Basket Cases

[David Lahey]

Hey Greg.

Thank you so much for posting that photograph.

I'm currently at a bit of a loose end ... recuperating from surgery welding up the bones in my left thumb ... overcoming arthritis.

It got to a point where I struggled to operate the clutch at all after half a day on the bike. I pleaded to the surgeon that it was imperative that he reconstructed things so that I could lock on to the bikes grips (apparently you lose mobility). The final instruction just prior to sleepy time was that I needed to continue to be able to grip my favourite whisky glass.

Apparently the final request was common, but the first request was new to him.

Hope it works ... right thumb next in line.

Best wishes for your thumb work, Alastair
While I was in rehab for a broken right pinky (which was broken at the knuckle) the rehab physio had me doing all manner of things to get the best range of movement possible. I remember being completely satisfied with the range of movement once I got it to the point of being able to grip motorbike handlebars, but the physio had a lot of trouble with this concept and kept pushing me for more travel.
One interesting thing I learned in the rehab process is that the powerful and important fingers for grip of things like handlebars are actually the pinky and the one next to it, rather than the index and biggest finger that I had previously assumed. Apparently the index and middle finger are the smart (dextrous) fingers but not particularly powerful. It's an easy thing to test for yourself and quite surprising.
The effect of having the pinky broken was that I couldn't even ride my trail bike because with the pinky and the next finger tied together and sticking out uselessly, the only fingers that worked on my right hand were the index and middle finger and with just them I couldn't hold the throttle on my trail bike in position for more than a very short while.

[David Lahey]

This shows the TY250 clutch cover I repainted beside a new old stock clutch cover.
It's always hard to get a perfect match for the original Yamaha colour and metallic effect but this is close enough for me. If I have to repaint it with some other paint it might not be so close a match

[David Lahey]

Well the electric frying pan paint curing booth did the trick and the silver paint on the clutch cover was nice and hard this morning so I put the bike back together and tried out the clutch with the 4 springs and the new friction plates and it is fabulous. Light pull with a smooth but narrow engagement and no drag.
I also serviced both brakes and they have a great action too.

[Greg Harding]

Hi Everyone,

Hey Greg.

Thank you so much for posting that photograph.

I'm currently at a bit of a loose end ... recuperating from surgery welding up the bones in my left thumb ... overcoming arthritis.

It got to a point where I struggled to operate the clutch at all after half a day on the bike. I pleaded to the surgeon that it was imperative that he reconstructed things so that I could lock on to the bikes grips (apparently you lose mobility). The final instruction just prior to sleepy time was that I needed to continue to be able to grip my favourite whisky glass.

Apparently the final request was common, but the first request was new to him.

Hope it works ... right thumb next in line.

Alastair, Guy emailed that photo to me and I posted it for him. There are a few bikes in my shed that have very similar mods to lighten the clutch action and don't believe that old bullsh!t about only using the clutch to take off!

Your dilemma with your thumbs reminds me of one of my mates breaking his left arm as a young bloke. When the Doctor asked him to hold his arm out for the plaster cast, it was uncomfortable so he asked if he had a choice. The Doctor then said to put his arm how he wanted it so he mimicked holding handlebars. Yes he did ride his bike with a cast on!

In other news, I now have a breeding pair:

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[David Lahey]

Breeding pair? What sort of hooten-nanny are you getting up to down there on your farm?

[Rod]

Hey Greg, the frame on the right with oval downtube and protruding engine mounts from same tube is early 350, curious about the other, is it 250 or later green 350?

[Greg Harding]

Hi Everyone,

Hey Greg, the frame on the right with oval downtube and protruding engine mounts from same tube is early 350, curious about the other, is it 250 or later green 350?

Very observant Rod, the GREEN frame and swingarm on the left came to me for a single GREEN note. So I did not look that closely until now, it is a PIUMA 350:

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Did the GREEN on GREEN 250 have a round down tube like a PIUMA?
Obviously I did not think much about it as I thought all of the PIUMA models had a compliance plate like my T 350? Now that I look closer, it has the mounting holes:

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The front engine mounts have been hacked off rather roughly most like with fitting one of those pesky motors in mind? Pretty sure that it never happened as the rough edges show no evidence of ever having a engine mounting bracket bolted up to them. It came from Denman area and they like to mix and match with some very creative interracial bikes. Yes I have ridden the YAMJET

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[David Lahey]

I'm working up the courage to do my first-ever tank repair using the technique of cutting the tank top off the tank bottom, panel beating it and welding it back together.
The side and top rear dents could probably be removed without cutting it apart but there is some damage ahead of the filler cap that is too tricky to access.
I tried to pull out the damage ahead of the filler cap using a jig and some heat this morning and did make progress there but the filler neck is bronze welded in place so there are limits to how much heat can be used there.
There is not enough space between the top of the tank and the top of the tunnel at the neck to get tools inside via the neck.
The shape of the tunnel blocks access to the damage site from underneath.
I think that posting about this is helping my procrastination
This is what it initially looked like with some paint and bog removed

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This is the jig I made to pull up on the filler neck while heating the creases

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This is after I gave up with the jig and removed the bog in readiness to cut it apart

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[Kurt]

Somebody has had one hell of a loop out to dent the tank like that David.

I've been working on a Cota 247 project.
The bike came with a Mikuni VM26 in place of the AMAL mk1 minus the slide, spring and needle.
Down to the local wreckers and I found a loose spring and slide and he had a selection of needles.
The Queen provided the retainer plate for the cable and needle.

After retarding the timing from my first guess I had a very smokey but running Montesa.

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[David Lahey]

The bars on the TY250B I'm planning to ride in the Qld Twinshock, Classic and ACM Titles were a set of solid aluminium trials bars I bought in the late 1970s. For many years during machinery examinations an inspector would ask "are the bars plugged?" as they poked away with a screwdriver and I would say "nah, they're solid" and they would look at me not knowing if I was joking or not.
I've really got on a roll with making this bike nice to ride and last week decided to fit new bars. The main reason for the new bars was that the old ones have a lot of service hours. I've been injured previously by 1970s bars breaking so I'm a bit gun-shy of it happening again, especially when I'm having fun at a trial. I know at least that these solid ones can't have internal corrosion like tubular bars can, but these ones have seen lots of trials crashing and the bike they were on for 40 years (my TY250A) is renowned for making my eyeballs vibrate so much I can't see, so it's possible they may be a bit fatigued from vibration.
I didn't suspect the old bars were bent though, so was quite surprised when I put the old bars up against the new ones and saw how bent they are.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that even with the brace on these 6" Jitsie bars they are still a fair bit lighter than the un-braced solid bars.