News

Autumn Newsletter

Lacey Engineering



STAFFORD SHOW

Things have been pretty busy here at a time when it's usually fairly quiet. We are getting prepared as we have decided to attend Stafford Show for the first time as Exhibitors. The Show takes place 17th & 18th October and we will be in the Sandylands Hall on stand S9a near the Ducati Owners Club stand. We will be offering a number of show special discounts so if you are at the show, please do call and see us. We also plan to have a couple of motorcycles on the stand.

If there is anything you would like to order, we would be happy to bring it to the show to save you on postage. We need to know by the end of Wednesday 14th please, either by phone or buy on line at www.laceyengineering.com and choose "Store pickup" for free delivery to Show.



New Products





Following much demand, we have decided to expand the range of products to include tools and some items for Bevel twins and road bikes. There will be a major change on the website before Christmas (all being well!) so watch out for that and tell your friends.



Bikes for Sale - Added recently:

A 900 SS Sold for a customer in 48 Hours! We do get a lot of requests for whole bikes but rather than stock them we offer an advertising option for our customers and charge a small percentage of the selling price.

What have you got to lose - No sale no fee, oh dear does that sound a bit like an Estate agent?

Loyalty Bonus - Reward Voucher

We do appreciate the fact that many of you return time and time again to shop with us so to say thank you we are introducing a loyalty bonus. As from 1st October, a record of your online sales will be kept and every order over £20 will be accumulated (not including Nova products) and when your total spend reaches £500 you will be entitled to a discount voucher for £25.00 (issued quarterly). You don't need to do anything except shop online and leave the rest to us! If you think we have missed anything please feel free to prod us!


A few words from Nigel


Okay so we did take a holiday earlier this year, and took our 1978 900 GTS nearly 3000 miles through France, Spain and into Southern Portugal. How about that for a bus-mans holiday? I had intended to purchase a modern bike for the trip but after numerous test rides failed to find a bike with that certain something (character)! A short ride on a customers Darmah reminded me of what bikes were supposed to be like and shortly after that I found myself the proud owner of this lovely GTS, or as she is affectionately known to us, Black Betty!

Betty is largely original and I resisted the urge to take the engine apart. I concentrated my efforts on basic servicing, brakes, electrics and the essential fitting of luggage racks. Come the start of the holiday there was a slight air of trepidation but this was soon forgotten once the adventure began. I must say I think I enjoyed every mile of this trip 95% of which was on smaller roads. Yes Betty is antiquated and modern bikes could run rings around her, but for a sense of fulfilment and involvement she certainly takes some beating. My appointment at specsavers for an extra pair of rose coloured glasses has already been made!

It more than lived up to my romantic notions where it's more about the journey than the destination and was a great travelling experience with many tales to tell ( too many to mention here) . One of the highlights was meeting up with the Spanish Ducati Club somewhere in the Picos (by accident!) They were really friendly and insisted we join them for their party in Santander - we spent a lovely evening making many new Spanish friends. Paul Smart was their guest of Honour but the way we were treated they made us feel as though we were guests of honour as well.


Betty the GTS, Paul Smart and myself in the Picos
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION No. 1

One of the most popular questions we are asked is

What oil do you recommend?

I usually recommend Silkolene Comp 4 20/50.



For many years I used and recommended silkolene racelube 40. Racelube oil was available in two grades, 40 and 20/50. These oils were high quality fortified mineral oils which had been specifically designed for use in roller bearing race engines. Some years ago Silkolene decided to discontinue the racelube range, completely discontinuing the 40 grade but continuing to produce the 20/50 rebranding it as Comp 4 20/50. After discussions with the chemist at Silkolene I made the decision to try an engine on the Comp 4 20/50 and after a year of race use the engine was inspected. I subsequently decided to switch all my engines over to the Comp 4 20/50 and after many years of racing I have been more than satisfied with the oil. The engines run very clean and the oil provides good high lift cam lubrication and generally low wear on engine components.

I also recommend and use this oil for road singles.

If you decide to use Comp 4, make sure you use the 20/50 grade as there are other grade oils in the range that may not share the same properties.

Excerpt from Silkolene website:

COMP 4 20W-50
Particularly suitable for use with tuned racing engines or high performance units being used in hot climates. Has excellent high temperature-viscosity characteristics to help protect highly stressed components and maintain consistent oil pressure and shear stability. Also offers excellent ‘stay-in-grade’ performance and long lasting corrosion resistance, even during periods of intermittent use. Suitable for many vintage and classic engines where monograde oils were originally specified. Also ideal for larger air-cooled V-Twin engines and in roller bearing engines.


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Two 350 previously identical pistons, the one on the left has been machined for a lower compression ratio and is still within the parameters listed.


FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION No 2

Will your race piston fit straight

out of the box?

The nature of a race engine is such that it is a modified engine with a view to gaining more power. Due to the fact that there will be many different ideas of how to achieve this the race piston has to provide a starting point for tailoring to fit a particular application. Many things like valve sizes, camshafts, combustion chamber modifications and required compression ratio all mean that it is impossible to supply a "one design fits all" sort of piston. Therefore the race piston is supplied with valve pocket diameters to suit the normal size valves that would be used, and a depth of pocket to suit an average race cam. There will normally be enough material to increase the diameter and depth of the valve pocket to suit most race applications. The dome of the piston likewise will have also been left large enough to provide high compression using combustion chambers that have been more severely modified.

A normal part of race engine preparation will involve checking of valve to piston clearances, checking piston to head clearances and compression ratios. It is also of course good practice to do so on a road engine as well.

It is far better to be able to machine/modify a piston to fit than to have a piston that is designed to cover all eventualities.


Some basic parameters


BASIC CLEARANCES AND SPECS

(Its not a secret!)

Inlet valve to piston clearance - 2mm

Exhaust valve to piston clearance -2.5mm

Radial clearance of valves to valve pocket - 1 mm

Minimum thickness of Piston, inlet valve pocket - 4mm

Minimum thickness of Piston, exhaust valve pocket - 4.5mm

Minimum thickness between inlet valve pocket and top ring groove 1.5mm

Minimum thickness of piston crown - 7mm

250/350 Minimum squish - 24 thou ( 0.6mm)

450 Minimum squish - 32 thou ( 0.8mm)

Piston dome to head - 1mm starting at the squish but increasing towards the centre of the chamber

Compression ratio 250 - normally the best you can achieve is 10.5:1

Compression ratio 350 / 450 - maximum 12 : 1




4 South Way Southwell Business Park Portland Dorset DT5 2NL
Callers by appointment only please.
http://www.laceyengineering.com/
ducati@laceyengineering.com

The new season is just about upon us and work has been very busy, both for engine work and parts sales to those of you preparing your own machines.

We do get a number of e mails asking questions from time to time, and we reply as soon as we possibly can, but please bear with us over the next month or so, as there are sometimes not enough hours in the day.

We are looking into various improvements to the site including a FAQ section and a new gallery. Don't forget, you can add comments here. I have heard some people say that it does not give you a great deal of time to save your long thought out comments, so may be better to prepare your thoughts in a word document then copy it into here!

Best Wishes
Nigel & Edina

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Important VAT Changes




Unfortunately we have been a victim of our own success and as from 1st April we will have to charge VAT on all goods and services.

As everyone is well aware, prices of raw materials have rocketed recently due to the weakness of the pound, but we have, as far as possible, not made any increases to reflect this in order to try to lessen the effect of the added VAT. This will not affect those of you outside the UK and Europe who will be charged Ex VAT.


NEW PRODUCTS



Sprockets -We now have in stock a range of quality final drive sprockets for the Ducati Singles. We have gearbox sprockets with integral bosses as original equipment in 15,16,17 and 18 tooth. Lightweight alloy rear sprockets in 42,43,44,45,46 and 47 tooth. All these sprockets are available from stock for immediate delivery. For those who require originality we will shortly also have in stock plated steel rear sprockets as original equipment in 44, 45 and 46 tooth.



Pistons - our race pistons have proved very popular and unfortunately we have been out of stock on some sizes for a few weeks. The good news is that we are imminently expecting a batch of 250 and 350 race pistons. Following requests for other pistons we are currently commissioning a new batch of pistons to include 86.6mm and 87mm forged high compression pistons and the more radical 88mm race piston which is currently out of stock. The new 86.6mm and 87mm pistons will have 20mm pins and are intended for use on V twins and 450 singles. We are also commissioning a batch of 250 forged pistons intended as a direct replacement for the original Borgo pistons for use in road machines. We are intending to have these in 74mm, 74.5mm and 75mm. Watch the website for these new additions.


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Back in stock & extended range- Crank sludge traps; crankshaft nuts; expanded range of valve guides in smaller incremental steps and now also to suit our 7mm valves; wider range of gaskets; cycle parts back in stock, kickstart rubbers etc. Bookmark the site and watch for regular product updates.


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Easier ways to pay- We are now set up to take credit and debit cards direct on the website as an additional choice to Paypal and Cheques. We can also take your details over the telephone and process the transaction for you.



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News from the Workshop - With the race season fast approaching, life has been very busy in the Lacey workshop. Taking a rather long holiday in January probably did not help! The web sales continued while we were away with only one or two queries, so maybe we will risk another break some time. We have just about caught up now. Major engine work is booked up now to at least Mid 2010 (as noted on the main website) but we can sometimes fit in smaller work, so it's always worth dropping us an e mail. If you do choose to telephone the workshop, although we do try to pick up the phone, sometimes with noisy machinery we just don't hear it. We have an answerphone so if you do end up talking to the machine, please do leave a message and we will always call you back as soon as possible. It can be very frustrating when we dash to the phone only to find the caller has hung up !


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News from the Race Track - The CRMC season starts at Pembrey over Easter and we look forward to seeing some of you there. We will once again be sponsoring the 350 Single Group 1 and Group 2 Championship and in addition will be running our prize draw for Ducati Single riders for a £50 voucher at each meeting. Here's hoping for less snow and rain this year!


We have many customers overseas and would love to hear news from them of race meetings or better still, race successes, so do let us know and we will post it on the news page

Lacey Engineering Winter Newsletter

Its time again for a newsletter update, we hope that you have all had a good Christmas and we would like to wish you a Happy New Year. We have already heard that many of you are preparing for this season and have sneaked off to the garage, barn or shed when the lure of Christmas, relatives, Turkey and mince pies had worn thin!

Many of you may already have seen the article about us in the current edition of Classic Racer. If you haven’t, then have a peek, but don’t stand around too long in the newsagents as they get annoyed . Many thanks to Graham Lawlor for the well written and well thought out article and thanks also go to those customers he spoke to for their kind words.

Important Workshop Update

We have also been busy over the last few months as we have been re-organising the workshop to accommodate our growing parts business. This has involved clearing the old cluttered store, redecoration, installation of new heating and lighting and installing of new racking and benches. We have also recently taken on more second hand stock and all our second hand components have now been sorted and shelved. We are now organising and shelving all the new stock for greater efficiency. To this end we will need to concentrate on a thorough stock check and shortly and after this, we are taking a holiday! . So if you need to speak to me or you wish me to answer an e mail, I will only be able to do this until Friday 16th January. If you need anything that is not on the website please contact us before this date.

When we return from our holiday we will be preparing for the Bristol Classic Bike Show (Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th February) which we will be attending – do call and see us at the stand. We will be taking a selection of new parts and some clearance second hand parts. If you would like us to bring any particular parts to the show, please e mail us by Thursday 12th February. Full service will be resumed again on the 16th February.

However the business will be manned throughout this period for straightforward web purchases only with goods being despatched on a weekly basis. So if what you require is listed on the website, it will be in stock and you can still “click to buy”.

New Stock

We have a large batch of both 250 and 350 race pistons in production, 74.5mm, 75mm, 76.6mm and 77mm. We expect delivery of these mid February.

We are also working to try and reproduce the gearbox circlips which should be back in stock shortly.

We are now poised to place an order for front and rear sprockets which we also hope to have in stock mid to late February.


Engine Work

In our last newsletter we mentioned that due to the amount of work already booked, that I could not take on any major work until August 2009. Since this time I have now booked several other projects which will take me through to early 2010. As before, smaller jobs such as crank rebuilds should still be able to be slotted into the schedule. Unfortunately I can’t see this changing in the near future, so if you do have an idea that you would like me to do some work for you, PLEASE talk to me early. I only have one pair of hands and I do appreciate the patience of those prepared to wait.

VAT and Pricing

At present as you probably know, we are not VAT registered. Which if you live in the EU is good news, not so good if you live outside the EU. However we may well be forced to change at some point this year. VAT will be charged on all parts and labour from this point. Some prices such as Nova components will effectively remain similarly priced if you are in the EU and if you are outside the EU you will be buying these parts for less as you will be charged excl. VAT.

As you are aware with the global financial situation in particular the weakness of sterling, a small amount of items sourced outside the UK will increase. These will include gaskets and clutch components. Fortunately the majority of components are sourced or manufactured in the UK so the majority of the prices will not be so badly affected. Of course if you are outside the UK now is a good time to be placing an order!!!

2009 Season

News is beginning to filter through from our customers about their plans for the year. Nigel Palmer is hoping to attend all the CRMC meetings, concentrating on the Nationals with a few club events to keep his eye in. He is also hoping to attend Chimay and possible Gedinne. He will as before be fielding Harvey Ellis’ 480 Ducati and his own 350 Ducati, that’s assuming I get both engines sorted in time. (Don’t worry Nigel,… Joke!). I think the Snows (John and Doug) will again be concentrating on the Manx this year with their 350 Desmos.

We hope to be attending some CRMC meetings and would very much like to attend a VMCC meeting at some point, so hopefully will see some of you at some point during the year.

We would like to wish you all good luck and safe riding to both our race and road bike customers for the season.

Best Wishes

Nigel & Edina
p.s You can add comments on the news page, please feel free to do so!

Please note the old 0870 phone number is no longer in use. All the correct information is on the "contact us" page

If you have a copy of Classic Racer for Jan/Feb 2009, you may notice an interesting article which reveals the secrets of the Lacey Engineering Workshop....

This is a copy of the first of our quarterly newsletter from the Lacey Engineering website. If you wish to be added to the list, just create an account (you dont need to buy anything to do this) and you will get newsletter updates.

We have now been "live" with our online shop since the Spring this year and we would like to alert you to the many new products now listed on the website. In that time a lot of people have been in touch, many to ask if we stock particular products. We have found that there is a demand for cycle parts and as we did have some in stock we have now added a section for this with over 40 items listed - and YES if its there, its in stock. We try to send goods out immediately on receipt of paid order by first class recorded post, insured if requested and appropriate.

As the product list is growing we were finding that the page was getting too long for the screen, so we have left the main exploded diagram items on the front page and added a "click here for more items" button, which takes you into a visual screen rather than a boring old list - I hope you like it. Any comments are always welcome if we can make the site better. Other products under consideration (time and finances allowing!) are 250 road pistons, (Borgo type) chains and sprockets for singles (front and rear) and rod kits for 900 bevels. Also 87mm pistons for V Twins and 450’s.

We do have a NEWS page and a few articles are posted there (including this newsletter) but we do invite you to add comments and open up discussion. You just click on “comments” at the end of the article and you may then enter your thoughts and shortly after that they will appear on line.

We have sold 2 customers' bikes and a lot of interest was expressed in these. If you have a bike which you would like to sell, please do let us know, we may be in the position of buying it for "stock"!

The second hand and clearance section is next on the list for our attention. We have added a few items, but will be keeping this topped up in the future. What you see on the website is really only the tip of the iceberg for second hand engine components, it’s always worth dropping us an e mail in case we have something lurking in the back room that you may be searching for, in fact there may be a whole 350 race engine appearing soon!

At the moment payment is via paypal, but if you do not have a paypal account, cheques are also welcomed. If you prefer to pay by electronic methods we would be pleased to give you bank details and you can pay direct. Just use the contact us form and we will arrange as required. You can of course phone or e mail us with your requirements and we will take the order that way if you prefer not to use the online ordering.

It's getting to the end of the racing season in the UK. No-one can say we have had the best of summers for racing, unless of course you like to skid about in pouring rain! Hopefully next season will be better.
We would like to congratulate all our customers who took to the roads of the Isle of Man this year. Many good lap and speed trap times were recorded. Doug Snow looked very promising with a fast first lap of 95.08 but unfortunately he later crashed in that session bringing his 2008 Manx to an early finish. Very fortunately he was not seriously injured and is making a good recovery. Congratulations go to Bob Millinship and Chris Swallow for gaining replicas in less than ideal conditions. There were lots of other good results within the short circuit racing this year. Not only Nigel Palmer who once again made the CRMC season an exciting spectacle, (especially in the rain) but amongst others, Brian Robson, Rich Hawkins and new to Ducatis, Ian Steltner all put up good performances. Congratulations also go to the ever superb John Hynes for winning the 250 Championship – a rider who prepares and builds his own engine. We recently spoke to another customer, Roger Birkenhead who also prepares his own engine and has had wins in both the UK and in Belgium at Chimay and Gedine, so congratulations to Roger.

A last word of warning - The main page of the site does say that Nigel undertakes engine tuning and rebuilds, but please be aware that at the moment he is booking major work in for August 2009. Smaller jobs such as crank rebuilds may be fitted in, but probably nothing more than that. We would be pleased to book any work after that date. If you are curious about what goes on in the Lacey Workshop, you could watch out for the next issue of the Classic Racer coming up soon. We recently had Graham Lawler here for the day, and he has written an article about us and this will be published mid December for the Jan/Feb issue. Some of you may know Graham via his appearance in various commentary boxes throughout the CRMC racing season.

We hope you enjoy browsing the website and remember we would be pleased to have any feedback or suggestions regarding other things we could include.

Best wishes

Nigel (Ducati Doctor) Lacey & Edina (Web mistress, accounts and general tea lady)

We have made a draw at every CRMC meeting this year from a full list of Ducati Single riders at the meeting (including paraders) so that eveyone had a chance to win rather than just the first bikes past the
post. In case anyone thought otherwise, it was not just from the Lacey Engineering
sponsored class!

Pembrey - James de'Raeve

Anglesey - Chris Bayliss

Lydden Hill - Tim Teale

Donington - David Walker (parade bike)

Snetterton- Nick Roberts

Cadwell - Roger Bayliss

Brands Hatch - Brian Robson

Are the lucky winners of the £40.00 voucher to be used on the parts website. Conratulations to you all.

I know we have a number of admirers of the web site who are a bit new to the world of computers and may be a little nervous of buying on line. Please don't think we want to scare you away! we would be pleased to accept any orders either by phone or e mail.

For anyone who would like to make that leap of faith into the information superhighway for the first time, I am at the moment putting together a guide to buying online and using paypal for payment. Hopefully this will help. It will be a document with screen shots etc so won't be like your normal help files so don't worry about that - you won't need a 12 year old to help

It will appear here when available so keep an eye on the site.

Best Wishes

Edina

Hello fellow Ducati Single Enthusiasts!

This is the first entry of our new "News & Blog" pages. Following popular demand we have decided to add these pages just to keep you all updated with any news, information and race dates etc.

Please be patient with us, we may not get this perfect first time, but think it is the sort of thing which may grow organically with the website. You can reply or post comments which will (once processed) will appear as strings to the main entry.

Looking forward to seeing how this grows...

Best Wishes

Nigel & Edina (webmaster and typist of long e mail replies! )


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