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Classic Bike Trackdays

AR 80 Project
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Top-shaggy
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Joined: 05 Mar 2011
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Location: Derbyshire

PostPosted: Thu May 24, 2018 7:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Fantastic thread !!

Loving the AR build pics and engineering to get over the problems.
Top man Very Happy
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yamfan



Joined: 11 Jul 2016
Posts: 122
Location: Ireland - South east

PostPosted: Sat Jun 23, 2018 5:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

hope you lads are all out enjoying the sunshine we are getting.

I was slightly disappointed to realise that the insurance is end of July to renew, so a longer wait than I realized at the time.

The 6v battery I got was a dud, it rattled when I unpacked it, I decided to try it anyway with acid but it was dead.
The ebay seller sent me a new one without quibble and didnt care about sending back the dud - restores you faith in humanity.

So now I have electricity on demand with the replacement battery.

I took off the cowl to replace the blown headlight bulb and just got it back on when the postman arrived in his little van with a packet from China.
I don't think he brought it all the way, but the time it took maybe he did?Laughing

It was a cheap (2 Euro posted) front brake light switch - oh balls, time to take the cowl off again.......

Looked at the switch and it took me a moment to figure out that you have to take the brake lever off and the switch goes in the wires first direction.

So the electrics which were always an AR problem back in my youth are all now fully working - Yay well almost the indicators did not like flashing. I tried a couple of spare 6v flasher units and it was the same, so I ordered a new one and now they flash away merrily - all working.

I can't remember if I mentioned the new horn, again a 6v all the way from China - works fine and is cheap and cheerful.

More news soon:!:
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yamfan



Joined: 11 Jul 2016
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Location: Ireland - South east

PostPosted: Wed Jul 18, 2018 1:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well I will be insured on the little AR in a week or two and I am really looking forward to it, the teenage excitement returning.

The AR80 that my brother and later on my sister owned resurfaced when I was looking for the exhaust. It is the very bike I got the exhaust from.

Unfortunately it has spent the last 20 years uncovered in a back garden and what was left of it had received a new paint job - it's in a bad way



It's worse than it looks in the pictures and thats whats left. Oil cap gone and oil tank full of moss.

This has now joined my fleet. The timing is bad, I am skint and do I really need two AR80's? But this is the actual bike from way back then - so I couldn't let it be skipped or have it's wheels sold.

It held up better than expected - it smelled of dog pi** and is covered in a 5mm thick layer of cobweb - absolutely disgusting condition.



It turns over fine Shocked notice the quality welding on the kickstart and the bicycle front axle as the rear engine mounting bolt.

As soon as the photos were taken I stripped it down so it could be sorted out.

That KE100 i got last year came with a load of AR spares, many of them I will eventually need for the white one, so I straightened and refinished the parts I had before the bike even arrived in my garage.

Some nice black panels and a tank came up for sale - so with the white one in mind it made it a easy decision to get them. I get nice paint for the black bike and the old panels go to the white bike - which will get a paint job sometime. Win WIn as far as I see it - my Wife might see things differently though Laughing
Its going to be one for the back burner for now - but I plan to paint the wheels and frame while the good weather is here.

The Black bike is starting to look nice now, I have painted the exhaust and fitted the fresher panels. The tank had a small dent that I managed to do a 90% repair on. There was a very small bit of light rust on the inside. I used the POR 15 chemicals to sort that, then decided to put the POR paint in also as it was prepared anyway. Four days drying time for the paint now.

I know I have a thing for clean tanks, I think it is from the endless ball ache on the TS 185 years ago - the tank was a rusty one off a KE 175 and I learned the hard way that no petrol filter will filter the fine rust particles out of fuel. So now I am very fond of POR 15. The last time I need to buy a kit I got the car kit and if you are a tight wad you can get three or four bike tanks done with it.
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 18, 2018 10:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Shame you've stripped it, that would have looked great centre-stage on our stand at Stafford Show. Seriously. Shaun's AP50 had grown men in tears a couple of years ago, your AR would have had an even better reaction.
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yamfan



Joined: 11 Jul 2016
Posts: 122
Location: Ireland - South east

PostPosted: Wed Jul 18, 2018 11:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I see where you are going, but the smell would probably keep everyone away.

Patina like this is hard to find, very valuable to the right person. Very Happy
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Top-shaggy
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 19, 2018 10:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

DSBBadmin wrote:
......Shaun's AP50 had grown men in tears a couple of years ago, your AR would have had an even better reaction.


Must admit.. I was shocked by the offers to buy it.. great show Thumbs Up
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yamfan



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PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 8:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Top-shaggy wrote:


Must admit.. I was shocked by the offers to buy it.. great show Thumbs Up


Maybe I should send it over after all Laughing


The new tank I got had a dent in the back part, just above the seat.

I have done some paintless dent removal before, never got it perfect but happy enough with the results. So I gave it a bash, made up my little hammer to knock it out from the inside. It was made in light wire first to get the shape needed. The business end is domed so it wouldn't crack the paint on the outside. So after a couple of sessions I got it good enough, there is a shimmer where once there was a nasty dent - so happy days.

The tool with the old tank -- tap tap



The smaller ARs have a little metal plate in front of the air intake. This has foam around the outer edge to seal against the underside of the tank. It's to help the airbox have a still air intake.
Well the foam was long gone so I glued a bit of carpet underlay in place to do the same job.

The new tank and panels finally fitted. The panels are AR 50, but two tiny pieces or red tape and two tiny pieces of white tape and a 5 becomes an 8. You would need to be two feet away to notice it.










Looking nice now, if I do say so myself. The new panels and tank transform it.

Still need to get the uni-track stickers for the swing arm and that's it more or less completed - I think.

Only a few more sleeps until the insurance kicks in! My KR1-s going on cover for the first time too, but I am looking forward to the AR most Very Happy
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yamfan



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Location: Ireland - South east

PostPosted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 9:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Today was the day, officially on the road again.

First thing was to get to the petrol station and fill er up. 9 Euro 35 later we are good to go.

Covered 110 miles on it today, it went very well - never missed a beat



The little bike will do 63 mph ish flat out, sitting on the passenger seat, head behind the screen. Sitting upright it varies between 40 to 50 depending on the gradient and the wind, less if there is a really steep hill.

Tips along nicely at 45 which is ideal for the roads I mainly use. I wouldn't fancy taking it on the motorway.



There is a small leak from the oil pump area, this is the second tacho drive unit I have tried and it seems it is a weak point. I have a few oil spots on my boot. I might block off the tacho drive temporarily to see how it goes. Might be able to convert it to an electronic tacho as it is probably going to be an ongoing issue.

It handles nicely, the rear shock has seen better days but it's fine for now.
If you look over the cowl, at the tip of the mudguard and press the front brake you can see it move across the front tyre as the frork twists - they all do that - doesn't cause much of an issue as the bike is so light.

What really stands out with a fresh restoration, is the chassis is straight, the handlebars, levers and pegs are straight - it just makes the bike feel nice and new again.

One other little issue, there is a noise in the engine, only when it is under high load, it's like a metal woodpecker in the top end - sort of a harsh gnarly noise.
I think it is down to piston slap. It should be ok until winter, with a gentle touch.

I might look at the white AR's engine and see what the piston and barrel is like on that one.

Small jobs - I am very happy with the little bike Very Happy
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yamfan



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Location: Ireland - South east

PostPosted: Mon Jul 30, 2018 11:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Did another 100 miles today but managed to run out of Petrol Doh !

Turns out the AR80 only has 5 miles on reserve. bit less than the 75 miles on my diesel car.

I was 4 miles away from the petrol station when it died, but there was still a tiny amount in the tank. I freewheeled downhill with the engine off and then started and drove at 2K rpm until the next downhill - stop engine coast repeat.

A very kind man in an small Fiat van stopped to see if I needed a hand about 1 mile from the petrol station, He offered to let me hang onto his van - so he let down the passenger window and I hung onto the door frame and he drove on at 20 MPH. Bike is so light it was no problem steering with just the left hand. We were chatting away through the window for the trip Laughing Some great people out there.
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 31, 2018 12:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Love it. Takes me back to being 16. Clap
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Top-shaggy
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 03, 2018 12:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

You can still buy the later model tacho meter drive for the AR50 and cable. It's a direct replacement and fits the 80. 2 bolt fastening rather than the screw thread.
Have a look and check out eBay.com

Great thread and the finushed bike looks stunning !!
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yamfan



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PostPosted: Sun Aug 05, 2018 1:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the kind comments,
I have managed to fix the oil pump leak, but its good to know about the alternative drive and cable.

Turns out the bleed screw wasn't fully tightened after changing over the latest tacho drive.
A bit embarrassing as there are only two screws holding it on and I still managed to make a mess of it. All good now.

Well it seems to be a bit too smokey - I am keeping an eye on the gearbox oil level and measuring the amount of 2 stroke oil used v's petrol.

It seems to be 35:1 but its still too smokey so I have leaned off the oil pump ever so slightly - see how it goes.

I did 30 miles today and 170 miles yesterday visiting my brother. he was surprised to see me on the 80 - he is a "bigger is always better" type of guy Laughing
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yamfan



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PostPosted: Wed Aug 15, 2018 1:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I had been making good use of the sunshine while it was here and clocked up over 700 miles on the little bike, it does about 70mpg which is pretty good.
The petrol tank holds another liter or so if you fill it until it comes up to the filler baffle thing - which is extending the range.

The engine knock seemed to be becoming worse so I waited for a rainy day and did this



The crank bearings sounded rough so I split the cases, one of the case screws was rounded out, even the impact driver couldn't grip it. Of course it was one of the screws in a deep recess, so I stuck it on the pillar drill with a 6mm bit and it centers easily with the remains of the philips cross.



once the head was off, the cases were split and the threaded part could be unscrewed by hand.

All looked ok inside, the crank from the white AR engine was truer and had no rod play so it went into this engine. Both cranks had wear on the drive gear side main journal - I put a tiny drop of bearing fit on it when it went back together.

The clutch was never great either, turns out it was missing one of the snap rings and had an incorrect (older style) thicker thrust washer, when it should of had two thinner thrust washers. Great to have the spare 50 engine for these bits.

It now has no problem finding neutral with the engine running.

My Wife was surprised to see how small the crank was, the bearings are almost as big


This bearing puller - separator is great - no more chisels



I had stripped and prepared the white AR engine, The barrel was fairly good, so it got a light hone. I also matched up the transfer ports to the crankcases it was overlapping by about 2 mm all round and just tidied everything up - still standard timings.


I reused the crank seals and the old piston, the piston was still in spec, It will be easy to change the piston later on.

No smoking gun as for the knocking noise under load, I think it could have been detonation or combustion knock - time will tell

It is all back together now and running, just waiting for the rain to clear to bring it for a spin Very Happy
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yamfan



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Location: Ireland - South east

PostPosted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 12:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The true crank is doing its job, nice and smooth - the tingling vibration is much reduced - so it goes to show how much difference it makes.

The noise has been narrowed down to piston slap. I swapped between barrels and it got better or worse. I got a new piston but it became worse again! I think it may have been off spec somehow.

The barrels have been measured and they are within spec given in the haynes manual, same with the pistons but they run with noise under load.

The only option now is fresh bores with genuine pistons when funds allow.

For now I have been preparing some parts for the white bike


I also have over 1000 enjoyable miles on the black bike and did a 40 mile trip last night with my wife on the back - Bike didn't miss a beat and was a good laugh.
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yamfan



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Location: Ireland - South east

PostPosted: Thu Jan 17, 2019 8:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My Wife got me a set of JIS screwdrivers for my birthday!

best pressie ever - they really make a difference - fit really well.

I had been using some cheap 2 stroke oil in the AR until about two months ago. I was topping the tank off and a big gloop of jelly plopped into the tank Sad

I had put the cheap stuff into an empty fully synthetic bottle, as it had the graduations on the side - I suppose the oil reacted with the little bit of fully synthetic and turned to jelly. I had heard of oils reacting, but was skeptical to be honest - well now I know.

Luckily I saw it and was able to wash out the tank and put some decent oil into it. Pity it took so long to get it back on the road but its all smiles now!
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