Of TS250s and cheap rattle guns

Today I have mostly been stripping down the project TS250, prior to
getting the frame repainted.

The good it han't been messed with, but then I knew that already.
The engine came out easily (don't you love lightweight two-strokes?) and
just about every bolt undid easily and smoothly.

Except the swinging arm pivot. That is, as I feared, almost seized
solid. I say '"almost" because a little bit of welly with a 22mm ring
spanner succeeded in turning it a few degrees this way and that. I've
doused it in Plus-Gas and will have another go next weekend, with the
aid of a blowlamp.

My Aldi rattle gun, which I bought with the compressor, is utterly
useless. It is so weak I can easily hold the bit in my hand, squeeze the
trigger, and let it rattle and hiss away without turning the thing.

Twiddling the Force-O-Meter between its four settings makes no
difference it all. I can't remember what it cost: £20? £30 But it was a
complete waste of money. Oh well, at least I've got the socket heads it
came with.

It's not as if the compressor is too weak, either - the gun needs 90psi
and the compressor delivers up to 120psi. It's just shite. Do serious
rattle guns need more than that?

I will hie me to my local ironmonger-wiv-men-in-brown-coats and buy a
better one. Maybe a bigger compressor as well.

The engine, which I know to be a decent runner, doesn't look like it's
ever been apart, which is good news. Mind you, the gearbox sprocket has
the mother of all notches hammered in it, evidently in an attempt to
remove it, so that's earmarked for attetion when the engine is back in
the frame.

Next strage is to remove the front and rear suspension as complete
units, strip off the loom and assorted electrical bits, and go from
there.

 

I had a TS 185 back in the day .. lovely bike at the time, very powerful
for the weight, for 70's values of powerful ..

Just like this one, 1975/6 I think ..

http://www.suzukicycles.org/photos/TS/TS185/1975_TS185M_red-side_500.jpg

90 psi is 'industry standard' ish ... what you really want is a high
volume of air at that pressure.

If your compressor has a FRL (Filter, regulator, lubricator) have a read
of the destructions, there might be some way to increase volume of air
while keeping the psi down to 90.

One thing you might try .. there is usually an exhaust, looks and feels
like a gauze top-hat somewhere near the handle of the gun. If you take
this off and replace it with a stop of some sort you'll get more power
at the expense of having 'dirty' air going through the gun. It might
help .. a bit ...

Mind, nothing will help if the airmotor vanes are shagged or just plain
crap.

Another thing is to have a good quality and larger diameter air delivery
hose between the compressor and gun .. the 6mm dia that's usually
supplied in 'hobby kits' is pitiful and a change to 12mm internal
diameter is a vast improvement. Double the diameter gives ~3x the
volume. That only really works if you have a large enough receiver to
deliver the psi and volume consistently, and a compressor unit that can
supply the receiver enough air on demand. Not usually much of an issue
with air guns though as they're mostly intermittent use.

(I used to work for Desoutter who make decent air tools)

 

Breaker bar plus a scaffold pole.

Sir needs one of these
http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item...m_ID=76491&group_ID=2798&store=uk&dir=catalog

Had mine for 15 years, it has never failed to shift anything and will
probably see me out.

90psi is fairly standard but you do need a 3/8" / 10mm hose to deliver
the volume.

The compressor should be OK for intermittent use.

There are some bloody butchers in this world.
When all else fails - read the instructions <B-).

 

gurgled happily, sounding much like they were
saying:

If it's one of the Lidl/Aldi pikeymarket ones, then the one that's here
(the "spare" Lozzo picked up on the offchance) was doing great service
with a £10-off-fleabay second hand "Universal Air Tools" 1/2" rattler
last weekend. 32mm nut from a Saab 900 primary chain drive, peened into
place better than I've ever seen anything peened before. And, being a
chain on a gearbox that wasn't attached to anything, it was quite happy
to turn with very little torque.

The peens were almost entirely drilled out, but nowhere near enough. The
rattler was quite happy (with a little extended abuse) to remove the last
remaining peened bits.

I suspect there's something in the "hose diameter" theory, too - mine's
on the 3/8" rubber from Machine Mart.

 

I haven't any problem with the compressor - been using it since I bought
it. And yes, it's a lidl one.

This is the first time I've used the rattle gun I bought with it,
though, and it's just crap.

 

I have a shit air impact gun and a good one - both run off the weedy
compressor I have but only one undoes difficult stuff. Guess which one.

When I needed to undo a VW camper rear hub nut - a 36mm nut that defied
my good impact gun and after that a 3/4" breaker bar and scaffold pole +
3 blokes - I took it to a local tyre place who just waved their FOAD air
impact at it and it came off like butter.

"We must have loosened it but here's a fiver for a pint anyway"

The point is shit tools are that, shit. Hence I don't get too excited
about Lidl offers - they're cheap for a reason.

 

Ditto

 

"cheap tools are cheap for a reason"

 

<Listens intently>

 

I picked up some Chicago Pneumatics tools in a closing down sale.
They're very good and having just looked them up, very expensive. ?450
for an impact gun.

I can't remember what mine is, it's not great and I'd probably replace it
with a heavy duty version from Machinemart.

 

I was browsing their website at the weekend, and there's a branch in
Croydon. I know where I'm going on Saturday.

 

CP as another poster said are universally used by the trade for 1/2 inch
Ingersoll Rand for 3/4 and 1 inch the price of these will make your eyes
water, but ?Maximum Torque 1630 Nm

 

I've got an alternator you could have.

 

*snort*
aint dat de troof

 

Can you remember offhand which one? They have several from cheapo to
eye reassuringly expensive

 

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/cat101-impact-wrench/p
ath/air-ratchets-wrenches

Blimey. That looks like decent VFM. I'll find out on Saturday.

 

For a little bit more you could buy the real thing and not a Chinese knockoff
http://www.powertoolsalesuk.com/p/airtools/airimpactwrenches/12sd/2009/

 

Seeing as we have the same compressor I'll await reports then!

 

In communiqué <1jo7n6e.zqdpnn1ytvdqlN%>,

That's the one I've got. Used with a Clarkes 'Tiger' compressor. I also
have a cheapo Aldi 'Workzone' one (plus an air chisel) that I couldn't
resist.

The gearbox sprocket nut on the lad's YZ85 resisted attempts at removal
with a breaker bar yesterday, so I will be performing a rattle gun
comparison test this morning. Though if the cheap one works used first
it won't tell me much. One major problem is stopping the shaft from
turning. The usual length of 4x4 in the back wheel strategy isn't really
on with wire wheels. The same job on my YZ50 was achieved easily by
poking a bar through a hole in the rear sprocket, but the same method is
leading to ominous creaking noises on the smaller scale machine.



--
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

Well it's actually a Powercraft rattle gun and an Airmaster compressor.
The Clarkes unit seems more powerful and certainly needs the wick turned
up higher on the compressor to give a decent kick.

Neither, however, have succeeded in shifting the nut. Now been subjected
to the heating and dowsing in penetrating oil treatment again. I'm
applying enough force with the breaker bar to start lifting the bike off
the paddock stand.

I never been defeated yet, but hopefully the 44t rear sprocket I ordered
will arrive in time to gear up by that route instead.

--
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+