Checking the Flywheel magneto

Well having reassembled the motor with new barrel, piston rings and small end bush, I naturally tried to start it. SADLY no joy and my first thought was a lack of spark. An easy test and yup- dead as a dodo. These old bikes have frequently fallen out of use through coil failure, but in this case the bike motor had siezed solid and so probably running (and therefore sparking) up to that point! I'm hoping this is just a contact breaker problem so best to check, clean and reset them as a first step.

Well you can check them visually and adjust through the flywheel but a proper check means removing this to get a good look and do a thorough clean. I'd expected to be able to use a Quickly flywheel puller but this doesn't fit. Luckily my Sealey set of pullers had one that does the job.

Removing the flywheel with an M25 1.5 externally threaded puller

The coils are rather more complex than the Quickly with an extra coil situated above the ignition coil. This I am told is to supply the horn.

The contact breakers do look corroded and dirty

Points look corroded and dirty so I cleaned them thoroughly. I could check that they worked using a magneto timing box.

points closed

Points open!

I  refitted the flywheel,  checked and found I could now get a spark (iridium plug).

Before trying to start I wanted to change the gearbox oil- the filler-level plug was easily identified.

The drain up was a little more mysterious

The drain plug is in the right position and has a sealing washer- but it's a bolt not a plug and does cross a crankcase join which I don't want to weaken. However I received confirmation that this is the right plug so changing oil is next on the list.

The manual states SAE80 Gear oil. This doesn't seem to exist any more but its not the same as SAE80 crankcase oil. I opted for this modern substitute.

Well draining the old oil showed that in fact there had been no oil in the gearbox for heaven knows how long. I refilled using an oil can to squirt in the oil above until it started to trickle out of the fill hole when the can spout was removed.