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Sturmey Archer oil ports

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Sturmey Archer oil ports

Old 06-16-11, 06:32 AM
  #1  
v8Sally
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Sturmey Archer oil ports

I have two old BSA bikes, one has a 1959 SW 3 speed hub (which works like a dream believe it or not and is totally silent freewheeling) the other is a 1960 AW 3 speed hub. They both have tiny little plastic oil ports. I damaged the one on the AW hub, trying to put it back in after I knocked it out trying to clean all the gunk from around it. Is there anywhere I can get new oil ports from, preferably metal ones like the older bikes had?

ANy advice appreciated, thanks.
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Old 06-16-11, 06:53 AM
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The metal ones tend to leak.
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Old 06-16-11, 07:05 AM
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Metal ones come from parts bikes and as GB said leak, always. Plastic was an improvement and unless you're doing a faithfull restoration, plastic is the way to go. See you LBS or on line at shops like Harris.
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Old 06-16-11, 07:27 AM
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According to Sheldon Brown, the plastic oil ports work much better than the old metal ports, which according to him was one of the few instances where things improved on an English 3 speed by replacing a metal piece for a plastic piece. Harris Cyclery carries them for about 2 USD (as well as a bunch of other S/A spares). The spare oil cap can be installed using a blunt pencil to hold it as it is being screwed in.
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Old 06-16-11, 10:12 AM
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Originally Posted by Grand Bois
The metal ones tend to leak.
Cut out "tend to".
Of course, if you don't believe it's English unless it's leaking oil, by all means use a metal cap.
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Old 06-16-11, 12:32 PM
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Harris sells replacements for a $1.95 at the time of this posting:

https://harriscyclery.net/product/stu...il-cap-816.htm
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Old 06-16-11, 12:47 PM
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If the hub is not leaking, how are you supposed to know when to add oil?
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Old 06-16-11, 07:01 PM
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Originally Posted by David Newton
If the hub is not leaking, how are you supposed to know when to add oil?
They leak a bit through the cones anyway, but if you fill up the hub with sewing machine oil you'll never have to worry about oiling again.
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Old 06-16-11, 07:27 PM
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Don't use sewing machine oil. It's too thin.
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Old 06-16-11, 09:41 PM
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My S5-2 doesn't leak at all from anywhere. I'm not complaining.
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Old 06-17-11, 02:02 AM
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Thanks for your replies. I would prefer it not to leak TOO much after I have spent hours polishing all the chrome up! However judging by the accumulated oil and crud that I cleaned off they must leak a fair bit. If I can get hold of anything at all it will be better than having a hole in the hub though. I will try Harris Cyclery, however I am in the UK and we tend to get hammered for import duty ordering from the US which is damned annoying.
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Old 06-17-11, 02:28 AM
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Just looked on the Harris website and they won't ship overseas less than $75! Must be somewhere I can get these in the UK.
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Old 06-17-11, 03:19 AM
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If you're in UK, try phoning Fuller's Cycles in Dorking, Surrey - I bought a few plastic oil ports there a year ago. The guy in the shop is keen on old 3 speeds, so know his stuff.
Mine have travelled with me back to NZ - export quality !
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Old 06-17-11, 05:35 AM
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Originally Posted by v8Sally
one has a 1959 SW 3 speed hub (which works like a dream believe it or not and is totally silent freewheeling)

ANy advice appreciated, thanks.
The SW was supposed to be a totally silent hub. They're scarce today and parts are hard to get for them. You don't want to stand up and hammer a bike with an SW as they were known to slip. They were a brilliant design that was poorly executed due to manufacturing techniques...

Lots of interesting articles out there about this unique hub, including some on how to improve their operation.

https://www.squidoo.com/sturmey-archer-SW

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/sw.html
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Old 06-17-11, 11:10 AM
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The SW was supposed to be a totally silent hub. They're scarce today and parts are hard to get for them.
Flash, this just in: Aaron's has parts for the SW.
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Old 06-17-11, 12:49 PM
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This looks like a good vintage friendly shop in the UK:
https://https://www.theoldbicycleshowroom.co.uk/index.asp
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Old 06-21-11, 01:12 AM
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Thank you for all your help. :-))
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Old 06-21-11, 09:33 AM
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I,d try a small cork from the hardware store. I bet it would be almost as tight as the plastic but better looking.
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Old 06-21-11, 03:41 PM
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You can thread a small plug in there...just don't recall the thread size. The old white plastic port covers are threaded, the newer black ones aren't. The old holes were round the ones that take the black port appear to be stamped and have several distinct sides. I will have to take a closer look when it cools off, over 115* in my shop at the moment

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Old 06-28-11, 06:46 AM
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Hi guys, I got a proper white plastic oiler today from The "old bike Trader" in the UK! Thanks for your input.

https://www.oldbiketrader.co.uk/
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