PHIL & MICHAEL'S LATEST NEWS
Below, all the latest news (almost) as it happens! The most recent items are listed first.

2nd Feb 2008

Official Retirement Announcement.....And More

Hello everyone. Sorry it's been so long since you have heard from Team Small Racing. The reason is one which saddens me. I (Phil) have been experiencing severe pain in my neck, left shoulder and left arm since mid way through the 2005 season.

After seemingly ages of physiotherapy (with no positive results), tests, x-rays, ultra-sounds and finally an MRI scan, the problem has been diagnosed. I have two ruptured, herniated disks in my cervical (neck) spine. The vertebrae in my neck have collapsed, causing spinal cord and nerve bundle deflection and compression. The pain and numbness through my left shoulder, down my arm and into my left hand is substantial. I know this injury was sustained in a speedway accident at Paris toward the end of the 2005 season. It's as close to a broken neck as you can get without disastrous consequences. I consider myself very lucky.

That said, I am scheduled to go for surgery in the month of February 2008. A top neurosurgeon in London, Ontario will perform a cervical spinal discectomy and spinal fusion. This involves the removal of the broken disk(s), and a bone graft taken from my hip, used to breach the gap where the disk(s) once were. A titanium metal plate with screws then holds evrything together and the bone knits to form a stable solid mass.

This injury unfortunately signifies the end of my speedway racing career. I can never risk riding again. As you can all appreciate the possible consequences if another injury was to occurr (in speedway.....highly likely....lol)..could be chatastrophic.

I have spoken with Michael and he does not wish to continue in the sport either. He very much saw speedway racing as our "Father and Son" time together, and now the ability for me to ride has been removed, he no longer wishes to continue.

This means that we have some equipment that we wish to sell. Michael's GM is the first that must go. Although I have had some serious interest already and have spoken with a potential buyer over the phone, I still wish to make everyone aware of the deal just in case the current interest falls through. Don't worry.....the people that have already spoken with me have first refusal and I will honour our deal should you wish to persue it.

Basically, the paragraph below tells you everything about the bike and where to contact me should you need further information. The only thing changed is the price. I am now willing to let this great bike go for $2,600.00.

I am hoping to be recovered enough to be back up and ready to meet everyone at the speedway racing venues next season as a keen spectator. I can also offer my help as a volunteer or rider/mechanic coach, on occasion.

They say every cloud has a silver lining right?....And the very good news is after the breakup of my marriage, I have met a very wonderful woman. Her name is Krista. You can see me pictured very happy with her on the "home page" of the website. Don't worry...that's not our usual dress code...lol. She is adorable, so beautiful and I think the world of her. I don't think she'll mind me going public with this.

Anyways, I would like to close this first 2008 update ensuring you this website will remain active throughout the 2008 season, so check back for updates.

I would also like to offer my thanks for all the kind words of support from my speedway friends around the globe. I appreciate the kindness our "Small World" offers once news of misfortune arises as a result of our spectacular and incredible sport.

Remember to check back for updates folks. I will be working on tidying up and updating the other pages "deeper" in Team Small Racing's website in the very near future.

Thanks all, once again. Best regards,

Phil & Michael.

1st May 2007

Michael's GM For Sale

Due to a change in personal circumstances, Michael's GM is now for sale.

Longstroke GM motor in Jawa frame. Engine just rebuilt with new Accralite piston, rings and nitrided pin. Also new timing chain just fitted.

Centec II rod and dual valve springs with aluminum collets replaced early 2005. Very little, light use since.

Motor run once since rebuild. Runs perfect. This bike pulls very strong and is super fast. Ex Billy Hamill motor gas flowed by world renowned Canadian engine tuner, Carl Bloomfeldt.

New Jawa frame diamond early 2006.

You all know the bike; clean tidy and fast!

Cheap at $3,200.00 o.b.o.

E-mail us at sliderphil@sympatico.ca or call (519) 875 4426.

19th February 2007

GM Rebuild Well Underway

With things returning to normal in the "Small Camp" after my parents having returned to the UK, progress re-commenced on the rebuild of Michael's GM motor.

As you've seen from the picture on the home page, the motor is now well on the way to completion. The new Accralite slipper piston, rings, and nitrided gudgeon pin have been fitted as well as a new timing chain.

We gave the nikasil bore which was very glazed but otherwise in perfect condition a fine hone with valve grinding paste on the hone stones. This just dulled the cylinder coating with a nice criss cross effect and we went fairly tight with the piston ring end gap set at 0.012".

The motor was burning a lot of oil at the end of the last season and this was due to the worn piston and rings and glazed bore. We should see a lot less blue smoke early this season.

Below are another couple of pictures from slightly different angles.

Michael is cleaning and polishing all the components before re-assembling them onto the bike so he should come out with a pretty looking machine for the 2007 season.

Well, that's all the news for now. Check back regularly for updates!. Thanks and talk again soon,

Phil #21 & Michael #2

14th February 2007

Not Much Progress

Sorry for the lack of recent updates but over the past week we have had my parents visiting from the UK. During that time it was Michael's 16th Birthday and Elizabeth's Confirmation at the Church, so family took precedence over the speedway bikes.

Our important visitors travelled home today, so Michael and I now plan on completing the rebuild of his GM motor this coming weekend. Please check back for progress. This space should become a touch more interesting again now we are back into action!

3rd February 2007

Change of Scenery

Well, we figured we had given you all you could take of that silly vintage/modern creation of mine over the past few weeks, so here's something different!

With progress slowing on the PSR Weslake, in fact now down to the "finishing touches", it was time to bring Michael's GM down into the warmth of the basement for its pre-season freshen up.

As mentioned in a previous posting, we are replacing the piston, rings and timing chain this winter. Michael has stripped the motor as can be seen in the pictures.

Unfortunately, he was unable to salvage the timing chain cover gasket during the stripdown. I have taught him how to make new gaskets from gasket paper so he will now have to make a new gasket and clean all the mating surfaces before he can continue with the re-build process.

As usual, we will keep you updated with the progress. I've also included a number of pictures of the PSR Weslake below, in it's present state.

Talk again soon,

Phil #21 & Michael #2

21st January 2007

High Fives All Round!

Today, Sunday saw another bout of motor testing on the PSR Weslake. It was a bitterly cold snowy day and we had a miserable time just trying to get the bike to fire up due to the weather.

However, this misery was soon to be offset once the motor had eventually fired and warmed up, as the new restricted oil recirculation pipe, coupled with a straight vertical large bore breather pipe was completely successful!

Yes, this day goes down in history as the first time the PSR Weslake has run successfully. I even treated myself to a gentle run up the road aboard my new creation, followed by a strong whiskey in the hot tub to warm up afterwards!

Michael and I were ecstatic at finally acheiving what we had set out to do back in the fall. Now the bike is back in the basement for the remainder of the winter as there are still loads of finishing jobs to do.

As you can see from the pictures, it is coming along quite nicely, but its a bit like a hastily decoratred Christmas tree at the moment; lots of goodies just hung on to make it look pretty. I don't think the nylon cable tie holding the exhaust system on for instance would pass technical inspection, do you?

I will be continuing the work over the next few months to have the bike completely ready for the start of the season. Next job is to bring Michael's GM downstairs also so he can start work on his motor freshen-up and general clean up.

We are putting a new piston, rings and timing chain in the GM for this coming season, but hoping that the rod will go one more year before replacing that next winter.

So, as the title suggests, high fives all round! A marked day in Team Small Racing History indeed!

20th January 2007

Parts Have Arrived!

Yesterday, we took delivery of a shipment of parts from Joe Hughes International of Derbyshire, England, which will allow us to move forward with the building of the PSR Weslake.

As you can see from the new picture on the "home" page and the one below, the complete exhaust system has arrived and I'm pleased to tell you it fits like a glove!

As mentioned before, more motor testing and development is scheduled for this weekend (weather permitting), so keep checking back for news.

I will piece together a full account of the building of this bike and publish it seperately on the site as a new feature once the bike is complete. Until then, you will have to get the information "piecemeal"!

Talk soon, Phil #21 & Michael #2.

16th January 2007
Hmmm! I Wonder What Now?
This past weekend saw another running test of the PSR Weslake motor. The new breather system shown in the picture on the home page (temporarily mounted) was not a success, but once again, after seeing the results of the weekends testing, and then taking a couple of days to think about what I saw, I once again understand more about what is going on.
You may recall last week I thought I was lacking the real estate in the internal atmospheric oil resevoir and I could not get a sufficiently large breather far enough away from the oil fill level to vent the volume pushed from the crankcase?
Well, I now think that I am trying to move too much volume per revolution from the crankcase. I have a 3/4" bore re-circulating pipe from the crankcase reed valve outlet, returning back to the oil resevoir. Every revolution of the motor I have seen a fine mist of oil in this clear braided pipe, but mostly a huge rush of air.
I got to thinking back to basics on how the original upright Weslake total loss oil system worked. I have seen these run as "re-circs" with an external oil canister vented to atmosphere. I also had a Jawa 897 in the past which used a plastic bottle as a re-circ chamber. The oil is pumped out of the crankcase by crankcase pressure, through a 1/4" bore pipe into a plastic "drinks" bottle, then sucked back into the oil pump from this bottle.
Because the pipe from the crankcase to the bottle is relatively small, the oil returning to the bottle effectively plugs it and slowly "chugs" through the pipe. In a similar fashion in fact to the oil feed pipe from the oil pump pressure feeding the valve gear.
This is very different from the modern day re-circs, but not necessarily wrong for this old type of motor. With this in mind, the next step is to restrict the volume of air/oil being pumped from the crankcase by reducing the re-circ tube to 1/4" bore. This should negate the need for a huge vent from the oil resevoir as there simply won't be copious amounts of air rushing into the chamber.
Instead, there should be a steady "chug" of un-aireated oil making its way back to the internal oil resevoir, without all the rush and drama of blowing breathers and spraying oil! Once again, the next test will be this coming weekend.
So stay tuned all you "Engine Heads"!!!!
Oh, and into the bargain, you should also see some nice cosmetic changes this week. I have just taken delivery of a whole bunch of goodies from Joe Hughes in the UK, so keep your eyes peeled for pictures!
Regards,
Phil #21 & Michael #2

10th January 2007

If At First You Don't Succeed.....????

Hit it with a big hammer! If I were to tell you how frustrating it is to perfect this re-circulating oil system on the PSR Weslake, it would be a gross understatement!

This past Sunday saw the trial running of the motor with the new "shuttle valve" installed, as mentioned in the last news update. Well, it sort of worked, but not quite! The motor still blew a considerable amount of oil out through the breather, but not nearly as much as last week!

Well, that convinces me that fitting this valve was the correct thing to do, but in it's present state it is not able to pass sufficient volume per revolution to overcome the volume of air/oil pushed out of the crankcase. "Increase the capacity of the shuttle valve", I hear many of you say. Not as easy as that!

The real underlying problem is real estate. The Weslake is a tiny motor, so the volume of the atmospheric internal oil resevoir I have created in the motor is very small in comparison to a modern machine.

A modern laydown GM or Jawa for instance has all of the timing chain casing, from the bottom chain wheel, right up to and including the valve cover as its resevoir. The breather then exits the motor at a point well away from the filled oil level in this casing. Oil can splash about and be blown copiously from the crankcase without ever going up and plugging the breather pipe.

With the pushrod Weslake, there is very little opportunity for oil or air to freely breathe up to the valve cover. It does not have a huge open void for the camchain to pass through which would act as a very handy increased resevoir volume. In fact in the Wessie, there are only two small holes by the side of the pushrod cam followers to allow oil pumped up to the valve gear to gravity drain back down to the bottom resevoir.

In essence, I can't get my breather pipe exit far enough away from the filled oil level. It works fine for a few revolutions, but as soon as any sort of pressure builds in the resevoir, oil is pushed up into the breather effectively plugging it. It then is no longer a free breather so further pressure builds in the resevoir until it pumps lots of oil up the breather pipe.

It really is a dilemma, and at one point early this week I was going to admit defeat and return to a total loss oil system. However, I spent almost three hours last night re-designing the crankcase oil return, incorporating into it a large volume breather located at a strategic point in the line.

On paper at least I'm confident that we will be another step closer to ultimate success! If there was one good thing to come out of last weekends testing, it was the newly balanced crank. I had mentioned that I was going to have a go at improving the balance of the motor now it has been layed down. Well, it worked. The thing is smoother than it ever was as an original upright! Thanks Bob! (Bob knows who he is).

I hope those of you interested have some understanding of what I'm doing from my website descriptions. It's hard to really convey everything in words, but hopefully it'll convince you to never try to do what I'm doing!

That way it ensures I will own the only laydown re-circ pushrod Weslake ever built!

Next test run is scheduled for this coming weekend so keep checking back for details.

Regards, Phil #21 & Michael #2.

4th January 2007

Back To The Drawing Board!

Well, nothing is ever easy in Research and Development. After trying all sorts of things to create the optimum pressure differential between the crankcase and the internal oil resevoir, I was not able to acheive a satisfactory result.

In fact, the last motor running test ended up with a massive plume of oil spraying through the air in my workshop, all over my tools, the bike, the floor, the ceiling and me! Oil blew out of the brather pipe at such a velocity it was frightening!

So, I put my thinking head back on and came up with an idea which I believe stands a great chance of working. I have custom made an internal air shuttle valve, which should relieve pressure from the internal oil resevoir and ultimately the breather chamber, back into the crankcase as the piston rises.

I'm quietly confident this will solve the issues, and if it doesen't completely cure the problem, I will at least know the direction I need to go. Unfortunately, the addition of this shuttle valve has meant a complete stripdown of the motor and splitting of the crankcases once again.

I will also take this opportunity to rebalance the crankshaft as I did notice during test running that the bike was quite vibratory. This is due to the balance of the crank not being entirely correct with the motor in its laydown orientation. I had been assured that this would not present a problem, but it is something I think I can definately improve upon. It makes sense to do this while the crank is out of the bike, hopefully for the final time.

So the long toil continues! Please do keep checking back, and feel free to send me a bottle of champagne once I have achieved a successful running motor!