Adrian
Member
Well, the DJ has come and gone again. But this year was a very special one, being the centenary of the first race, and attracted the largest entry list ever with a good number of overseas riders taking part. The route was reversed this year with the start in Johannesburg and the finish in Hillcrest near Durban. The rally covered three days - Day One from Jo'burg to Newcastle, Day Two from Newcastle to Nottingham Road and Day Three from Nottingham Road to Hillcrest.
The event is open to all bikes manufactured in or before 1936 and there were 200 entries.
Scrutineering my Triumph Tiger 780 - just as well I got there early and avoided the bun fight later on!
The start of Day One - some riders were affected by rain and hail in the vicinity of Newcastle but I had a dry run all the way through in spite of donning my wet weather gear at the last fuel stop. It's quite daunting with these massive 18-wheelers passing close by your shoulder while trying to accurately maintain the required speeds ... one eye on the route schedule for the next clue, one eye on the stop watches for maintaining the speeds, and a third eye watching the mirror for traffic!
The end of Day Two - showered and changed and preparing the final day's route schedule.
Day Three dawned cold and wet. Fortunately I had parked the Tiger under a tarpaulin so at least it stayed nice and dry. But little did I know at that point that there were problems looming for me. When I tried to start the bike, it felt as though the engine had seized solid.
I wheeled it down to the tar road and continued to try and free the engine. By this time, my start time had come and gone so the competitive element of the rally was over for me. Finally, after much sweat and many curses, the engine turned over but refused to start. Further trouble shooting revealed that not only was there was no spark, but that the points were not rotating inside the magneto. I then had to admit that the entire rally was over for me so we loaded the Tiger onto the trailer and drove to Hillcrest ... a sad way to end the event.
Ever heard of 'shelactitus'? Let me explain - the magneto armature is coated with shellac to insulate and protect the copper windings. With age, the shellac deteriorates and starts to melt when the engine and magneto are at normal operating temperature. Then when the engine is switched off, the shellac cools and solidifies against the magneto housing which means that the magneto can't rotate any longer; because the magneto gear is part of the crank drive train, the engine can't turn either so it feels as if it has seized. And THAT is the sad reason for my being declared a non-finisher ... my dear old Dad must have been turning in his grave, but I doubt that even he would have foreseen this particular brand of trouble.
So now the question is: repair the magneto and keep it in it's original state, or convert it to electronic ignition? There's a firm in the UK that produces a 12v ignition kit that fits neatly inside the magneto housing, so from the outside it looks like the original magneto but a new transplanted heart beats strongly (and reliably) within. What to do, what to do ... I'm torn between the two choices!
Oh well, roll on next year so that we can do it all again ...
The event is open to all bikes manufactured in or before 1936 and there were 200 entries.
Scrutineering my Triumph Tiger 780 - just as well I got there early and avoided the bun fight later on!
The start of Day One - some riders were affected by rain and hail in the vicinity of Newcastle but I had a dry run all the way through in spite of donning my wet weather gear at the last fuel stop. It's quite daunting with these massive 18-wheelers passing close by your shoulder while trying to accurately maintain the required speeds ... one eye on the route schedule for the next clue, one eye on the stop watches for maintaining the speeds, and a third eye watching the mirror for traffic!
The end of Day Two - showered and changed and preparing the final day's route schedule.
Day Three dawned cold and wet. Fortunately I had parked the Tiger under a tarpaulin so at least it stayed nice and dry. But little did I know at that point that there were problems looming for me. When I tried to start the bike, it felt as though the engine had seized solid.
I wheeled it down to the tar road and continued to try and free the engine. By this time, my start time had come and gone so the competitive element of the rally was over for me. Finally, after much sweat and many curses, the engine turned over but refused to start. Further trouble shooting revealed that not only was there was no spark, but that the points were not rotating inside the magneto. I then had to admit that the entire rally was over for me so we loaded the Tiger onto the trailer and drove to Hillcrest ... a sad way to end the event.
Ever heard of 'shelactitus'? Let me explain - the magneto armature is coated with shellac to insulate and protect the copper windings. With age, the shellac deteriorates and starts to melt when the engine and magneto are at normal operating temperature. Then when the engine is switched off, the shellac cools and solidifies against the magneto housing which means that the magneto can't rotate any longer; because the magneto gear is part of the crank drive train, the engine can't turn either so it feels as if it has seized. And THAT is the sad reason for my being declared a non-finisher ... my dear old Dad must have been turning in his grave, but I doubt that even he would have foreseen this particular brand of trouble.
So now the question is: repair the magneto and keep it in it's original state, or convert it to electronic ignition? There's a firm in the UK that produces a 12v ignition kit that fits neatly inside the magneto housing, so from the outside it looks like the original magneto but a new transplanted heart beats strongly (and reliably) within. What to do, what to do ... I'm torn between the two choices!
Oh well, roll on next year so that we can do it all again ...
