CLASSIC TECHNIQUES

When I was ateenagerinthe early 1960s, my first road-legal motorcycle was a 1946 BSA 250cc C11 with a rigid rear end and a dynamo that did not work. It was a wreck, but to me manna from heaven. If I tried to do a fast getaway to impress my mates, all I got when I dropped the clutch was a loud rasping noise and no go. It was the chain jumping the rear sprocket. It was so worn that the worn chain simply jumped the hooked teeth unless you were gentle on the clutch.

Being a bit of an engineering twit back then, I removed the sprocket and took it to work to file the teeth deeper. A toolmaker pointed out I was actually reducing its diameter and making things worse.