Terrot MT1 Motorcycle restoration project

[911hillclimber]

No, and not inclined to!
Did not ride my Lambretta to save damage, but rode the beautiful Honda a little on the largish front drive mainly because they were not insured and I have a particularly awkward bloke next door who would try to nail me at any chance.....
It is very comfortable to sit on mind, very low in comparison to the Honda.
I have a full bike liecence from 1968, but today few drivers Think Bike so I won't go on the road.

Wish I had kept the TV3 and the CB 175.

[smallspeed]

Looks great!
I know what you mean about road users, however I think if you pick your ride its fine.. I do NOT enjoy riding to work for instance, yet I can cover about 100miles with a mate on a loop we do from time to time and not see a single idiot
I do think its harder with a slow bike though - I rode a 125 the other day and while parts were fine, if you get stuck on a b-road with a loon in a people carrier following its hairy having a 70-ish mph max speed!

[911hillclimber]

Indeed, so many round my parts here just cannot understand why a bike ( human or petrol powered) is in front of them, and it is their mission to 'just' miss them whilst overtaking in the wrong place.
Last week a biker was head-on with a lorry just down the road....
My wife really does not want me on a motorcycle hence selling the TV and the Honda.

There is no money to be made doing these vehicles, beats me how the bike restorers make a living.

£2400 just about covers the bike and the cost of the large parts.

Anyway, onwards and upwards.
Have the racer to fettle and the 911 too and then there is a the little Peugeot BIMA, 1952 moped waiting patiently in the shed.

50cc of shear French CV, about 4 of them I think on a good day.
Not sure, but might do a Thread when I get to it.

Should have kept these 2!

[911hillclimber]

Many months have passed, and the Terrot MT1 is still fighting back.

Have given up trying to get the thing started, so decided to spend more money on it!
Bought a NOS piston and had a re-bore, fitted new lip seals and came to build it all up today.
Full of hope, got the barrel on and the engine was solid. Zero piston movement...


Gapped the rings to 9 thou, put the piston on the rod and the barrel onto the piston with a struggle as everything is so sharp.
The engine would not move.
Took it all apart and tried the piston in the bore without rings, lovely slip down the bore.
Put the bottom ring on and the same thing, full piston travel.
Removed that ring and fitted just the top ring.
The piston jams solid and eventually it is obvious that the ring ends of the top ring fall into the largest (inlet) port!

The new piston has it's brass ring locator pins in the wrong place, or at least the top ring is in the wrong place. Comparing the old piston (on the left in the pic) to the new one, the position error is obvious.
Just what else can get in my way?


I have complained to Chambrier just, so will wait for a reply. I can re-drill the piston and re-position the pin but the pin is 1/2 in the ring groove and 1/2 in the piston body, thus it is really a job for a good milling machine, so might have to go back to the man who did my case and another £40.

[Ashley James]

How infuriating and typical.

[911hillclimber]

A lot less than I was thinking yesterday...
I doubt Iwill get anything from the French supplier, the piston was nos so no recourse.

I will get thepins milled and inserted in the right place and move on.

What else has this French Follie got for me?

[Ashley James]

I’m old enough to remember two strokes of the late forties and early fifties, Atco mowers too and the frustration and anguish they caused. Even my 1963 Greeves with a 2T was a treacherous old git that often packed up when I was somewhere remote and it was bitterly cold.

FWIW Ariel Arrows and Leaders were very good indeed apart from horrific piston slap on start up.

[911hillclimber]

This bike has killed my fondness of 2 strokes which was founded on Lambrettas when I was 15.
I hope to sell this one like the others, and I have a 1952 Peugeot BIMA moped to do next...
I will start on the engine first with the BIMA before anything else!

My plan is to do the piston work myself, I'll beat this thing yet.

[Ashley James]

I remember Tommy Barker who was workshop foreman at Peter Hammond motorcycles telling me that you could sell a 50,000 mile Vespa or Lambretta crankshaft as new, but a BSA C15 was worn out at 8,000.

I have a Motorcycle Book Of Roadtests from the late forties through the early fifties and apart from a handful of Norton’s, BSAs, Triumphs, Velocettes, Ariel’s and Vincents it’s all Villiers engined shite, powered bicycles and Bond horrors. Nobody had any money, many needed low cost transport and most of it started and ran long enough for the commute and had long enough to cool down and get you home.

However, for most of my growing up, assuming I did, there were garden sheds full of them everywhere because they’d refused to start.

Amongst all this utter rubbish was the Ducati Cucciolo, an engine to bolt on your bicycle with an optional race kit including a megaphone. Shell used one to advertise X100 motor oil, it outperformed Castro R and, just as synthetic oil has now, it massively extended engine life. The little 50cc four stroke did sixty for over an hour at Thruxton aerodrome in 1953.

Most European countries suffered a plethora of vicious sub 125 two strokes and only the Italians and Germans made them reliable.

Catawiki has some of the fabulous Italian small capacity two strokes for sale, but I’d buy a 1950 250cc Moto Guzzi.

[jb]

I had a go kart with a Villiers 9E engine which was fine and always started and ran well.

[Ashley James]

I had a go kart with a Villiers 9E engine which was fine and always started and ran well.

They were okay, even highly tuned, but the 8E and 98cc efforts, pretty grim.

[911hillclimber]

free upload image

[911hillclimber]

So, with no response from the supplier of the piston in France, I was on my own.

Bought some drawn brass wire and new 2mm drills off ebay which arrived a few days ago.

Marked where the best passage was for the ring gaps and cautiously drilled the piston for the new brass wire ring pins. Bit nerve wracking but all done, the old pins filed away with a new swiss file, ring fit checked. All ok.

Slipped the piston to the barrel and that was nice and smooth so re-assembled the lot back to the engine case. Kicked over freely, so on with the head and the Chinese carb.
Excited, put my mini fuel file to the carb and filled the float bowl and kicked the thing over about 10 times with the choke on.

VERRRROOOOMMM!

It only started! Ran it until the fuel ran out noting it did not respond well to the throttle. The few times the bike has run it has always responded well to this carb....
There may be trouble ahead.

Decided to try to restart it while it was hot, so more fuel mix and after the 3rd kick

VERRRRROOOOOMMMM!

Ran out of fuel again, so fitted the silencer and down pipe, more fuel and on the 3rd kick... VERRROOOMMMM!

It has NEVER done this before.

So, now need to sort the carb out....but
After the hillclimb. I've got a very difficult class of cars and drivers with me this weekend, could come 6th in a class of 6.

[smallspeed]

Amazing news! The basics are working right now so I’m sure the adjustment / fiddling with the carb will be a lot more enjoyable

[Ashley James]

Very pleased to hear there is improvement. Be warned that it may still only run for half an hour on a hot day and need three quarters to cool down enough to get you home again.