Forum

[papasmurf]

Adam, I cannot do kick starting due to age and disability, I have just spent a month waiting for my left knee to recover from the "character building" 250 mile trip back at the end of January from a motorcycle rally in pouring rain and force 9-10 headwinds. I am in the process of putting a leg rest between the K75S and the sidecar to stop the knee problem happening again.

[Bullet Whisperer]

Adam, regarding the Panther decompressor operated via the small lever on the timing chest - how it works is by raising the lever, a thin wedge is forced between the cam follower and the tappet beneath the pushrod and the result is the exhaust valve gets held off its' seat by just a few thou, to dump some compression, but retain enough for the engine to start. It is vital to have the valve clearances set perfectly for this to work - too much clearance on the exhaust valve and the mechanism's small amount of lift will only take up the slack. I did a full rebuild on an M120 fairly recently, it can be seen on you tube ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO9OKwd-WLM
Regards, Paul.

[Leon Novello]

The engines sound like a bucket of ball bearings rolling down an iron roof.

[Adam]

OK Papasmurf, I wasn’t aware of that but pop round for a cuppa and the craic anyway if you’re ever down this way  Paul, I have been living under a misunderstanding all these years and have never had to pull an engine apart to find out exactly what goes on in there, thanks. Leon, to my ear there is no nicer sound than a heavyweight ohv Panther on the over-run at about half max engine speed on a long downhill run, lovely burble, music to my ears. No loose ball bearings or tin roofs in my engines Adam

[Mark M]

Adam, I think Leon meant that is what Diesels sound like. Since they have an almost two-stroke type irregular tickover I'd have said they sound like a brick in a washing machine on spin. Youtube has several videos showing this in action if you're bored!

REgards, Mark