Tue, 17 Feb 1998 11:26:30 -0800 (PST) - Message No. 2197
From: Frank Evan Perdicaro

Subject: Re: Africa Queens tanks


I do not own an Africa Twin, but I would like to buy one.

Tank size is important.  I have a close relative of the AT, the
HawkGT.  The tank was too small, so I made a larger one.  The cost was
in the $300 range.  But we have no TUV.  If you want a tank that is not
a work of art, but just useful, I suggest that you make one up.  I
looked at the Queens tanks; $1500 dollars is way too much.

BTW, 5.7" == five and seven tenths inches, about 14.5 centimeters.
190 centimeters is about six foot, three inches.

On brake terminology in English.  The tire is on the road.  The tire is
attached to the rim.  The rim has one or two brake disks.  Brake disks
can be floating (able to move relative to the rim), or non-floating
(bolted directly to the rim).  Each brake disk is squeezed by a caliper
and pad assembly.  The caliper is the device which is bolted to the
fork slider and holds the caliper pistons.  (These caliper pistons are
the things that rust and cause problems.   Rust can be internal, due to
water-contaminated brake fluid, or external, due to salt, dirt, grit
and water.)  Some calipers come in two piece, where one pieces is fixed
and one moves.  The moving part of a caliper would be called a slider.
Some one-piece calipers and a few two-piece calipers move as a unit on
lubricated, sealed caliper pins.  Air and excess brake fluid are
removed from the caliper by opening the bleeder.  Sometimes the bleeder
is more correctly called a "bleeder nipple" or a "bleeder screw".  The
connection from the brake caliper to the brake line is through a banjo
bolt; the part that is on the brake line is called the banjo fitting.


dipper@normans.isd.uni-stuttgart.de