Grey Flash Diary October 2012

This month was the busiest month for my bikes. First a ride on the 27 EW Douglas at the Kop hill climb Thanks Angela), then a Friday track day on the Comet racer at Cadwell, followed by a weekends racing and topped off by a ride in the MCC Edinburgh (Derbyshire) Trial on a trail bike. Not much time in the workshop for projects and as a result an even bigger list of ‘things to do’, so this months entry is a short one.
I had a moment when I first offered up the UFM, but I remembered from somewhere, that on a Comet a small spacer F112 (not shown on the parts list), fits between bearing E80 nut and the inside of the gearbox plate on RH side, Therefore I surmise this is also true for the Flash.
I slipped the Comet rear wheel in to check the clearances and to start to sort the mudguards and seat. Fitting that rear wheel made me revisit my thoughts about my rear brake and sprocket configuration. The Racing Comet has never had a problem with a combined sprocket and drum, (although it employs a brake pedal and rod in a very non standard way). So on reflection a combined brake & sprocket would simplify the rear brake cable, and put good use to the existing fixed abutment on the RFM so I will certainly try a test set-up with my completed and plated F25/9AS rear brake pedal assembly.
The seat I intend to use is an old friend, I have used it on the racing Comet in gentler years and it was fitted to the Alphabet twin on the two occasions when I rode the Grossglockner hill climb. It is an exact copy of an old seat loaned to me back in the sixties by Mick Winter or perhaps Ray Elger; (anyway one of the old racing reprobates from the Oxford Section). The original was well worn but the frame beneath had all the hallmarks of originality being cobbled out of the standard frame fittings from the normal dual seat, it’s a flat thin squab on a marine ply base and its shape is somewhere between a keyhole and a country guitar.
. It will be fully sprung seat. I don’t know if fully sprung seats ever came with the factory Grey Flashes but they were soon a feature in many period photos. It is tempting to think that the tops of the stays should be FT111 and the bottoms SP4 eyebolts but it needs some more thought. The stays are made of high quality alloy; I purchased a bent-walking frame for 50p (before I cut it up its presence in the workshop caused much mirth and hilarity at my expense). I think the resulting stays will support the seat effectively.