Francis-Barnett Plover 86 restoration and repair

 Cables for the Plover 86 can be a problem: The easy ones are the front brake, which is available pre-made, and the Speedo. This latter is available but expensive. However a Triumph Tiger cub cable is only a few inches longer and will fit just fine. Throttle and clutch unfortunately are not available and need to be made up from cable kits, a universal for the clutch but a dedicated throttle cable kit for the throttle. This is because the tiny nipple that slips into the carburettor slide is really too hard to fit yourself and these kits come with it already fitted. Before trying to make any cable remove the old one fully. Measure the length of the inner and outer cables- including any nipples. Identify and source suitable nipple replacements for the new cable. Look closely at all the parts  on the old cable- measure the nipple size and watch out for ferrules, end bosses and adjusters- some of which, as in this case, can be slipped over a preformed cable but others may need to g...

I was surprised to find that leaving the battery in connection overnight resulted in a flat battery. Clearly there is a current leakage. Testing potential sources showed that the rectifier was shorting to ground. A replacement is clearly needed. The existing rectifier is the original disc-shaped Wipac item. This is bolted onto a heat sink mount inside the battery compartment. This type of rectifier is no longer made ad expensive as a used item. Also there's no real guarantee that a used one would be any better than mine!  I decided to replace it with the Lucas equivalent choc-box rectifier- or more accurately a pattern version since the Lucas item is likewise no longer available.  This type of rectifier is applicable to 6 and 12v systems and also positive or negative earth. Its also very cheap at around £5 and worked well in the tiger cub I used to own.  Lucas style choc-box rectifier If you look at the 4 terminals on this rectifier you will se that two are both parallel ...

Lighting switch - manner of operation Although my repaired switch was functional- it wasn't ideal. In particular contacts that should not be connected in some switch positions (see on) were actually connected- all be it with a massively high resistance in the mega-ohm range. I decided to replace the unit and so bought a SO781 switch and new cap specified for the Tiger cub. Most switches of this type are sold with all 10 spades/pins. However, that for the tiger cub has only 9, like the FB original. I wondered how the lighting switch operates as there is little detail in the manual so I decided to determine which terminals were connected and in which switch positions and correlate this with the onward connections of those pins shown in the wiring diagram. Holding the switch so as to view it from underneath (pins up) with the gapped pin at 12 O'clock, I numbered the pins clockwise. The finger below indicates what I'm calling pin 1 and viewed in this way pin 3 is the battery p...

The Acquisition- initial description and survey Responding to a Facebook market place ad, I snapped up this project Francis Barnet Plover from 1960. I'd never had a  FB bike and as I'd got several books on Villiers motors I was keen to continue my investigation into two strokes. As usual I paid too much and failed to ask the correct questions (through ignorance) but it seemed an achievable challenge to restore or quickly flip, whilst the vendor appeared honest and open, and the bike appeared to be pretty much complete. The first signs I'd got the wrong bike were when I discovered this was a Plover 86- fitted with an AMC 15T motor that seems to be universally panned in the opinions of many FB owners and writers. I'm not too bothered about this because the motor was widespread and used in the Bantam as well and frankly most of the detractors have either not owned such a motor or cannot tell me what its weak points are anyway. Finally Motor Cycling magazine on August 1960 ...