Feature Bike - 1969 Rocket3 - Gary Walker
Gary fell in love with the Rocket3 the first time he saw one. It was green, and it was 1971. He cut his teeth on a brand new Yamaha 200 at age 16, but a few years later he was married, then raised a family, so bikes took a back seat.
In the late 90's, an XV750 Yamaha marked a return to biking, and that was upgraded to an XV1000 3 years on. Gary and Gaye did some serious miles around the country on those bikes. The trap was set.
2007. A couple of mates with a British habit got Gary thinking about Rocket3's, and soon he was watching Trademe for a likely candidate. One soon appeared, but at the other end of the country. He couldn't get to view it, but after enough phone time to feel comfortable it was the right bike, he placed the winning bid a few minutes before the auction ended. There was "a bit of a dust-up with one other bidder..", but he finally owned a Rocket3. A red one.
Gary was overseas when the Rocket arrived. He had to wait another 4 days before the first ride..
worth the 36 year wait..
Having legs that were only long enough to reach the ground - or sometimes not when on the bike, Gary had the front part of the seat reduced in height slightly. Pleasingly, it is still comfortable. The Rocket3 joined the ranks for the International rally in Feb.
in very good company..
A few oil leaks, and some rich mixture problems, which led to various plug foulings during the rally week, prompted Gary to have some work done. The only history known about the bike was that it had been imported from the USA in 1994, and had 8 owners since then. The annoying puddle of oil that formed under the main stand indicated something amiss, and bits of base gasket could be seem migrating from under the exhaust rockerbox - which explained the various weeps around the cylinder head. Time to find out what shape the motor was in.
oil leaking from around the feed pipe..
The oil leak was traced to the feed pipe which was obviously loose in the crankcase. On removal it was found to be damaged at the other end. Presumably someone had squashed it as they removed it, so merely turned it round the other way!
The rockerbox gasket had entirely disintegrated, and looked to be quite new. Seems the top end had received some attention, but not been retightened - possibly because the bike changed hands.
Compression checks and oil pressure checks indicated that the motor was in quite sound condition otherwise.
take more than silicon to seal this..
During reassembly, some odd washers were found on the head studs and replaced, but unfortunately it became obvious why they were there. Two of the pillar bolt threads had stripped in the alloy barrel. It was decided to leave them as-is so the bike could be used for the remainder of summer.
Some attention was given to the carbs, and the No3 slides changed to 3+1/2 to try and cure the rich running. The ignition was a Boyer unit, so carb tuning was fairly critical to maximise the minimal spark produced thereby. Despite initial test rides looking very optimistic, the bike became harder to start as weeks went by, and eventually would not run at all.
Another friend had recently fitted a Trispark ignition to a newly acquired Trident that refused to run, and he was full of praise for the new setup. A Trispark was duly fitted to the Rocket3, and results were immediate and gratifying.
By this time, winter had literally put the dampeners on much biking activity, so it was time to attack the barrels.
tearing it down..
It was pretty obvious what was happening once the head was removed. The threads were totally pulling right out of the barrel. Hopefully a 3D helicoil or two would answer this maiden's prayer! Apart from that, a lot of carbon buildup on the piston crowns - most likely a legacy of the rich mixture. Removing the barrels would reveal any other secrets.
this thread needs an immediate answer. internet joke..
