Crusader Touring Mods

Time to get the Crusader a bit better kitted out for some light touring duties.

I've already outlined fitting the £10 rack and for now I've put the mounting plate for my enormous top box on it but longer term I'll find something more in keeping with the '60's style.

I wanted to be able to have a basic tool kit with me all the time and spotted these leather tool rolls on EBay for £25, which I thought was worth a punt. It seems to be reasonably well put together, and holds a decent amount, but time will tell how durable it is.

This next mod is probably more about aesthetics to be honest, as I only tend to cruise at 45 - 50mph on the Crusader. The wind blast doesn't exactly rip your arms off at that speed. However, I did think that a small fly screen might be enough to divert a bit of rain from my chest and possibly visor.

I came across these Stadium universal screens, being marketed for fitting to the last model of RE Classic 500 and took a chance with it as they have the same size 7" headlight and what looked like the original 50's/60's style of headlight casquette. It turned out that the mounting holes lined up perfectly. I chose to drill out the holes to take slightly larger nuts and bolts, but that was the only mod needed. I really like the style of it and hope it makes a bit of a difference.

Onto maintenance stuff, the front brake has been appalling since the rebuild. I thought this was possibly because I'd refitted the original (barely worn) shoes, and bought some new ones to see if that would improve things.

When I pulled the front wheel off, 2 things became apparent: 1) I'd ordered the wrong size shoes (6" instead of the larger 7" that the Sport model wears), and 2) the shoes have barely been making contact with the drum, with only about 15-20% of the shoes showing any signs of wear.

New 7" shoes aren't available - you have to send yours off to be relined, and I didn't have time for that. The Crusader 250 forum was helpful and I followed various suggestions to see if I can improve things using the original shoes. Firstly, I flipped the shoes around in case I'd refitted them opposite to how they had originally bedded in. And probably more significantly, I left a little float on the brake plate and then applied the brake hard while I was tightening the wheel axle clamps, so that it isn't being restricted in any way (hopefully). I went out for a half hour test round the lanes and this has all made a big improvement. I expect it will get better as the shoes bed in as well.

I'd checked over the battery and charging system after the problems on the last ride and found that charging was fine but the battery wasn't holding the charge, so I put in a new one, together with a fly lead to attach a dedicated trickle charger when she's tucked up in the shed.

I also adjusted the drive chain and steering head bearings and then replaced the gearbox oil. I have had an annoying weep of oil past the oil seal at the back of the clutch, which is a really common issue and not helped by an apparently slightly loose seal that the main RE suppliers sell. I had used 20W50 multigrade oil in the gearbox and swapped it for thicker SAE90 gear oil to see if the extra thickness helps reduce the leakage.

And finally, I fitted a LoobMan chain oiler. I've had one of these on another bike and really like the simplicity of the system. Pressing the valve for 10 secs releases a slug of oil, which then gets deposited onto the rear sprocket and sprays out onto the chain.

I couldn't resist a quick trial load up to see how she sits with that lot done. I reckon she's looking like a properly capable little tourer now and looking forward to giving her a run out to the REOC International Rally in Powys in a few days.