wmontoya

hi, my clutch hydraulics started acting up a couple of months ago and replacing the fluid & repeated bleedings didn't fix it, so i'm looking for practical advice on how best to proceed. Symptom: on 5 occassions, the clutch didn't disengage on first try after driving some distance (1-5miles) in top gear w/ no gear changes; pumping the clutch allowed proper engagement. i've also seen some bleed-down if it's held disengaged for a short while (e.g. engagement occurs much earlier & w/out much progression). Obvious suspects: clutch master cylinder... next candidate would be slave cyl. Questions: 1) are there any more reliable/robust easily fitted (i.e. direct bolt on) master cylinders (or slave if needed) that people can recommend? (i'm used to reliability of Japanese, Italian & German hydraulics.) 2) my experiences w/ English hydraulics are soley from a '58 MGA, and those had limited life, weren't worth rebuilding (due to rebuild kit quality & short life outcome) so the better/longer life approach was to replace w/ new unit. is that the same for 2000-ish Caterham hydraulics or is it worth a rebuild attempt? 3) does the assumption it's most likely the MC and not the slave match experience of others (given symptoms listed)? thanks in advance and best regards... WM 2002 Caterham/1700 Crossflow/assembled by Joe Hawkins (RIP)

Hi, my old & trusty (but discontinued) Merrel walking shoes are almost worn out and i'm having a hard time finding new shoes that are 1) narrow enough (no sole overhang) to work well in an '01 Caterham (std chassis, 1700 XFlow), 2) comfortable enough for prolonged walking/standing (work & hikes), and 3) not too geeky or flashy. any suggestions for a shoe make/model that others w/ wide-ish feet have found workable & walkable? preference is definitely for low key (gray/brown/green colors) and robust design (suede/mesh mix?). regards... WM

... well, all i can say is check out the link that was posted earlier by Gert(?) to the paper "Detection of Bicycles by Quadrupole Loops at Demand-Actuated Traffic Signals" (http://www.humantransport.org/bicycledriving/library/signals/detection.htm)... that info's consistent w/ what i've read for the typical in-ground sensor and it shows either squares or rectangles w/ "cut corners"... but the shape is more squared off than rounded/oval (given the normal size of in-ground loop sensors). i know that placing a motorcycle's engine near the hot-spot zones does helps trip traffic light sensors in many cases... not all, but many. a few on my commute don't trip w/ a med-sized bike no matter where it's placed... and those fortunately always trip w/ my 7. further observations: - never tried the trick w/ a bicycle, but the explanation given in the paper isn't functionally inconsistent either... i know places where riding a motorcycle slowly along the left or right sensor line as one approches a red signal often helps speed up the tripping in three specific intersections. - one intersection will trip for a motorcycle only when no cars are around... if cars are around (moving or stopped) the bike will never trip it (requiring getting off and pushing the predestrian "walk" button).

the "hottest-spot" for pick-up on common in-ground wire-loop sensors (usually layed out in a square or rectangular pattern) is just slightly inward from any corner... that's where you want to place your largest iron hunk (engine). this from motorcycle experience & electromagnetic theory. never found a strong-enough-to-help magnet that was also light-enough-to-realistically-carry on a bike. two 1"x1"x1/2" NIB (rare earth) magnets didn't do much to help trigger sensors on a med-sized bike. the uber-cow-magnet torpedo thing is pretty funny... especially in a Seven... but if it works, huzzah!! regards... WM

Thread-related question: what's the down-side of being on the oversized side of pipe diameter? my 4-into-1 collector ends in a 2" pipe, on a moderately modified Cross-flowengine (supposedly ~135BHP)... if i use a 3" inlet/outlet muffler and adapt the inlet to mate to the 2" collector, is there any de-tuning risk w/ the 3" outlet if i extend it for the outlet/tip w/ bend? Again, i'm 2-stroke oriented and don't know how important back-pressure is on these big bore 4-stroke behemoths... could it impact heat dissipation? fuel scavenging? necessitate carb tune tweaks? TIA and regards... WM

Hoping to make my Caterham/Crossflow a quieter and a bit more stealthy in general, and seeking experienced Seven-ers input on viable muffler options. It's a LHD w/ modestly built 711M Kent motor and as close as i can tell it has the Caterham catalog listed "MUFFLER - Crossflow competition (and Rover race Any suggestions for something readily available/mountable which would reduce dBs and not screw up back-pressure/flow too much (so as not to require a ton of re-jetting*)? or "that's not possible, not a good idea or not available?" TIA and regards... WM (i'm a two-stroke guy when it comes to tuning experience/knowledge and the Webers are a bit daunting.)