Aprilia Diary

[simonandjuliet]

Thanks Frank
I had thought of that and will try it.

I have also bought a small hobby lathe and some tufnel so will try and make a new gear as well. I will share my experiences - which may be "interesting" since I have never used a lathe before !

[frankxhv773t]

I have done a bit of playing about with a hobby lathe (Unimat SL) but to do gears you need an indexing attatchment or dividing head. Also I think you would need the right profile gear cutters to get the teeth to the right profile, although I am sure proper lathe operators make their own lathe tools.

Frank

[JohnMillham]

Thanks Frank
I had thought of that and will try it.

I have also bought a small hobby lathe and some tufnel so will try and make a new gear as well. I will share my experiences - which may be "interesting" since I have never used a lathe before !

I think you will find it will pay to get a skilled engineer to make the gear(s) for you, rather than try yourself if you have never even used a lathe before. It would be running before you can walk! Good luck, anyway.
Regards, John

[DavidLaver]

I pointed him at this and a few similar:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gears-Gear-Cutting-Workshop-Practice/dp/0852429118/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408639639&sr=8-1&keywords=gear+cutting

Of course buying a lathe isn't going to be the quick and easy solution, but its an asset for many tasks and for many a hobby in itself.

David

[DavidLaver]

A "dividing head" might be a change wheel from the lathe on a face plate with some fixture with a bolt sharpend to a point to lock it.

Can improvise "a shaper", with a sharp tool or a file.  Could hold a dremel as a "tool post grinder".

[the.cern]

I do not own a a lathe and do not know how to use one. However, I do have a little experience in having gears cut.

When I was running my B20 in the mid seventies the windscreen wipers decided to try to mate in the middle of the screen in a heavy rainstorm. This was due to the gears in the individual gearboxes, made of a poor quality alloy, having stripped several teeth. At that time there was an Aurelia Consortium run by Anthony Smallhorn, but there were no replacement gears available, despite them being a known problem. I investigated having gears made, but there was a distinct lack of machine shops that were prepared/able to undertake the task!! Eventually I found a place in Romford, 25miles distant, but they would only undertake the gear cutting, I had to use a local machine shop to undertake the finishing. The surplus gears were bought by the Consortium, which by that time had been taken over by Omicron.

So, it seems that even many machine shops baulk at the task of gear cutting, regarding it as a specialist area.

Good luck with it, for the few teeth affected I would be tempted to try a repair as the first option.

                                                Andy

[simonandjuliet]

Thanks for your comments and apologies for being quiet for so long !

For us this is the busiest time of the year, holidays with a myriad of visitors, winery to finish, Ercole to prepare, etc etc

Briefly, the Aprilia is back up to speed, carb stripped and cleaned after the trip. The filter was filthy and needed replacing. I thought dirty petrol was a thing of the past but apparently not ! The slow running jet was caked solid and the drillings needed clearing as well.

The new prop-couplings worked very well, but I did have to replace the bolts and nylocks on one driveshaft and tighten the gearbox output shaft bolt (not standard and therefore not split split-pinned). Good job I checked everything over after the trip

I have been trying out some test pieces on the lathe, but with everything else it is a luxury I do not have much time for .....

The Ercole has finally come over to the garage/workshop and been readied for vendange.

First thing was to remove the cab so she is a proper motorbike again, the noise inside was unbelievable ! Not a 5 minute job.

She has needed relined front shoes, wheel bearings stripped, cleaned and regreased. Fork legs rewelding, clutch freeing off, new cables, rewired front end, stripped and cleaned dampers and so on. I have added a couple of pictures for fun , but will probably start an Ercole blog on a non-Lancia forum

Finally, when Dog is not painting motor cars, he is wheeled into action to paint winery machines - all hands on deck !

[peteracs]

but will probably start an Ercole blog on a non-Lancia forum

Hi Simon

That is just not fair, think we should have the Ercole refurb as well as the Lancias as just so enjoyable to follow!

Peter

[the.cern]

Peter, I agree wholeheartedly!!

Simon, apart from a length of 4x2 to hold the it up, how does the tipper mechanism work?

                       Andy

[chriswgawne]

Simon,
I don't know whether I mentioned this when we met recently but Ercole seem to be quite sought after in N Italy. There are always a few fully restored one for sale on subito.it or similar for quite high prices. Spare parts seem to also be available.
There is one in pretty good condition locally to us which is still in regular use some 45 or more years after being built.
Keep us informed as to your progress and surely the wine from the grapes which have been transported on the Ercole will taste even better!
Chris

[stanley sweet]

What a great machine! Almost looks WW2 German military in that third photo.

[DavidLaver]

I'm hoping the saddle is well sprung.   

Three wheels is all well and good on a smooth road but down a well worn track with a grassy and lumpy hump in the middle?   

David 

[simonandjuliet]

Photos of the hydraulic lift for Andy - in the first picture there is the reservoir with the actuating lever to the left of the saddle. The pump is under the frame. Second picture shows 2nd of 3 stage hydraulic ram.

I took her up to the vines today, and as you can see we have drought conditions, even the weeds can't survive. We are organic so no weed killer has been used, just a hoe and a plough ....
The seat is very comfy and well sprung ..... the wheel in the middle is not a problem because the machine is narrow and you can have front and one rear in a rut and the other rear on the ridge. It is however the daftest thing I have piloted for some time, only your right foot is redundant - Chris DO buy one, they make you and everyone else smile !

Tomorrow's job is to fit the rotating turret and machine gun ......

Last picture is of a delightful little sprung hand-wagon that I found in a barn. Good basis for an Aprilia special ?

[the.cern]

Bloody brilliant .... all of it!!!!!!

                      Andy

[DavidLaver]

Am GREATLY relieved it goes down the track ok. 

David