30 years today.

Well not really, but close. The Morini is 31 years old and I acquired it
29 years ago, so it sort of averages out. All-spares had 6203 wheel
bearings in stock, so despite being pikey Koyo ones I picked some up
first thing and whacked them in this morning so that I could get an MoT
partial re-test for no fee before lunch time. Then off to the post
office for the first tax disc it's had for 5 years.

An enjoyable run to the Greasy Spoon for a black pudding and mushroom
sarnie lunch reminded me of just how good Morini handling is. Stiff as a
board but pin sharp. Whatever foam R.K. Leighton use to rebuild dual
seats it's better than Morini's choice, or perhaps 30 years of being sat
on and several periods of being soaking wet via leaking seams may have
compromised its integrity.

Going very well except for the expected mid-range flat spot and
reluctance to take full throttle under heavy load. I haven't re-jetted
to suit the pod filters yet (was running open in hill climb trim) and
they are always a bit tricky to get right with a 2:1 system combined
with an L5 cam. A tad loud it has to be said - must get some ear plugs.

Only marred by forgetting to tighten the screws on the cheap chinese
mirror heads before setting out so that once out in NSL territory they
turned on their stalks with the wind. Also, I discovered when gettying
the bike out of the garage that the lever had fallen off on petrol tap.
Thought nothing of it until on the way home when I really gave it the
beans down a long straight. It started coughing and banging and refused
to take more than a whiff of throttle. Stopped in a lay by and it seemed
to recover so I set off again only for the behaviour to be repeated
after a few miles. Eased off and it came back on song. Classic fuel
starvation symptoms. On arriving home I could see that the clear in-line
filter for the one fuel line was empty. Twit! Using pliers to twiddle
the tap without a lever I had managed to leave the one side off. 250
taps are weedy little things and with only one on both carbs are
fighting for juice via the link pipe. Not an issue on the hill climber
which had only one bigger bore 350 tap and naturally didn't get held WFO
for half a mile.

I love this bike. Difficult to put in to words and incomprehensible to
most on here I suspect, but my I've missed it.

--
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Aprilia Shiver Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

You could be right, but not all. I feel the same about the Fantic, &
I've only owned that around 25 years. Funny how they're both Italian...

 

+1 Beeza A7

 

Ahem.
Working in a ball-bearing plant opened my eyes a bit to bb quality.
Koyo were exacting in their tolerances, unlike SKF, RHP and others.

 

In communiqué <>, Grimly

That's OK then.

<Googles>

Oops, making assumptions that as All-spares sell some dubious
far-eastern excluding Japan bikes they might skimp on their generic
parts buying. I actually ride past the Timken site (formerly FBC) to get
to their shop.
--
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Aprilia Shiver Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

NTN were the longest lasting bearings in my scooter. Aren't SKF an
Australian company, cbf to look it up.

 

Heh. Time for a combined ages of owner and all bikes, I think....

52 plus 13 plus 2 plus 18 plus 20 plus 30 plu 30 plus 34

Equals 199.

Oh, your comfrey arrived today and The Doctor is delighted.

 

should've gone for Kylie pants instead of the cheapo ones from the NHS.

 

snot fucking fair.

Can we do one about the number of bikes in boxes in the kitchen.

 

I wondered how long it would take and who would be first to spot the
feed line.

--
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Aprilia Shiver Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

In communiqué <1jy6qbr.ouxxak1ak7z7kN%>,

Hmm, I would have done better at that before I swapped the Voxan for the
Shiver. How about term of ownership rather than just age of bikes ?

So, 63 plus 0.5, plus 5, plus 5, plus 13, plus 29 = 52.5, or by your
rules 63 plus 1, plus 15, plus 18, plus 18, plus 29 = 144.

Some way to go to beat Ossie Neal's combined age of rider and machine at
a speed hill climb. Still competing at 80 something on a 1920 something
Scott outfit.

Excellent. It doesn't seem to spread as quickly as horseradish, but ours
became pretty rampant last year. The bees do seem to like it and the
leaves make good compost apparently.

--
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Aprilia Shiver Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

it's my community caring duty...

 

+1 R80RT. I rarely use it but when I do it's a bit like getting back
into my own bed after a month away

 

45 (me) + 1 (Tigger) + 30 (R65RS) + 22 (R80RT) = 98

I could add in 37 if I knew where on earth my Peugeot step through was

 

I can understand that, I like getting into your bed when you're away
for a month too.

 

Steph has owned her CM125 for 25 years but its spend 20+years in boxes
in various garages around the country. Does that count?

 

I was going to use a slippers analogy rather than a bed analogy, but
that would have just made it worse

 

48 me + 29 (RS200) + 20 (CBR1000) + 15 (YZF750) = 112. Nobbut a child...

 

39 + 14 (Fully Fared Honda) + 12 (Twist and go 'ped') = a sprightly 65

 

We knocked out the balls for a lot of bearing makers - most of the
well-known names. Now, most of them weren't shit, far from it, but Koyo
insisted on the very best quality all the bleedin' time and a right pita
it could be sometimes. RHP were the slackest, which wasn't a surprise,
as many Renault gearboxes were notorious for rough and early bearing
failures at the time - guess what they were fitted with.