. Or I might just leave it alone.
Thanks, guys. Must be something in the air, because my neighbor machinist was over after lunch and said the same thing so I put her together.
BTW Im getting more comfortable with those spiral clips after messing with them a few times. Theyre still easier to put in than remove though
So, mańana should have the jugs in place, and if I can juggle the Cometic MLS head gaskets and intake manifold without help, maybe the heads as well. Wow... should be waking the neighbors next week!
Paul: the manual says to put the side of the piston with a little nub inside the skirt on the wrist pin casting toward the R/H side of the bike and that corresponds to the side with the divot on the crown. So, you were correct. The pistons do seem to measure symmetricalat least by my admittedly cruddy mic skillsbut this way theres nothing to keep me fretting while blasting down the blacktop.
As Max mentioned, the wrist pins are not off center. But that isn't always the case, I've seen many KB pistons (including shovel/pan) with wrist pins off center so it's always good to check the documentation.
I have seen on some pistons with a relief cut on the front piston skirt for the rear pistng and the back of the front skirt. I believe the idea was to ensure enough clearance that the skirts to come in contact at the bottom of the stroke.
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