My first workshop lesson as 5 year old, 70 years ago, Dad handed me the spark plug lead of his old Acme motorcycle and said "here boy, hold onto this", then he kicked the Kickstarter, Yahoo! I guess that'd be called child abuse today, for me it was the start of a whole lifetime career of mechanics. Suzie, Ivan, John, a privilege to spend time with you in the "Shed" once again, it's the fastest my time goes these days.
Ivan and John remind me of all the older blokes I learned from as a young lad. I would love to see an episode dedicated to John and his history with cars and Ivan. Now I’m off to the shed to play around with the mag I have for the AJS I’m building.
Ah .. I just LOVE Ivan & John's London accents that take me back 75 years to playing with Dinkey cars in the back garden in Kilburn with my mate. Suzy you do a brilliant job showing the boy's antics. I've got a magneto on a WW1 Lister Stationary engine down here in NZ that's a bit hit'n'miss too. - Thank You Team.
I'm in nz as well , I've just done up the magneto on my bsa b33 , what a mission , I got mucked around for 3 ½ months , in the end I got a rewound armature from england, but it had the wrong end cap so they sent out another , there was quite a lot of messing around to refit the old condenser part with the new capacitors as the end housings had different recesses, but finally it works .
Thanks for recording this Suzie. It's always fun to see Ivan and John tackle dinosaur electrics. I learned something today....not to fool with magnetos!
Many, many years ago when I was in an old mechanics garage he told me that he used to check magnetos by putting the plug caps on his fingers whilst someone else turned the engine over so he could check if all the leads were working! Another mechanic standing behind him was nodding to let me know that this was correct. As far as I know he did not die of a heart attack.
When I was 11yo, I was working with my buddy on his 65 Plymouth Barracuda's slant-6 engine.He told me to shut it off, and since I was right there, I thought pulling the coil wire would do the trick. It did. It taught me to never grab a coil wire on a running vehicle while leaning in and holding the fender to balance too.
Another MAGnificet episode Ivan . You must be worth a bob or two , treat yourself and John's knees and back to a proper bike lift . Work smart not harder . All the best .
Hello Ivan I really like this bike and all the modifications it looks like the owner rider was pretty inventive other than reorganising the handlebars and maybe shorter levers for the decompression valve lifter an the unusual oiler device I’d leave it all in it’s special state, what a cool bike looking forward to hearing it running, it’d be interesting to discover a bit about the previous owner, running an old Vtwin with twin carb conversion in to your older age that’s Living right there! great stuff have fun at Prescott. Cheers
Growing up in the sixties was wonderful. Cheap pre war car, Dad with odd advice and lots of enthusiasm with wet and dry on points and the world was your own! One spent a lot of time rectifying faults on the side of the road but traffic was less and I learned a lot. Sum of courage was learning to stop an engine with bare hands on the spark plugs. I reckon John has a wonderful collection of stories. It is good to hear him talk!
I'm picking that bike is running two front cylinder heads, a great way to get two carbs flowing really well. We used to stick a bit of plastic between the points before fiddling with mags, doesn't take much of a rotate to light your world up.
This old guy would have to elevate that bike to work on it effectively, love that you dive right into new (old) things. You need an impact screwdriver; they + a suitable hammer can be very valuable when working with old screws.
@@leslieaustin151 I have to guess you have never seen one, I have been using them since I bought a new Bultaco in 1970. Install the proper bit, pick the right size hammer, hit once = screw loose, that said my screw is not loose, yours however I'm not sure.....
@@goldcountryruss7035 Hello Russ, yes, I have seen an impact driver, and indeed I have one. Very useful occasionally. But my comment related to something else,which - I apologise - came from me misunderstanding the first comment you made, as I thought you were calling Ivan “this old guy”, whereas I now - correctly? - realise you were talking about yourself. OK, hope that clears up the matter and clears the air too. Les (very old ex-motor mech. Screws loose? Certainly!)
Finally I get to see the Zenith! My father used to tell me about his friend who had one. The kickstart was broken and it had to bump started. Once it caught he’d be dragged up the road until he managed to either stop it, or get on the saddle.
Fantastic great to see you and John working on the Zenith 👍👍 it’s entertaining watching you both and susie having fun investigating what you’ve purchased! 😊
I find marginal, carbon tracked, acting up in the rain, etc. ignition parts benefit from a coat of RainX (a silicone oil based windshield treatment) after cleaning, or if you're in a hurry and being rained on just scrub with rain X and dry it off. Have saved a couple beater car distributor caps that way, I think the thin film of silicone oil stops a thin film of water forming on the old degraded surfaces, fills small cracks, you get the idea.
Great video again. Thank you all. My T shirts arrived this morning and they are fantastic quality I am really pleased with them. I will put the stickers on my toolbox.
Amazing how you find the interesting stuff / Zenith have a great history didn’t realise how groundbreaking they were / first 100mph lap of Brooklamds - sp d records Great job you guys ❤
I used to clean out cracks with a bit of Brakekleen ,blow the cracks out and put some nail polish in the cracks,wait until the cellulose has evaporated and you should be away. Regards Chris
You have to worry about your sanilty when you can watch two guys messing about with a magneto. Yet these videos are just fascinating, as good as meditation. Should be recommended by doctors to reduce blood pressure.
The reason for barrels like that instead of a single carburettor, it’s a competition style of setting your engine up running the engines is two singles it’s not so smooth but a lot more powerful
When I was a kid we made our own minibike. I took it out for a test ride, and sat on the damn spark plug. I don't remember if I fell off or not, but it went right up me.
Nothing like getting a good charge from the impulse magneto 😂😂.. many a magneto was used on the welding cart to light the oxy torch.. the kids found it quite shocking..😊
I have a funny feeling they was spinning the magneto the wrong way the whole time :P The points are supposed to be trailing so the magneto should be spinning Anti-Clockwise looking at the drive end.
If the gap between the points spring and the cam ring is less than the gap at the points it can cause problems. I agree, also worth checking if the cam ring is loose in the housing or a worn bearing is causing a variation in the points gap. Too much end float can affect accuracy also. A weak spark could be caused by a failing condenser in the armature, I have fitted a modern solid state 330K capacitor, there should be no need to spin the mag at speed to get a decent spark. When setting up the timing, leave the bolt holding the bevel gear loose, set no.1 cylinder at its firing position(3/8" BTDC?) Set the mag at the firing point, using a strip of cigarette paper between the contacts. Make sure the manual advance is at fully advanced. Tighten the gear onto the taper while holding it against the drive gear to take up the back lash. Not easy to get right the first time so check timing and try again, in practice you can always set the timing a little advanced and manually retard it slightly if the engine pinks. It is also worth checking the firing position on no. 2, a worn mag could be as much as 15/20 degrees out. Have fun, if you like you can spend endless hours tuning that baby, the twin carb setup is unusual but interesting.
Yes , the V-Twin feeling is known as Raynaud Disease Occupations associated with Raynaud phenomenon include construction workers using a vibrating tool (eg, pneumatic drill) [see Vibration white finger]
I used to just grab the end of the plug wire to test the spark. People thought I was tough. I could tell you if it was a 20 kv or a 40 kv coil by the nastiness of the jolt.
I was thinking the same thing. We all had them in the 70's for the sidecase screws on Japanese bikes. What we didn't know was that they weren't Philips head screws. They were a JIS japanese standard and using a Philips driver just buggered them up. My 1967 Greeves had a Heinz 57 assortment of fasteners. The 4 nuts securing the transmission to the frame. . . A 1/2 socket was too small, 9/16 too large. A 13mm was also too small but just barely. I managed to get one nut off then went to Sears and test fitted the nut vs a bucket of 13mm sockets to find the loosest one. What a kerfuffle!
@@geoffreypiltz271Quite the reverse! You needed a JIS screwdriver - different shape to a Phillips, and a JIS is a better driver for Phillips screws too. Phillips screws & drivers are designed to ‘cam out’, hence the problem with JIS screws.
You will always get a better spark on one cylinder than the other with a V-twin magneto as one is set on the point of maximum flux and the other is off by 1/2 the angle between the cylinders (ie. 50 degree engine, one spark is off by 25 degrees) the rear cylinder should be the one on the max flux point (25 degrees late will spark, 25 degrees early won't) retarding the sparks makes this situation worse as you've moved the 2nd spark even further away from max flux.
I am surprised that they both hold the wire. You should hold the plug by the metal body and press it into to the case or body or ground. It cant shock you. Its the ground. The motor dont shock you the carburetor dont shock you why would the metal on the spark plug shock you. Its screwed in to the block. Hold a bad wire will shock you. Ha spoke to soon.
Sorry had to laugh when you got a belt Ivan, done it myself too many times! One plug will always have a weaker spark with a twin cylinder magneto. This is because the HT changes polarity as the mag rotates, in line with the North and South poles of the magnet. It is easier for the electrons to jump from the centre electrode to earth(ground) rather than the other way. Also, retarding the ignition to start can weaken the spark. My old Matchless twin will run on one until I advance the ignition. Definitely worth remagnetising as you’ve proved it works. P.S. I don’t blame you not trusting Ivan with the plug leads Suzie!😂
it's just not good enough, we need more shots with suzi in, talking and showing her exquisite taste in clothes, and nail varnish, good music choice, I presume it's suzi so choice, I like it.
My first workshop lesson as 5 year old, 70 years ago, Dad handed me the spark plug lead of his old Acme motorcycle and said "here boy, hold onto this", then he kicked the Kickstarter,
Yahoo! I guess that'd be called child abuse today, for me it was the start of a whole lifetime career of mechanics. Suzie, Ivan, John, a privilege to spend time with you in the "Shed" once again, it's the fastest my time goes these days.
Just found your channel, I look forward to watching you guys at work.
Two boys with a new puzzle what could be more fun to watch!! Cheers from Alberta Canada!!
Ivan and John remind me of all the older blokes I learned from as a young lad. I would love to see an episode dedicated to John and his history with cars and Ivan. Now I’m off to the shed to play around with the mag I have for the AJS I’m building.
Ah .. I just LOVE Ivan & John's London accents that take me back 75 years to playing with Dinkey cars in the back garden in Kilburn with my mate. Suzy you do a brilliant job showing the boy's antics. I've got a magneto on a WW1 Lister Stationary engine down here in NZ that's a bit hit'n'miss too. - Thank You Team.
I'm in nz as well , I've just done up the magneto on my bsa b33 , what a mission , I got mucked around for 3 ½ months , in the end I got a rewound armature from england, but it had the wrong end cap so they sent out another , there was quite a lot of messing around to refit the old condenser part with the new capacitors as the end housings had different recesses, but finally it works .
Thanks for recording this Suzie. It's always fun to see Ivan and John tackle dinosaur electrics. I learned something today....not to fool with magnetos!
Suzie is keeping Ivan young 😜
Always enjoy seeing ivan and John working together...those are my favorite videos....
Sammy Miller's museum in the new Forrest would be a font of knowledge to help you. Worth a call
The Rubber Boot Boys in Action 😁
Ah, the joys of a Snap On ratchet screwdriver...! Another fantatsic video.
Great video once again Suzie, nice to see John coming out his shell and Ivan is getting brave with his cheeky remarks !
Good Evening Ivan, Suzi and John. Thank you once again for another very enjoyable / entertaining program. Regards from WLG NZL.
Two experts in the shed and teaching me stuff at no cost! Priceless.... Cheers from a shed in Iowa
Good to see John loosen up a bit more in front of the camera.
Back in the workshop, love it. 👏
The shed never fails to delight.
That little double jump Ivan did shows there's enough spark to fire both cylinders. ;)
Thanks for another excellent episode, folks, and for my first look at the inside of a magneto.
Many, many years ago when I was in an old mechanics garage he told me that he used to check magnetos by putting the plug caps on his fingers whilst someone else turned the engine over so he could check if all the leads were working! Another mechanic standing behind him was nodding to let me know that this was correct. As far as I know he did not die of a heart attack.
When I was 11yo, I was working with my buddy on his 65 Plymouth Barracuda's slant-6 engine.He told me to shut it off, and since I was right there, I thought pulling the coil wire would do the trick. It did. It taught me to never grab a coil wire on a running vehicle while leaning in and holding the fender to balance too.
I have a pacemaker and was told not to get zapped by one of my mags as it could cause trouble
John is my hero too, Suzie.
Johns such a gent.
Another great episode, thanks for sharing.
Like the music addition. What is it?
after all the build up we never got to see the Magnatizer !
What magnificent motorcycles,would love them in my shed.
Loved this one. I’ve got a few old cars, but nothing old enough for a mag. So learnt a lot. Many thanks
Those were some right old plugs.... 😉
Another MAGnificet episode Ivan . You must be worth a bob or two , treat yourself and John's knees and back to a proper bike lift . Work smart not harder . All the best .
Thanks for telling us those were cows and not John’s stomach Suzie.
Loved the story about the file! 🙂
It’s a fantastic special. The handle bars are just right for a sporty gent. You are right there’s nothing like a V twin . I love my old Morini V twin.
Hello Ivan I really like this bike and all the modifications it looks like the owner rider was pretty inventive other than reorganising the handlebars and maybe shorter levers for the decompression valve lifter an the unusual oiler device I’d leave it all in it’s special state, what a cool bike looking forward to hearing it running, it’d be interesting to discover a bit about the previous owner, running an old Vtwin with twin carb conversion in to your older age that’s Living right there!
great stuff have fun at Prescott.
Cheers
Good luck in Prescott tomorrow!
Ivan you sure have a lot of irons in the fire ❤
JIM
Thank you Suzie, Ivan and John!
Woohoo your fiddling with bikes 😄👍👍👍
You had me at the 'drawer of pullers' !
Growing up in the sixties was wonderful. Cheap pre war car, Dad with odd advice and lots of enthusiasm with wet and dry on points and the world was your own! One spent a lot of time rectifying faults on the side of the road but traffic was less and I learned a lot. Sum of courage was learning to stop an engine with bare hands on the spark plugs.
I reckon John has a wonderful collection of stories. It is good to hear him talk!
I'm picking that bike is running two front cylinder heads, a great way to get two carbs flowing really well. We used to stick a bit of plastic between the points before fiddling with mags, doesn't take much of a rotate to light your world up.
This old guy would have to elevate that bike to work on it effectively, love that you dive right into new (old) things. You need an impact screwdriver; they + a suitable hammer can be very valuable when working with old screws.
Goldcountry, I think from your comment you don’t realise who you’re talking about.
@@leslieaustin151 I have to guess you have never seen one, I have been using them since I bought a new Bultaco in 1970. Install the proper bit, pick the right size hammer, hit once = screw loose, that said my screw is not loose, yours however I'm not sure.....
@@goldcountryruss7035 Hello Russ, yes, I have seen an impact driver, and indeed I have one. Very useful occasionally. But my comment related to something else,which - I apologise - came from me misunderstanding the first comment you made, as I thought you were calling Ivan “this old guy”, whereas I now - correctly? - realise you were talking about yourself. OK, hope that clears up the matter and clears the air too. Les (very old ex-motor mech. Screws loose? Certainly!)
👍🇦🇺 love the V Twins.
Nice to see John more relaxed in front of the camera.
Maybe because he was holding the drill whilst Ivan gripped the plugs/ cables etc
I love that Ivan and John have each other!
Finally I get to see the Zenith! My father used to tell me about his friend who had one. The kickstart was broken and it had to bump started. Once it caught he’d be dragged up the road until he managed to either stop it, or get on the saddle.
Fantastic great to see you and John working on the Zenith 👍👍 it’s entertaining watching you both and susie having fun investigating what you’ve purchased! 😊
HAHA Two old codgers fixing two old twins loved the video thanks Suzie number one Grip.
Thanks, that video was shocking! Thanks I was entertained and informed simultaneously
Susie’s music takes me back to the early eighties
Back in the saddle so to speak, in the old Shed!! Wonderful episode and as always very well produced. Thanks very much! Cheers, Paul 🤓
A couple of lads in the shed with their bikes eh, what a great video, well done suzzie
Ivan and John may you live a thousand years!
Top knowledge as usual.
I find marginal, carbon tracked, acting up in the rain, etc. ignition parts benefit from a coat of RainX (a silicone oil based windshield treatment) after cleaning, or if you're in a hurry and being rained on just scrub with rain X and dry it off. Have saved a couple beater car distributor caps that way, I think the thin film of silicone oil stops a thin film of water forming on the old degraded surfaces, fills small cracks, you get the idea.
That's a good idea! - I wonder if 'Damp Start' still exists? - sort of spray-on plastic film.. same idea.
Bloody beautiful, what a couple great old boys really do enjoy watching you two guys working have fun over the weekend
Lovely old J.A.P. Vee twin...looking forward to seeing this rumning👌
Great video again. Thank you all. My T shirts arrived this morning and they are fantastic quality I am really pleased with them. I will put the stickers on my toolbox.
Our pleasure!
VSCC Prescott Long Course tomorrow (Sat 28 Sept) 😎👍
Thanks very much Ivan, John and company for a great channel. I have just come across Shed Racing and I'm binging out watching all the episodes.
Good work team!
greatness!
Amazing how you find the interesting stuff / Zenith have a great history didn’t realise how groundbreaking they were / first 100mph lap of Brooklamds - sp d records
Great job you guys ❤
I wonder of Jonathan Wynan watches these videos. He would absolutely love them.
I used to clean out cracks with a bit of Brakekleen ,blow the cracks out and put some nail polish in the cracks,wait until the cellulose has evaporated and you should be away. Regards Chris
hi good show guys love that old bike soon be running good luck cheers thank you keep it coming
The good thing about Ivan's shed, is he only needs AF spanners.
-and Whitworth and BA... 🙂 - Oh hang on.. - those Ferraris are going to be metric aren't they?
You have to worry about your sanilty when you can watch two guys messing about with a magneto. Yet these videos are just fascinating, as good as meditation. Should be recommended by doctors to reduce blood pressure.
The reason for barrels like that instead of a single carburettor, it’s a competition style of setting your engine up running the engines is two singles it’s not so smooth but a lot more powerful
You look real good. John!!!🤣
Would love to watch you get it running
Hi Ivan, If you are having trouble getting into your overalls, get some with twin zips at the front.
Thanks for the enjoyable videos.
'Chippy'
great show. magnetos are a real pain in the arse.
Steer clear of women like that ;-)
Vrrrrmmm vrrrrmmm ❤😊zdravím z české republiky Marťas ❤️
Just brilliant, knowledge and skills. Thanks again team.
Why are UA-cam putting Women's face cream adverts up when I am watching Ivan & John 😂
so you can lubricate your motercycle with the fececream or to milk your tea
My wife and I share the same WiFi connection and the ad bots send me adverts for all sorts of things that my wife has been looking at.
10 out of 10 again
Shocking content -I am amazed that UA-cam let you get away with it. Memories of old English electrics on bitsers
tell us about your Gresley V2 in the book case was it msde by LBSC very interesting
When I was a kid we made our own minibike. I took it out for a test ride, and sat on the damn spark plug. I don't remember if I fell off or not, but it went right up me.
😂
9:55 a right pair of rebels from The Wild Bunch.
Nothing like getting a good charge from the impulse magneto 😂😂.. many a magneto was used on the welding cart to light the oxy torch.. the kids found it quite shocking..😊
I have a funny feeling they was spinning the magneto the wrong way the whole time :P The points are supposed to be trailing so the magneto should be spinning Anti-Clockwise looking at the drive end.
I see you are as agile as my old carcass getting into a boiler suit 😂
Hi, check your points spring isn’t touching the cam killing part of the induction cycle.
Thanks for the tip.I'll have to pop the cover off the 77 Bianche and look more closely.
If the gap between the points spring and the cam ring is less than the gap at the points it can cause problems. I agree, also worth checking if the cam ring is loose in the housing or a worn bearing is causing a variation in the points gap. Too much end float can affect accuracy also. A weak spark could be caused by a failing condenser in the armature, I have fitted a modern solid state 330K capacitor, there should be no need to spin the mag at speed to get a decent spark. When setting up the timing, leave the bolt holding the bevel gear loose, set no.1 cylinder at its firing position(3/8" BTDC?) Set the mag at the firing point, using a strip of cigarette paper between the contacts. Make sure the manual advance is at fully advanced. Tighten the gear onto the taper while holding it against the drive gear to take up the back lash. Not easy to get right the first time so check timing and try again, in practice you can always set the timing a little advanced and manually retard it slightly if the engine pinks. It is also worth checking the firing position on no. 2, a worn mag could be as much as 15/20 degrees out. Have fun, if you like you can spend endless hours tuning that baby, the twin carb setup is unusual but interesting.
Brilliant again gang. Any news of the Puch Mini engine?
Please share the plans for the chair.
Yes , the V-Twin feeling is known as Raynaud Disease
Occupations associated with Raynaud phenomenon include construction workers using a vibrating tool (eg, pneumatic drill) [see Vibration white finger]
I used to just grab the end of the plug wire to test the spark. People thought I was tough. I could tell you if it was a 20 kv or a 40 kv coil by the nastiness of the jolt.
For one brief moment I thought Ivan was wearing nail varnish
Watching your bloody channel and eating a shawarma when I should be replacing the first gear dog ring on a 356 transmission. Curse you Ivan!!
Not got an impact driver?
I was thinking the same thing. We all had them in the 70's for the sidecase screws on Japanese bikes. What we didn't know was that they weren't Philips head screws. They were a JIS japanese standard and using a Philips driver just buggered them up.
My 1967 Greeves had a Heinz 57 assortment of fasteners. The 4 nuts securing the transmission to the frame. . . A 1/2 socket was too small, 9/16 too large. A 13mm was also too small but just barely. I managed to get one nut off then went to Sears and test fitted the nut vs a bucket of 13mm sockets to find the loosest one. What a kerfuffle!
@@rodsdmba1571 I always thought I buggered them up because they were made of soft cheese.
@@geoffreypiltz271Quite the reverse! You needed a JIS screwdriver - different shape to a Phillips, and a JIS is a better driver for Phillips screws too. Phillips screws & drivers are designed to ‘cam out’, hence the problem with JIS screws.
Senfeckinsational😂
Is it running yet?
You will always get a better spark on one cylinder than the other with a V-twin magneto as one is set on the point of maximum flux and the other is off by 1/2 the angle between the cylinders (ie. 50 degree engine, one spark is off by 25 degrees) the rear cylinder should be the one on the max flux point (25 degrees late will spark, 25 degrees early won't) retarding the sparks makes this situation worse as you've moved the 2nd spark even further away from max flux.
On the Bruffs timing on the rear surrender I know this but anyway
I am surprised that they both hold the wire. You should hold the plug by the metal body and press it into to the case or body or ground. It cant shock you. Its the ground. The motor dont shock you the carburetor dont shock you why would the metal on the spark plug shock you. Its screwed in to the block. Hold a bad wire will shock you. Ha spoke to soon.
Real motorcyclists go croba croba when pretending to be a V-Twin , not Broom Broom
Wasn't croba croba from the Ogri cartoon?
@@geoffreypiltz271 Of course.
Crobba crobba went the big V-Twin
Here in USA, the Harley idlling sound was immortalized as potato-potato-potato.
My first 'big bike' was a Panther single with 9" stroke. So 'doof...............................doof............................doof'
@@johncartwright8154P&M Panther 600cc was 100mm(3.94 inches) stroke...nowhere near 9inches
Sorry had to laugh when you got a belt Ivan, done it myself too many times! One plug will always have a weaker spark with a twin cylinder magneto. This is because the HT changes polarity as the mag rotates, in line with the North and South poles of the magnet. It is easier for the electrons to jump from the centre electrode to earth(ground) rather than the other way. Also, retarding the ignition to start can weaken the spark. My old Matchless twin will run on one until I advance the ignition. Definitely worth remagnetising as you’ve proved it works.
P.S. I don’t blame you not trusting Ivan with the plug leads Suzie!😂
it's just not good enough, we need more shots with suzi in, talking and showing her exquisite taste in clothes, and nail varnish, good music choice, I presume it's suzi so choice, I like it.
Electricky,at it's best many a sore elbow from mucking around with mags😂👍👍🦘🇦🇺