Replacement piston kits are still awaited for this particular bike affectionately nicknamed Hedge or Hedge bike. Apparently it owes its nickname to the location in which was stored for several years. Armantis spent a little time finishing off cleaning up the engine and laying it ready for re-assembly.

Little progress was made. However we put the engine back into the frame (It’s secured by just two bolts!) and popped the back wheel on loosely to allow the bike to be moved around the work shop a little more easily. When the time comes (and it will come one day!) to replace the piston and cylinder etc., the engine will have to come out again. I have hopefully found a company in France (I think) that can supply the correct sized 38.4 mm piston to fit our barrel and a company in the Midlands that can manufacture a reed valve for us, so hope is not totally lost. However another problem became apparent at this session and that is that at present the bike’s ignition lock and ignition key are missing. The ignition can be dispensed with if need be but the seat is securely locked, so we really need to find the key again! One of our members nicknamed this bike as Jane Doe indicating that it may be well and truly dead. However this is the West Wales Motorcycle club and we never say never!!!

This was the first of our extended club workshop sessions. Instead of finishing at Mid day, it ran on till just before 3pm. A good proportion of those that attended stayed beyond Mid day. It meant that there was more opportunity for a bit social chit chat and more chance to get work on the projects progressed. A number of tools were purchased during this session from John Morgans in Carmarthen these included safety goggles, a drill bit set and a comprehensive set of punches and chisels. We also took time out from the working on the projects to convey the stock of chairs and desks etc. from their storage space in the hall, to the house at the front of the site. They do not belong to us and belong to the owners of the hall. They were moved with the agreement of the owners and it was done to allow us more space. This was necessary to replace that lost through the need to give space over to other groups using the hall. Where necessary a human chain was formed and the furniture was quickly ...

Club member John began bringing pieces of his Ducati Monster into the workshop with a view to re-assembling it and getting it running. First to arrive were the front wheel, front forks and tank. John informed me that the bike had been stood around in a partly disassembled condition for several years. Once again with our never say never attitude we’ll see what we can do to help John get the bike in running order again (and give it a funny nickname too!) 

This bike belongs to Club Chairperson Phil McCathey. Some time ago its engine was removed for fettling. One of the problems that became apparent was that one of the six millimetre diameter studs that secured the inlet rubbers onto the cylinder head had broken off. It is almost flush to the surface of the cylinder head. With great care Phil the club mechanic and I were able to drill a hole down the centre of the broken stud. The hope is that a small stud extractor can be used in conjunction with the hole to twist out the stud. If that fails then the hole can be drilled out further until the pieces of thread can be prised out of the hole (Fingers and toes crossed!)

 Continuing the saga of the Z550 also affectionately known as Kermie. After a long and arduous struggle the engine was finally removed from the frame. All but one of the stubborn engine bolts came out. Just the lower front left bolt refused to budge. Because the bolt head had rounded off, the angle grinder was called in. After grinding the head of the bolt completely off, a hammer and drift was used to try and punch the bolt out. However sod’s law dictated that the bolt had corroded solidly into the aluminium of the crankcases. Hammering on the bolt simply started to spread the frame a little. Had Kawasaki just fitted a flat metal plate for the mounting it would undoubtedly have been possible to spread the frame far enough to get the bolt to disengage, but of course they hadn’t. Instead the mounting was a piece of tube welded to the frame. so grinding through the bolt between the engine and frame became the only option. At this point the gap wasn’t big enough to get a grinding disc...

Workshop Session on Saturday January 08th  2022 Firstly, apologies for mistakenly calling it an XS500, the bike we have is in fact a wire wheeled single front disc TX500, which would have looked something like the bike you see in the picture. This week Amantis painstakingly cleaned up the crankcase gasket surfaces, removing the old material to help get a good seal when the liquid gasket is eventually applied. We are principally awaiting piston kits to get this engine back in one piece as it is, basically a surprisingly sound engine with very little wear.

This little red (large wheeled) two stroke moped from the 1990s was disassembled some considerable time ago and there are two major issues to overcome. Firstly, its piston has gone missing, so its more a case of piston missing than piston broke! The barrel is spot on for size (According to the factory workshop manual we have acquired) at 38.4 mm. However both replacement pistons we have obtained measure 40mm. Nearly everyone that claims to supply pistons for it in the UK states they are 40 mm. These of course are too big to fit the bore. A French company indicates they supply the correct size but they are out of stock! We are pondering if the barrel would sustain being bored out 1.6 mm for the 40 mm piston to fit but then we do not know at present whether the shape of the two pistons and the positions of the ports are the same! The 2nd and Equally vexing problem is that one its reed valve petals has broken. This means that a large proportion of the fuel air mixture it would draw into i...

The state of the throttle and choke cables was checked this time. On removing the twist grip housing it was quickly apparent that the throttle cable was hanging on by its last threads and needs to be replaced. Removing the left handlebar switch revealed that the plastic choke lever had broken where the cable connects and a bodge had been made using a rubber grommet to stop the cable falling out of place. The cable itself was seized solid and should really be replaced unless we can find a functioning cable oiler, but even then I do not hold out much hope. We also checked the bike out to see if would pass an MOT but alas things need to be done before that will happen. Such as... Replacing the notchy steering head bearings (The front fork assembly should travel from side to side smoothly without any notchiness, which would cause horrendous handling issues!) The front fork seals are leaking and need replacement. The rear tyre is heavily perished. There is play in the rear wheel bearings. T...

More efforts were made to remove the engine but the heavily corroded front engine bolts proved too tough a nut to crack. Whilst drilling the heads off seems to be the only option to allow the engine to be lifted out of the frame, that still leaves an immense problem to overcome if we are to re-use the existing engine. The odd shaped nuts are securely corroded onto the ends of the bolts, so much so that attempts at turning the bolts have broken large sections of the surrounding aluminium fins off the engine. Because the bolts are in a blind channel, a way needs to be found to cut the nut off the bolt in order for both pieces of each corroded bolt to be removed from the channel. Once the bolts/nuts are out a very clever welder of aluminium needs to be located to rebuild the fins. Without the fins around the nut there will be issues with the new nut spinning around when attempts are made to tighten the new bolts. One can’t help but wonder if another engine needs to be located. But then it...