Sunday 20 March 2022

Motorcycle Book Review: The Rudge Book Of The Road

I was reading Classic Bike Magazine last month and one of the auctioneers in the back of the mag suggested getting my hands on a copy of The Rudge Book Of The Road if you are looking for an historical read that'll get you through a long winter and prime you for the coming springtime.

I had a look around and finally found a 1926 version of the book on Amazon for about thirty five bucks.

If you have a thing for art deco drawings, the Rudge Book of the Road will scratch that itch!


My copy was once owned by.. a W. Chapman?
Reading a book that's almost 100 years old gives you a perspective on motorcycling that you might not have considered before.  At one point the author talks about how much Rudge has learned from building motor-bikes over the past 17 years.  I found myself becoming conscious decades of development that since went into my current 1971 Triumph Bonneville project and then continued on for decades more as found in my modern Triumph Tiger and Kawasaki Concours.  A bit of historical perspective is a powerful thing when you're hands on with the engineering found in modern motorbikes.  With nearly a century of continuous development, reading about motorcycling from the dawn of the sport is good mental exercise.

The Rudge Book of the Road takes me back to a time when my grandparents were children and, as a modern reader, I'm left struggling to find a frame of reference in our overcrowded and mechanized world.  There were a quarter as many people on the planet when this book was written and internal combustion engines were in an early phase of rapid development as they revolutionized and democratized travel for more than just the wealthy.  This book makes a point of recognizing this exciting period in history:


Traffic jams and the expectation that everyone be commuting in motor vehicles in an increasingly crowded and polluted world makes this perspective feel particularly alien in 2022.  Can you imagine thinking about motorbike travel like this?  If anyone could do it, it's motorcyclists - we may be one of the last vehicular subcultures that clings this kind of romance, even as the vast majority drive their appliances without a second thought for how they work or experiencing any inherent joy in the activity.

Having lived with rough 'colonials' for most of my life, some of the language in this very British book made me smile.  It was written for Rudge Whitworth as a sales tool but it leans toward the romance of riding as a theme throughout.  Rudge themselves lasted until 1946 before they stopped production, so you're reading a book by a company that hasn't existed in over seventy years, which further makes reading this feel like an echo from a distant and unknown past:


The state of the art in terms of motorcycle engineering was making major steps in the 1920s.  Earlier bikes had you oiling the motor as you rode it.  Too much and it would clog the spark plugs and leave you on the side of the road having to clean your plugs, a job most modern vehicle operators would have no idea how to do.  Too little oil and the engine would seize, possibly tossing you down the road.  This degree of involvement in motor vehicle operation was being phased out in the mid-nineteen-twenties bringing more people into the moto-fold.

The idea of sitting down with your new machine and understanding what it needs and how it works is a foreign one in 2022, but Rudge makes this process seem almost meditative.  The idea of lighting your pipe and comprehending your new machine in your shed still appeals to a few of us.  Perhaps this is another of those colonial distinctions.  I have no trouble finding programs on industrial history and engineering when I watch British television, but Canadians seem more focused on resource extraction and office work than they are with understanding how things work and then manufacturing them.  This sort of mechanical sympathy will sound particularly foreign to Canadian ears:

Sit on a can of gasoline and light your pipe!  Those were the days...


This old book doesn't limit itself to motorcycling mechanics.  If you've never camped before they offer advice for those new to sleeping on the ground.  Rudge made sidecar outfits and even a trailer/caravan for people interested in taking everything with them.



When your trusty leather bound Rudge Book of the Road isn't teaching you how to moto-camp, it's explaining how the roads you're riding on might be built on top of old Roman roads or how to identify the architecture of the historical buildings you're touring past.  This makes me wonder whether Rudge's target audience was perhaps a bit more educated than your typical rider, but it also makes me wonder if maybe people were just a bit smarter back then without a phone to immerse them in social media in all the time.

The book doesn't stop at camping or architecture and goes on to teach you how to forecast the weather, tell direction and even tells you where the biggest hills on the island are so you know what gear to tackle them with.  It then provides charts on when the sun rises and sets so you know when to turn on your new-fangled electrical light.  Rudges were one of the first to go electric.  A few years earlier you were lighting a gas powered lamp on your motor-bike before proceeding into the dusk on mostly unfinished roads (while remembering to give the top and some oil).  There are (many?) riders now who have never turned a wrench or put a wheel off pavement.

You'll learn more from doing things than you will from "all the books or professors in the world".  Something we've forgotten in our screen-fueled information revolution?

There is another chapter written by F.A. Longman, Rudge's rider in the 1927 Isle of Man TT road race.  He writes with a racer's urgency and puts you in the rider's seat as he talks you around the T.T. mountain course while it was still young and relatively new.  It's amazing how little has changed in the racer's mindset even while they're using machines that have only just recently become mechanically self contained.  They were seeing huge leaps in speed as technology improved and riders came to terms with what this new technology was capable of.


After teasing you with the Isle of Man TT, the RBotR then gives you some 1920s style advice on how to get ready to compete in trials and perhaps even go road racing with your motorbike:

Civilisation continues to makes fools of us all in 2022...

Give up the cigarettes and alcohol entirely, but do keep the pipe smoking!  Can you imagine modern, liability-driven manufacturers encouraging riders to do this sort of thing on their new motorbike?  It's difficult not to get swept up in the enthusiasm and possibility of riding at a time when it was still new to so many people, including the people who built the things!  The lack of caution is exhilarating.

The book ends with a complete set of colour maps of the United Kingdom, but not before it talks you through buying your Rudge (this is a marketing piece, remember?).  Your fifty pounds (about $1350CAD in today's dollars) gets you the base model of the Rudge Four - for ten pounds more you can get the sport model.  New bikes were much more accessible back in the day! 

The final gift this old book gives you is a list of future readings if you're interested in motorcycles and travelling on them:

Unknown Norfolk is on my shortlist.  I wonder how many places I'll recognize from growing up there fifty years later.

The Rudge Book of the Road was such an interesting read that I'm going to keep digging for some of these other historical moto-reading options.  The RbotR suggests slipping one of these in your (tweed?) jacket pocket to read when you get to your destination and finally put your feet up - with your pipe, of course - after another exhilarating day of riding in the dawn of motorcycling.

A more modern motorcyclist philosopher, Matt Crawford, described riding as "a beautiful war", the Rudge Book of the Road shows that it has always been thus.  If you ride, you'll find this a familiar and enjoyable refrain.

No rear suspension other than springs on the seat and a tank that hangs under the frame: state of the art motorcycle engineering in 1927 seems archaic but these machines were a huge step forward in dependability and hint at the evolution motorcycles would take.
Art deco inside cover wallpaper!

Riding in the dawn of motorcycling...

Wednesday 16 March 2022

1971 Triumph Bonneville Project: Engine Out

The weather's all over the place at the beginning of March this year.  Last weekend I had both road-ready bikes out for a shakedown, this weekend we're skiing in -20°C windchill; that's the road I was riding on last week.

As GP from Hammy Hamster would say, 'the elephants are against us.'  With the outside trying to kill us again, I'm focusing on doing a complete tear down of the 1971 Triumph Bonneville project.  I was originally going to see if I could get the bike in motion as it is, but a combination of factors including 1971 Triumph build quality and the early 80s muppet who tried and failed to turn the bike into a chopper's spannering skills have me now approaching this as a frame up restoration.

I've been working around the edges which has been good for reconnaissance in determining what state the bike is in, but now that I'm committed to doing the bike from the frame up the first job was to remove the bottom end of the motor and clear the way for a frame restoration:

The bottom end was surprisingly light and easy to lift out of the frame and none of the frame to engine bolts caused any problems.  Some were quite loose, so a frame up resto is making more and more sense as I don't trust anything the chopper muppet did to the bike circa 1983.

It was my first time into the rear drums and, like the fronts, they were age seized but otherwise not in terrible shape, though whenever I get into the dark places on this bike it looks like a scene out of Indiana Jones.

I've left the frame on the bench as I continue to strip it of accessories.  The last time I did some coating work on a project bike it was with Fireball Coatings in Elora but seven years on they seem to have evaporated.  I've been looking for alternate (and hopefully better) options and KC Coatings in Guelph looks promising.  I intend to get in touch with them and see if we can shot blast and powder coat the Bonneville frame, I just have to make sure they can do it on a complicated oil-in-frame design like this one.  Powder coating adds thickness and can cause problems with fasteners and fitting things back together so I need to find out if KC understands that and can can work with this one so that its mechanical pieces will still fit back together.

Following the frame I'll sort out both wheels (bearings, tires and inner tubes) before getting the rolling chassis back together and then rebuilding the motor with my swish new 750cc head.

Motor out and on a pop up workbench by the window.  It's lighter than it looks.
I set up the Black & Decker WorkMate by the back door to the garage to give me somewhere to work on the bottom end of the motor.  With the engine split and out of the frame, I can lift the parts off the bike around easily.  I might put the bench away and make some space while the project is in pieces.




Resources & Links


Power-coating Specialist in Guelph for the frame:

https://www.kccoatingsltd.com/contact


Where to find tires:

https://revco.ca/

Revco is fantastic at shipping (even during a pandemic) and very transparent and communicative with delivery times.  Everything I've gotten from them has been expertly packed, is new stock (no old/new tires).  They know what they're doing with motorsport tires.


How to DIY your own fender: 

https://purposebuiltmoto.com/how-to-make-a-diy-motorcycle-fender/

If I had more space I'd have welding kit and an English Wheel set up in the workshop and get into a lot more fabrication.  I'd go digital too.  A industrial sized 3d printer would make me dangerous:  https://tkmotorcyclediaries.blogspot.com/2015/11/iihtm-digital-workshop.html

1971 Oil In Frame Triumph Bonneville Restoration: Tire Choices



The old Bonneville needs new tires and inner tubes so I'm wrapping my head around olde fashioned, pre-metric motor-bike tyre sizes.

Those would be the Dunlop K70s that came with the Bonnieville back in the day.
Fortunately Dunlop is still looking after the bike they designed the tire for.


The '71 Triumph Bonneville came with 3.25 X 19″ front & 4.00 X 18″ rears and used Dunlop K70 tires as standard equipment.

It looks like there are modern Dunlop options for vintage SAE (non-metric) wheels at Revco where I've gotten my last two sets of tires.  The handy chart below shows metric and imperial conversions but after some digging I was able to find SAE/pre-metric modern Dunlop K70s that are the exact fit for the bike.  Using recent versions of original equipment that give me the benefit of modern rubber durability and grip while still keeping close to the originally engineering intent in Triumph's tire choice is fantastic.  I'm not trying to recreate riding in 1971, I'm trying to start with that technology and update where prudent for 21st Century use.



  Tire Charts                               Motorcycle Street Tire Size Conversion Charts

Metric

80/90

90/90

100/90

110/90

120/90

130/90

140/90








Alphanumeric

- NA-

MH 90

MJ 90

  ML 90

MN90/MP90/MR 90

MT 90

MU 90








Inch-(Series90)

2.75

3.00/3.25

  3.25

3.50

4.00/4.25

5.0

- NA-








Inch-(Series82)

- NA-

- NA-

3.60

4.10

4.25/82/4.40

5.10

- NA-








Front Tires:

Metric

80/90

90/90

100/90

110/90

120/80

120/90

130/90

Alpha

MH90

MJ90

MM90

MN90

- NA-

MR90

MT90

Inch

2.50/2.75

2.75/3.00

3.25/3.50

3.75/4.00

4.25/4.50

4.25/4.50

5.00/5.10







Rear Tires:

Metric

110/90

120/90

130/80

130/90

140/80

140/90

150/80

150/90

160/80

180/55

200/60

230/50

Alpha

MP85

MR90

- NA-

MT90

- NA-

MU90

MV85

MV85

- NA-

- NA-

- NA-

- NA-

Inch

4.50/4.75

4.50/4.75

5.00/5.10

5.00/5.10

5.50/6.00

5.50/6.00

6.00/6.25

6.00/6.25

6.80/7.00

7.00/7.25

7.90/8.00

9.50


Size

120/80V16

130/90H16

130/90V16

500S16

MT90H16 3.00

130/90H16 3.00

140/90H16

140/80VB16

140/90H16

150/80V16

160/80H16

160/80H16

200/60VB16

120/80V18

120/90V18

120/90H16

130/80V18

130/70VB18

150/70VB18

140/70V18

170/60VB18

180/55VB18

230/50 X 15

Rim

2.75

3.00

3.00

3.00

3.00

3.00

3.50

3.50

3.50

3.50

4.00

4.00

5.50

2.75

2.75

2.75

3.00

3.50

4.00

4.00

4.50

5.50

7.00 to 8.00

Overall Width

4.7

5.00

5.2

5.2

5.3

5.4

5.8

5.9

6.0

6.2

6.4

6.8

7.9

4.8

4.8

4.9

5.2

5.4

5.9

6.1

6.9

7.0

9.5

Overall Diameter

23.8

25.4

25.0

26.4

25.3

25.6

25.6

24.8

25.8

25.4

26.1

26.1

25.9

25.9

26.4

26.3

26.3

25.4

26.2

25.7

26.0

26.3

25.3

Note: Measurements are based on the given rim widths. A rough rule of thumb: Each additional 1/2-inch of rim width will be approximately 1/4-inch more in each tire width.


The K70s at Revco are just over a hundred bucks a pop and Counteract Balance Beaded inner tubes are actually cheaper than name brand plain old rubber inner tubes. I've been using the Counteract beads for years to great effect so they'd be my first choice even if they weren't cheaper. All in I'm looking at about $320CAN ($250USD) for new rubber for this vintage restoration project, which considering the price of some of the other parts is pretty reasonable.

In order to rebuild the wheels I'll need to replace the bearings and clean up the brakes before putting new pads and hydraulic brake cylinders back in them. All that and getting the frame sorted out will get me back to a correct rolling chassis ready for the upgraded engine.

Somewhere at the end of all of this will be a road worthy '71 Triumph Bonneville, but it's a lot of parts to find and get in and then a lot time in the garage to get there. I'm hoping it'll be on the road for next year's riding season.  As we thaw out here in Canada I'll be out on the Tiger and GTR and not spannering so much.

Meanwhile, here are some more motorcycle tire sizing reference charts found on the interwebs:





Tuesday 8 March 2022

1971 Triumph Bonneville Restoration: Gudgeons, Johnson Rods & Cylinders out! (oh my)

I've got a degree in English, but working on the old Bonneville is stressing out even my vocabulary:

That'd be your gudgeon pin right there.

Gudgeon: one who will bite at any bait or swallow anything, credulous or gullible person Mer. V. I. i. 102.  (that might apply to this project)

Definition of gudgeon
1: PIVOT sense 1, JOURNAL  (we're getting closer)
2: a socket for a rudder pintle (a rudder pintle?)

Definition of gudgeon pin: WRIST PIN

Definition of wrist pin: a stud or pin that forms a journal (as in a crosshead) for a connecting rod (that's it!)

They can make up anything! Nobody knows!  Well, you need a new Johnson Rod in here!
A few people know, George.  Consumer ignorance is expensive, but who has time
to understand the machines they depend on?


Gudgeon pins?  After the massive fight that was removing the seized cylinder head, I was bracing for misery, but I was able to pop the circlips (!) out and tap the gudgeon pins (!) through with no sweating and swearing.  Pink Floyd was playing on the computer and I think music from its era calms the old Bonneville down when I'm working on it.

The circlips popped out easily and a 3/8 inch socket extension was the perfect size to tap out the 'wrist' pins.  I thought the one on the seized side might cause more problems because it had been stuck in place with moisture but it didn't and both came out easily leaving a motor bereft of its pistons.


British Cycle Supply Co. delivered my 750cc kit quickly and without any headaches (and also for about $200 less than comparable kits out of the USA), so I got the shiny new bits out and had a look:



You'd think a 750cc head would look significantly different to the stock 650cc unit, but you have to look closely to see a difference in size.

I had a close look at the connecting rods and they appear to be in good shape and the bottom end of the motor moves freely.  I think next steps are to remove the rest of the engine from the frame, give the oil-in-frame a deep clean and then recoat it with some quality paint.  With the frame cleaned up and sorted I'll strip the rest of the motor and clean everything out to ensure nothing's whacky before I begin the great rebuild.

I could just chuck it all back together now and hope for the best, but if it ends up having other niggles rushing things at this point is just false economy.  I'm not worried about making the bike look mint, but I do want it to be dependable and that wouldn't be the case if I haven't checked it over completely after such a long (30 year?) layoff.  An engine out deep restoration was always the intention here and I'm not in any kind of rush since the other two bikes are both five by five and felt fantastic on their first rides of the year this past weekend.

The gudgeon pin itself looks to be in good shape, which is good because the head kit didn't come with new ones.  The circlips came out nicely too but the kit did come with those.  It amazes me that even specialized material like that in these cylinders can withstand the extreme forces they operate in.  This Bonnie had done at least twenty thousand miles on these cylinders and they're still in remarkable shape considering they were face to face with more than 17 controlled explosions every second (a spark plug typically fires about 17 times per second at 2000rpm!).  You'd think all that heat and violence would cause more wear than I'm seeing in the beating heart of this motor.


This is the 3/8 inch socket extension I used to tap the gudgeon pins out.  Nothing grabbed or slowed the process down and I barely had to apply any pressure.  I might have even been able to push them out had I been so inclined.  
I caught the pin as it came loose and the cylinder lifted off the connecting rods easily.  Again, considering the extreme conditions the heart of every engine operates under, I'm impressed by the engineering and metallurgy that makes all this possible.




The new cylinders don't have the carbon build up from all those combustion cycles and look pretty spectacular in their pristine newness:



Here's the whole kit from British Cycle Supply.  It includes the cylinder head, cylinders, piston rings, circlips for the gudgeon pins and a head gasket.  I swiped the last one they had in stock for $688.75CAD ($535USD - told you I got a good deal).  Unfortunately I might be the last person on the planet to get a 750cc kit that cheap.  Prices will be going up on the new stock and probably even higher than that as we're in an inflationary spiral thanks to Putin overreaching and years of pandemic fueled broken supply chains; we live in interesting times.

Another tool came in that's interesting.  I was reading Practical Sportsbikes last week (highly recommended if you love bikes and getting your hands dirty on them), and editor Chris mentioned an endoscope smartphone camera he was using on a project bike to inspect the internal parts of an engine.  I found one on Amazon for under $40CAD and it came in on the weekend.  It lets you see parts of the engine that haven't seen light before.  It's an exciting thing that offers you a look into the secret life of engines.  I'm looking forward to using it as i continue to work on the Bonnie.

Through an inspection hole inside the engine - it's disco in there!

That look on my face after the first ride in a long, long time.

The 12 year old Kawasaki (left) and the 19 year old (!) Tiger (right) were keen to turn a wheel after a long hibernation.

Bison were out bisoning at Black Power Bison Co. when I was out for a ride in balmy 6°C March Sunday.