60 Unfortunately, on this vehicle, this pivot point was not exactly at the centerline of the output sprocket of the gearbox but in fact an inch or two closer to the rear wheel. Thus at full upward deflections the chain became quite lose – and when worn, the chain would easily came off - which of course, terminated the drive. In real life this happened often, in fact, whenever I hit a significant bump. To make it even more inconvenient the chain now loose but still being driven would pull tight and jam firmly anywhere it could. The net result was the vehicle suddenly lost drive, the rear wheel skidding loudly, and then the vehicle would not move. Typically this occurred while out in heavy traffic with the wife on board. This resulted in some very special army vocabulary, very greasy hands, and upset spouse, and even a “late on parade” charge sometimes. Upon close examination I found that the frequency of the chain coming off was due to the frame being cracked just ahead of the diagonal torque spring. This permitted an increase that the distance the wheel could travel at full bump. No doubt this cracked frame was due to the left side of the vehicle being heavier than the right side as the entire drive train was resting on it. The frame on this side should have been reinforced but it was not. As time and money were very not available I had to live with this defect for a while – nor had I any workshop or welding equipment to fix it with. In fact it was one of the reasons I jumped at the chance to swap it for a rusty old 1939 ex army BSA M20. Shown on this page and the facing page are parts of the Registration Log Book for the Clipper owned by Alan Masson and now Tom Chandler. The full Registration Log Book is shown later in this book.
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