Sydney to London on a105cc Honda callled Dot

Have ordered my postman t-shirt. Well done on the designs.

I just became a fan of One Ten Motorcycles. Good job guys.

I feel like Dots' family member sittting in the hospital waiting room, waiting for Dr. Nate to give us an update on the patient, Dot.

Is it too late to get a shirt?

Morning,

Just a real quick one to let you know how the patient's doing.

For a start she's cleaner. I did that last night once we'd finally finished a nightmare dare where the only thing we replaced were the brake cable and front sprocket.

Yeah I know, pretty shit, but the sprocket we couldn't remember/figure out if it should have some play it, so I was backwards and forwards to the internet cafe to Skype Joe to ask if I'd lost any parts or if it should be like that. He said it should so that's ok. Sprocket on.

Then the brake cable, again an easy job. Yet somehow it took all afternoon with us just not seeming able to adjust out the slack. Regardles of what we did you could pull the lever through the bars. In the end we stripped everything down, bolted it back together and bobs your uncle.

But if we have the same look with the oil bolt today as we had with these bits yesterday I think we're buggered. The German biker here has offered to rethread Dorothy but no, I think I'm going to give it a go.

Will update later with plenty of pics.

From Dorothy's bedside
Over and out.

Poor Dot! I hope she pulls through old gal. I'm sure all that fresh air up in those old Russian Steppes will do her the world of good once she's out of the Operating theatre and ready for some gentle exercise!

I have recommended this thread to several of my riding friends and now we're all looking for 110s! And then one of the guys found this...

An elderly man on a Moped, looking about 100 years old, pulls up next to a doctor at a street light.
The old man looks over at the sleek shiny car and asks, 'What kind of car ya got there, sonny?'
The doctor replies, 'A Ferrari GTO. It cost half a million dollars!'
'That's a lot of money,' says the old man. 'Why does it cost so much?'
'Because this car can do up to 320 miles an hour!' states the doctor proudly.
The Moped driver asks, 'Mind if I take a look inside?'
'No problem,' replies the doctor.
So the old man pokes his head in the window and looks around.
Then, sitting back on his Moped, the old man says, 'That's a pretty nice car all right... But I'll stick with my Moped!'
Just then the light changes, so the doctor decides to show the old man just what his car can do. He floors it, and within 30 seconds the speedometer reads 160 mph.
Suddenly, he notices a dot in his rear view mirror. It seems to be getting closer!
He slows down to see what it could be and suddenly... WHOOOOSSSHHH!
Something whips by him going much faster!
'What on earth could be going faster than my Ferrari?' the doctor asks himself.
He presses harder on the accelerator and takes the Ferrari up to 250 mph.
Then, up ahead of him, he sees that it's the old man on the Moped!
Amazed that the Moped could pass his Ferrari, he gives it more gas and passes the Moped at 275 mph.
He's feeling pretty good until he looks in his mirror
and sees the old man gaining on him AGAIN!
Astounded by the speed of this old guy,
he floors the gas pedal and takes the Ferrari all the way up to 320 mph.
Not ten seconds later, he sees the Moped bearing down on him again !
The Ferrari is flat out, and there's nothing he can do!
Suddenly, the Moped plows into the back of his Ferrari, demolishing the rear end.
The doctor stops and jumps out and, unbelievably, the old man is still alive.
He runs up to the banged-up old guy and says,
'I'm a doctor.... Is there anything I can do for you?'

The old man whispers, 'Unhook my suspenders from your side view mirror.'

Booooooooooooo

Just a quck question to anyone who actually knows the answer rather just guessing at it, but is the front sprocket suppossed to have a bit of lateral play?

With the chain off it wobbles a little bit on the shaft. ie the retainer plate doesn;t sit flush to the sprocket because of the intended grooving. There's less with the chain on but...

Is that how it should be to allow for chain angle or something like that, or have I lost something in the gravel?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

PS< Just been to collect the Russian visa but they said I had to come back this afternoon. Now I'm off to operate on Dorothy.

Nathan,

I'm glad that you decided to do the work yourself. After some thought earliear on having an indian guy plug your girl's hole with his finger I heard you having some visions of Borat comming at her with a drill. Dear God, have you lost you're mind :huh . Please come back to your senses and don't allow nobody around that fine lady of yours anymore

that's the only advice (non tech) I have for you, today!

Over.

Many motorcycles have a front sprocket that is allowed to float around a little. Several of mine do. I've never had a postie, though.

With any bike I have ever worked on. there is a certain amount of play between the sprocket and the shaft. As the sprocket gets old and worn out, you will notice a bit more play between the shaft and the sprocket. Anytime I change out a worn out sprocket, the new one is always a bit snugger than the old one. So yes, the play is built into it. Most important is to check that the new sprocket is EXACTLY the same as the old one. If so, throw it on , and you are good to go.

Thats normal for those types of locking systems where the tab rotates and then bolts onto the sprocket - it only has to locate it in the slot generally: the splines transfer the (awesome) power, so you haven't lost anything. I'm sure there is more play than from new, for some unknown reason.

Just make sure you replace the rear sprocket and chain too if it is able to lift off the middle of the rear sprocket once all is adjusted properly - this means the chain is stretched so you may as well get it all like new and get some good life out of it.

Good luck mate - thoroughly enjoying the RR.

+1

Everything will last longer if you replace the sprockets and chain as a set. Keeep the old parts as emergency spares.

nate its ok i have a number of these little honda engines and they are designed to have play so it can be a bit more friendly to the drive shaft.
just do the 2 8mm bolts up on the tab but be carfull not to pull the threads ont the tab.
remember as soon you settle back into normal life take a ride up to bradford for a drink or three!
stuart

I think that by the time you finish this trip 'she' won't be so important, and you'll feel so strong, and independent.

I just found this report tonight. I"ve got some catching up to do.

I got my Russian visa. Woohooo. Over the moon. That's my final ticket home, no more to collect. I can kiss the embassy waits goodbye.

That's the good news.

The bad news is that the reboring/rethreading thing didn't go so well. We got Dot on her side, cleaned her up, wiped her bum. And then started with the 14 x 1.5 tool that I never really felt too confident with from the start. The original hole's a 12" so the amount of metal coming out the first few turns was massive.

We carried on then tried the 14 x 1.25. But it just wouldn't bite and it was so hard getting the angle straight and the pressure right that in the end we just said 'nah, we're going to bugger this up.' I'll admit defeat. It just felt like one step too far in an operating theatre on a hostel's ground.

So we took the old bolt, wrapped it in plumber's tape, squirted a bit of Stag on the end and screwed her in as far as we dare. When that was in we dismantled the sump guard, cleaned a bigger area before sealing the whole lot up with plastic metal. We also have a 'special' bra we're going to use to keep the whole lot in.

Now for all this I know you might flame me. But in the circumstances I really thought sealing the plug up permantely would be a better solution to our predicament than going further in with the drill.

Only time will tell if we made the right call.

Just off back now to put her all back together.

PS> I know this is against the grain of advice, but as Joe's sent me a spare front socket as well as a complete chain and sprocket set, I thought I would just put the front one on, let the original chain run to the end - and ruin the new sprocket if it wants to - then put the complete lot on ready for Dorothy's next adventure, wherever that maybe.

(cough, America, cough...)

... And thanks for settling my nerves about the front sprocket. I was real worried I'd lost a gasket or something for a minute.

Nathan, glad you have everything sorted with Dot. One thing I was wondering about. Instead of turning her upside down for an oil change, can you rig up a siphon or a vaccum system to suck the old oil out of the fill port? that would save you draining out the fuel and it would save Dot the indignity of exposing her nether region to the entire world

Plumber's tape, Stag, plastic metal and for that 'physical' something to stop it falling out the free tooth brush from the Chinese hotel.

Perfect fit.