jakfrost Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 This is actually pretty funny, unless your favourite BSA twin would regularly lose all forward lighting about mid-apex...just as you roll on throttle for the turn exit. http://www.hermit.cc/mania/tmc/articles/lucas.htm Quite the thrill when your eyes are adjusted for the ( admittedly dim 'high' beam ) and suddenly all is BLACK...Tell yourself to relax as you reach up and gently POUND the headlight shell until you regain the lighting and find the curb/ditch only a few feet in front of you, lay the bike over in a vain attempt to recover the line while retaining what little traction the skinny ( hard ) tires afforded you... Remember to change your shorts before you come down for dinner, and swear to never stay out that late again!! Ahhh, those were the days, manly bikes for manly bikers!! Ha! Anyway, Happy New Year to all my biking friends, manly and otherwise Ride safe in 2011, Jim Link to comment
Paul Mihalka Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 Oh, yes. Know where to kick under the fender of the MGA to make the fuel pump run again. The bikes did not have fuses. Luckily the weakest spot in the circuits was the little ammeter in the headlight. Obvious when it melted and easy and cheap to replace. etc, etc... Link to comment
OlGeezer Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 Oh, yes. Know where to kick under the fender of the MGA to make the fuel pump run again. The bikes did not have fuses. Luckily the weakest spot in the circuits was the little ammeter in the headlight. Obvious when it melted and easy and cheap to replace. etc, etc... Obviously more of that "simple by choice" rationalization. Link to comment
ollka Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 Thanks Jim, I laughed so loud neighbours came to help, from their house 200 yards away... I have a decade history as automotive electrician... Link to comment
CoarsegoldKid Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 Ah yes. Lucas electrics prince of darkness. I remember. Link to comment
AllenW Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 Only had a few of the English bikes, but they were kinda like riding a Harley back then for me, the longer the trip, the more parts I carried... Al Link to comment
EffBee Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 All true. And yet, my dad's restored '49 Matchless, with which he won numerous Concours (including three years in a row at Del Mar), had a fully functioning Lucas Battery with Lucas (not Yuasa) innards. He'd fill it, charge it, take the bike to the event, start the bike and operate the lights and horn if needed, then drain the battery once home and put it on a shelf in the garage until the next Concours. There were bikes as beautifully restored as his competing at each event he went to. But I'm certain that the "miracle" of a functioning Lucas battery, a half century old, made a point or two of difference to the judges. And that's all it took. Link to comment
4wheeldog Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 All true. And yet, my dad's restored '49 Matchless, with which he won numerous Concours (including three years in a row at Del Mar), had a fully functioning Lucas Battery with Lucas (not Yuasa) innards. He'd fill it, charge it, take the bike to the event, start the bike and operate the lights and horn if needed, then drain the battery once home and put it on a shelf in the garage until the next Concours. There were bikes as beautifully restored as his competing at each event he went to. But I'm certain that the "miracle" of a functioning Lucas battery, a half century old, made a point or two of difference to the judges. And that's all it took. It wasn't so much that Lucas stuff didn't work......It was how much attention to detail was needed to keep it reliable. I drove Fiats exclusively in the '70s........They always got me home. I did not really understand what all the complaints were about, until I bought a Honda.........And stopped being a daily, on call mechanic. Link to comment
Missouri Bob Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 My 1971 BSA 650 Lightning and I did not have a good relationship. Bob Link to comment
Paul Mihalka Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 A little hijack from strictly Lucas to Brit bikes, my last was the 1954 Triumph Tiger110. It run great until it almost killed me. The rear wheel fell apart on a Venezuelan no guard rail mountain road. No more Brit bikes... Link to comment
jakfrost Posted January 3, 2011 Author Share Posted January 3, 2011 Now THAT is FUNNY!!!! Kinda typical British 'dark' humor..."that light isn't dead mate, its only resting", heh,heh. Link to comment
Rocer Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 Jim - after two winters of putting the bugeye together again, which included a complete wiring harness, I took it out for it's maiden run. While making the first left hand turn the horn button popped off the steering wheel, bounced off my chin and disappeared somewhere in the footwell. With the horn blaring (Lucas couldn't have failed then could it!) I pulled over to the side of the road with neighbours running to their windows to see what was going on. As luck would have it (or was it by design?), the two hood stays wouldn't catch in the lock position at the same time so I had to rock the hood back and forth for several minutes trying to get them to lock together. Lucas has such a sense of humour - although I think in fairness there was some collusion between Lucas and the manufacturer of the hood stays to prolong the joy of my first Lucas (mis)adventure. Link to comment
rad Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 The officer did not understand your reaction about being pulled over because your Norton headlight was too dim, you were of course shocked that it worked at all. I did find it rather convenient, when it did work, to just reach down and pull it up a bit when you wanted to adjust the beam. And, I could have the carb off in less than a minute. Link to comment
kmac Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 My 1964 Triumph Tiger cub 200 was a very finicky starter but never gave me any trouble once it was running. My Dads 380 Greeves had some typical Lucas ignition glitches. But I will say anything with points and condensers is finicky compared to CDI or electronic ignition of some sort. My 65 Yami Ym1 305 is a nighmare on points. They are mounted on the end of the generator which is mounted right on the end of the crankshaft and the clutch is mounted right on the other end of the crank. Very weird set up and it causes some pretty good vibration that is hard on points. I cant imagine if it had Lucas electric as well... Link to comment
kmac Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 My wife yelled down..."whats wrong, whats so funny?" when i saw that pick i was cracking up. Truely LOL Link to comment
ka5ysy Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 So that's what was missing in the XKE !... Link to comment
OlGeezer Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 All this would be REALLY funny if it wasn't so personal. I still remember the day when a police car pulled up to the side of my MGC-GT and said "Pull over, you're on fire". Apparently, the wiring harness shorted against the brake line near the battery (left rear) and started a small fire. Yeah, the gas tank was right there. No explosion. The firemen were able to put it out before the "big bang". Link to comment
kmac Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 I have never known a british vehichle that needed their smoke to be replaced, it seems to be in never ending supply. If only we could get them to run on electrical smoke instead of gasoline it could be the first perpetual motion machine.... no offense to our british friends here.... Link to comment
Ponch Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 The old joke was that when you bought a triumph, you got a lifetime supply of carrots...Anyway, I was a mechanic back in the 80's and I recall that on a land rover, if you tried to use two power windows at the same time, a fuse would be blown. POS. Link to comment
Pilgrim Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 And, I could have the carb off in less than a minute. Whether you wanted it off or not, huh? Pilgrim Link to comment
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