{"id":451,"date":"2025-09-15T21:17:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T01:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.brainwalkers.ca\/?p=451"},"modified":"2025-09-15T21:18:50","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T01:18:50","slug":"more-progress-just-keeps-coming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.brainwalkers.ca\/index.php\/2025\/09\/15\/more-progress-just-keeps-coming\/","title":{"rendered":"More progress… just keeps coming…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Of course like anything it takes time….<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Course, like anything worth doing, it takes time\u2026 and in my case, a few muttered curses and a good helping of misplaced optimism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First order of business was to get the wheels off the rims and the tubes out. Aye, tubes \u2014 remember those? Back in \u201961 they actually put a balloon inside the tire to hold the air in. Revolutionary thinking, clearly. Likely the only reason the blessed things were still holding air after 55 years. Fair play to the old rubber, it had more stamina than me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before heading off to the swap sale recently, I figured I should at least take a squint at the spokes and how they were mounted. Couldn\u2019t just walk in pretending I knew what I was talking about \u2014 though, truth be told, that\u2019s usually my approach to life. So, off came the tires for a closer look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, I\u2019ve done plenty of bicycle tires in my day \u2014 usually with screwdrivers and my mum\u2019s best butter knives (sorry, Mum). I was the local bike repair lad back then. Paint a frame, fix a chain, bodge a repair. I was also head demolition expert, but that\u2019s another tale. Anyway, I quickly discovered that my trusty screwdriver wasn\u2019t up to the job. In fact, it was about as useful as a chocolate teapot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I asked my mechanic pal Mario how he does it. He agreed to lend me his secret arsenal: three proper tire wedges and his personal BFH \u2014 that\u2019s \u201cBig Friendly Hammer\u201d in polite company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Like a Scotsman at an open bar, I was off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attack!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll spare you the details of the huffing, puffing, swearing, and sweating as I tried to balance three tire wedges while whacking away like a man possessed. There are entire YouTube channels dedicated to this lunacy, if you fancy seeing other poor souls suffer. But the good news: I was successful. Even better news: I didn\u2019t put any new holes in the tubes. (The old ones will do just fine, thank you very much.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rubber is older than a Highland granny, but I reckon it\u2019ll be good enough to get the bike rolling. Once the test pilot\u2019s done, we\u2019ll swap it out for something a wee bit fresher \u2014 ideally before the thing disintegrates mid-ride and throws me (or the wifey) into a hedge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Next came the delicate art of finesse<\/em> \u2014 which in my case usually means brute force with a thin veil of patience. The two hub covers had to come off, and after a bit of persuasion with heat and a pair of wedge screwdrivers (the sort of nail pullers your grandad kept in a rusty tin), I managed to pry them up bit by bit. The heat worked its magic, softening the 50-year-old grease into something resembling day-old porridge, and slowly but surely the covers gave up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that, I coaxed the shaft and bearing out of the hub. Well, coaxed<\/em> might be generous \u2014 let\u2019s just say there was some convincing involved. The second bearing I left for a trip to Mario\u2019s, since he actually owns a proper drift for the job. (I\u2019d been about ready to try a tent peg and some choice language, but apparently there are \u201ccorrect tools\u201d for these things. Who knew?)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I’m down to a couple of tough ones remaining on the dismantle (other than the engine inspection)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Anyway, this race has to come out. Only problem: the frame hole is smaller than the inner race ID, so there\u2019s no handy lip to tap from the other side. In other words, BSA designed it so you\u2019d curse your way through the job.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

At coffee morning, the lads told me the trick: put four spots of weld on it and, when it cools, the different metals shrink at different rates and the race just drops out. Aye, right. Sounds like black magic to me. I\u2019d hate to dig out my book on thermodynamics (or worse, ask my wife to explain it).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plan B: weld a big washer or nut across the race so it can actually be hit with a drift from the back. Or maybe it just falls out on its own when I\u2019m not looking \u2014 that would be a first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other job (I did say two remaining) is to get the front and rear shocks broken down. Since the springs are under more force than a Scotsman guarding the last biscuit, special tools are required. Naturally, I\u2019m making my own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For the fronts, I\u2019ve got to reach way down the tube to hook into those two opposing slots using the tool on the right \u2014 essentially a bit of pipe ground with two tabs. Then I can grab it with a plumber\u2019s wrench and twist it free. The \u201cproper\u201d tool for the job is $126 CAD on eBay (plus shipping). Aye, very reasonable\u2026 if you\u2019re daft. I\u2019ll be making mine for the price of a bit of scrap pipe and a fresh blister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rears are trickier. I need to build a special pipe to compress the spring so the two chrome pieces pop out through the gap. Sounds simple, right? Right. Wish me luck \u2014 because the only thing standing between me and a flying chrome projectile is my homemade contraption and blind faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If you don\u2019t hear from me again, assume one of the 4 the springs won.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Of course like anything it takes time…. Course, like anything worth doing, it takes time\u2026 and in my case, a few muttered curses and a good helping of misplaced optimism. First order of business was to get the wheels off … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.brainwalkers.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.brainwalkers.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.brainwalkers.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.brainwalkers.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.brainwalkers.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=451"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.brainwalkers.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":466,"href":"https:\/\/blog.brainwalkers.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451\/revisions\/466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.brainwalkers.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.brainwalkers.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.brainwalkers.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}