Aermacchi 5 speed Conversion // Paul Brodie's Shop 

Thanks for bringing us such great content, Paul!

I was watching this most excellent video with my one year old cat and she said Paul's looking better and she's right you are and that warms the hearts of all your avid viewers. Great content, combined with your warm delivery. Thanks Paul, love from France. Hi to Mitch.

So happy to see you with a spring in your step and voice Paul! It is really a relief to see you feeling better.

Hey Paul and Mitch, great episode! Shimming a transmission is really a challenge! Thanks for taking us through the process. So glad to hear that you're done with the chemo! My sense was that something really significant had happened. Glad it was the chemo completion!!! All the best, Tom

The Shimming Sounds like a Stephen King novel

Good luck with your health. Cancer sucks but you'll get through. Guided 10 years clean.

You prove once again that you have great skills and are a wonderful teacher. I don't have the patience to try to do something like that. Keep fighting the cancer fight. I am a throat cancer survivor and if I can beat cancer so can you Sir.

Thanks for not "glossing over" the finer details of correctly assembly of this fine Italian single. I'm sure the the greater public think we're magicians who whip out a wand and viola! All perfect, right to go! But in all elderly motorcycle motors, there's much midnight oil burned checking and rechecking. Best wishes with the stem cell procedures, and thanks again for the authentic assembly of the aermachi transmission...

Didn't know that Leslie had sold his business. Has been a few years since I did anything with a Sprint. Met him at his shop in Petaluma many years ago. Very nice guy and helpfull.

Hi Paul, just started watching your Aermacchi build. Great stuff! I built and road raced a converted 1973 road bike for years in the US, Ireland and Canada. So a lot of your videos look very familiar! I didn't have the close ratio fifth gear or the lighter primary drive gears, but did have race cam, valves, piston and ran a 34mm Amal mk2. The standard fifth gear is a big jump up, but I didn't have the spare money. Hope your health stays good. Getting older sucks!

Just finished watching the entire Tiger Cub and Aremachi build series. Was crushed when I got to the recent stuff! So glad you are doing well and you look so much better. All the best!

You Sir are such an inspiration!All the best Paul.

Another very educational half hour from the Maestro . Thanks Mr Brodie !

That is so good to see. I think my car gear box has something similar to that drum. It is a multimode gear box that will work itself or the driver can use the gear (?) leaver, forward or paddles behind the steering wheel. I have always been interested in how it works and someone at the dealer said 'there is a shottle/shuttle that rotates to move the selectors, like a motorbike gear box'. So I'm a little closer to seeing how it might work. The gear box was not at all happy when the brake light switch was sticking on, the gear box didn't understand changing up with the brakes on, neither did the cruise control, when touching the brakes would switch off cruise control. All sorted out when I didn't notice the brake lights were on for ten hours and the battery went a little low. At that point I realised the brake lights being on was singled at start up to the starter motor, have to have my foot on the brake to start the engine. Still not too sure why the brake light circuit is live when the engine is off and the car locked, save a relay I suppose. Thanks so much Paul and Mitch.

Always good to see you. Good luck with the next bit.

You are the Bob Ross of 2 wheeled objects. Great video! 😎

Take care. Paul.. the best of health for you this year and beyond 👍👍

I've been watching your channel and really enjoy it. This is my 1st comment. Back in 1970 I had a 250 Sprint and wanted a little more top end so I tried to do so by putting a sprocket on the rear with a few less teeth. I want to say that stock was about 35 teeth and made one with 28 teeth. I was 15 at the time and didnt do much research, just took a shot in the dark. Well it didn't work. It would go faster in third than it went in fourth. It ran the best with the stock ratio which was about 85 mph. Just thought you might like the story. Here's wishing you well with your health. Keep the videos coming, thoroughly enjoy them.

always a pleasure to watch you work

When I worked at a Honda dealership they had a run of 350cc atv’s that weren’t shimmed correctly from the factory. Honda issued a recall to bring them into the dealer for re-shimming of the transmissions, me and the other 3 mechanics got real quick at shimming transmission’s probably did 6 per week for a couple months. Thanks for the video it brought back a lot of memories for me! You two are the best👍🏻

Very cool, Paul. Good luck with your stem cell procedure.

Always enjoy your vids, very informative and educational.

Another superb👍👌video You are looking and sounding better every episode Cheers Chris

What a great video Paul. It's fantastic to see you back to doing what you do best . Keep up the great work mate cheers

Thank you Paul, always class on your channel and thank you to Mitch too

Best wishes and thanks for sharing with the gearbox details Paul

Thanks guys for covering this tedious procedure with such a nice video! Best of luck Paul with the next phase of you treatment 🙂

Fantastic stuff Paul. Great to see an Aermacchi on the bench. Italian bikes have always been a passion for me. Very glad that the treatment seems to be having an effect. Wishing you the swiftest recovery possible, Dean.

Exceptionally informative video! Thanks Mitch & Paul!!

Another great video! You're making me wish I had an Aermacchi, they look like they were well thought out. Glad to hear you're doing well!

Thank you Paul and Mitch. Nice to see you looking and sounding better.

So glad you are back ❤. Very good news, and very good videos, from a master.

Paul - Superb and genuinely entertaining content. God bless you sir!

Looking good Mr. Brodie! Thanks for the video 👍

Another great video! I'm never likely to shim a 'bike gearbox, but it's good to see you doing it with such care. Thanks Paul

Good work Paul & all the best with your health.

21:54 we all know these choice little moments; we feel in touch with our precision celebrated eye micrometer.

Great video Paul thanks for sharing

The episode that I’ve been waiting for! I have the Aermacchi manuals, but for me, it’s so much easier seeing someone perform the assembly first. Now to hunt for additional shims.

Mitch speaks! Another great presentation and production. Good luck with the op in Feb.

Great video if a little frustrating for you. Good luck with the treatment and recovery!

Thanks as allways. Wish you the best❤

👍👍😎👍👍 - Fantastic explanation Paul. So glad to hear Chemo is behind you now. All the best in this next phase. Joel.....

thats a fine equi-spacing job paul you kept it together well, equally fine work behind the camera as usual mitch, thankyou both dynamic duo! wishing you a flawless stem cell transplant ,throttle back for a while now !👍😇

That was a good fit! Hey, that one shaft looks like a Shimano freehub.... with the splines and the threads. Another great video from you both. Thank you so much for sharing! I learn something every time. Best wishes!! Please keep it up and be healthy in 2023!

Very interesting and fantastic to watch and learn. Thank you.

... I just came back from night work and saw a new video! Thank you Paul, thank you Mitch! Greetings from Germany... Stefan 👋👍

You were`nt kidding when you said how time consuming it was, are they all as time consuming as this?. I did`nt realise Aermachi were still in production in the 70s?. A really good video with a real insight into the complexities of engine building, thanks for posting it Paul.

Unusual....I'm usually watching you on your local time, not on mine. It's 4:20pm here, in Australia. I hope you're well.

Very interesting video. I had 4 of those bikes back in the sixties and seventies, you could pick them up very cheap, not so anymore. It's good to see you back in the shop, I hope your health continues to improve 🙏.

Shimming seems to be patience-trying work 😅 excellent as always, Paul and Mitch!

What a tedious task, thanks for sharing

I'm glad you know what you're doing.🙂

Mitch great photography thanks.

Great editing

Looking forward to watch your videos!

26mins ago? Nice! Earliest post I’ve made ever. Thank you Paul for your ethic and night owl posting. Can we get a thank God for Paul Brodie?…

Good luck Paul!

You are looking much better . Best hopes for your stem cell treatment Paul . Brit bikes have huge oil pressure due to plain bearings as well as thinish case flanges on a vertically split case .... so they leak ! Your bike really does have nice wide flanges and ball bearings , it is a nice design for sure . Thanks for your videos and have a healthy New Year !

I went through a 1967 Sprint engine and never got the cylinder studs to stop leaking at the head nuts. Cute little bike but I never got used to the right side shift. Also going up a long hill I got passed by semis. P.S. I'm surprised that Moto Italia is still around. They were a big help to me 30 years ago. Charleston Custom Cycle as well.

Real pleasure😀

Glad your looking and feeling better. Shimming gearboxes sucks.

he he i know that feeling.... got to get it perfect...takes a lot of time...

Hallo Paul. Gute Arbeit und weiterhin nur das beste für deine Gesundheit 👍💪 Gruß aus Deutschland

Brilliant, mate, just brilliant. I just wish I was a bit taller then most of it wouldn't fly over my head!!!! Fingers crossed for everything, mate.

Wow that is a lot of work but the results speak for themselves. But the satisfaction of knowing it’s done right must be a great feeling. Back in the early 2000s I had my race bike RD350LC crank pulled by a local shop and the mess they made always was on in the back of my mind . Tapped out at SIR on the long straight it’s funny what you think about. Until then I had no reason to split a case and although I had always done all my own work I trusted it to someone else thinking it would be the right move. After that they lost all my business and I never spent another dime with them. But good things came out of the experience. I was introduced to Steve Wyatt a local legend two stroke guru and he became my mentor and one of two mechanics that I had work on my bikes. Great man. I miss him. Anyway. Great video Paul. You always inspire. Thank you.

Gearboxes is a dark art to me, I’ll leave it to you wizards. It should be as smooth as silk. Good luck with the transplant, not that you’ll need it, you’ll be fine. Regards from across the pond.

12:23 - Paul: "So all you need is...." Me: "Love, Love is all you need...." Paul: "A 6mm Allen screw and a nut" Me: "O.... That make more sense." 🤣🤣

Dude, that's really good news! Talk about leaving the best for last. I hope it goes well.

Such tedious work! I thought it was a pain setting up a rear gear in a car, lol.

It's great to see your fitness coming back and doing great videos. Though I've built a fair amount of engines in the past though not with the experience you have gained over your time, these are the videos I enjoy most where detail is shown to perfection without an (it'll do rightly attitude), it appears gearboxs are what many people are afraid off, I never new why. I previously asked you what Aermacchi I should consider buying, since then few if any road machines have been available around Europe. As I'm a person who admires Italian styling and engineering quality I recently added a '1949 Moto Guzzi Airone 250 Sport' to my collection. Its a lovely machine and a work of art (in my opinion). Since a few videos after you started I've asked myself do you have a collection of your own squirreled away or Mitch for that matter, if so I have no doubt they will be quality and make a great video. Take care guys and thanks.

Hope all goes great with the next step of your treatment

Great video. You must have faked this, there were no busted knuckles, no curse words and no crying. I have very clear memories of a new set of gears and shafts in a new case for my TZZ750D. Which was not much worse than your setup here. But it took lots of busted knuckles, newly invented curse words and literal tears. When I begged my brother to help, he stopped me, gave me a beer and said "we do this for fun." It was a lot better the next day. It was still not fun.

Paul, when I set many types of gear box's I would make dummy bearings that slide on to shafts and into cases, makes it much easier.

you're looking good paul

Congrats on the chemo Paul, and good luck with the stem cell transplant. Regards, Duck

For real shimming fun shim the valve tappets on an old Jaguar straight six

Thank you Paul I hope the the stem cell transplant is successful

Another great vid good luck with the stem cell transplant

That shimming looks like an exercise in fortitude, patience and skill. Pleased to know the chemo is over. Good luck with the stems.

Mr. Brodie, I can't imagine someone at the factory taking this much time to select fit the transmission. Wouldn't the various shafts be measured /adjusted to account for various dimensional differences before the crankcase is assembled? It sure makes horizontally split crankcases more appealing for multi cylinder engines. Excellent photography.

I always wonder how the factory did tasks like this in a production environment. Special tooling I suppose.

Stem cells! Well done. Some think that's the cure to my MS too. Time to let the Body Shop take over. Just don't let the doctor work on your bike. They haven't the feel for steel.

Great explanation, but I'm sorry that I've never seen a five speed conversion, let alone have never seen a Aermacchi. No dealers here on the east coast that I can remember. Ghost Cycle used to handle all the oddballs and Berliner use to import all Italian jobs.

Hi Paul & Mitch!

Interesting Video Paul well done , Are there many of those bikes in your country ? Or rare as rocking horse S##T 😁😁👍👍

Hi Paul hope its all good news at your checkup. Also I seen a video called Excelsior start up the Yellow one an i thought this should be interesting an then i was thinking i can hear Pauls vice but were is he then i seen you standing between the two bikes with your hair split in the middle an i was like no that not Paul but it was 13 years ago.

I have an XS 175,1971 4spd that I am unlikely to use. Motor is complete with carb and turns over with compression. Pm if you have any interest. I will be visiting BC in the spring to assist a friend.

Of course, you will replace that bearing that you hammered sideways. Is that why the old one was 'rough'? #Aloha

I did a 5 to 6 speed conversion on my Suzuki GP125 and that was not a bolt-on fit. Had to buy a second spare engine in case I'd mess up, had to do it Allen Millyard style with hacksaw, welder and grinder.

What make of Bearings do you use on your rebuilds ?. SKF or OEM Bearings. Interesting video

Extra best wishes on the stem cell treatment. You’re getting cutting edge treatment that has been proven successful.

Eeek. Reaching around a turning lathe whilst wearing sleeves...Made me pucker a bit

hi Paul i'm glad things are going great and chemo's completed and your doing ok, please could you tell me if your changing gearbox ratios may it be close ratio or wide ratios do the gears always got to come in pairs. ie, one for the main shaft and one for the lay shaft. as i'm having a debate with a friend who's building a bsa trials bike engine, but I think you;ve already answered with your vid but its always good to get an other mans insight and knowledge. anyway as always Paul please take care and again really great vids, ps how much does the engine weight fully built, kind regards Adrian.

All the very best of blessings to you Paul and Mitch .Great to see inside the Armacchi g box.Always wondered about the innards of my arch rival when I raced my Ducati single here in NZ

So is it safe to say that if you have any bike transmission apart, that you'd want to check and equalize the spacing between the gears? And check shaft end play as well? Without specs, would .006"-.008" be a decent starting point? Looking at a guzzi 850 lm3 gearbox rebuild, lots of false neutrals!!! Stem cell transplant sounds promising. All the best. Thanks Paul and Mitch!

Hy Paul, great explanation again, thanks for that video! 👍Did I catch it right: you get a stemcell transplantation? I got it in 2002 for my leukemia (AML exactly). My sister was the donor which worked and still works great. Wish you all the best and hope to see you soon 😘😘🌞🍀🐾🐾 As always: many greetings from Germany 🇩🇪

Wonder if Tony Foale is still working on aermacchi's ?

i need a shim i do not mess right i mesh bit better now

If your in the uk layshaft i think