Pressing matters!

Ralph Ferrand works with tools all day long – he sells them too at bikerstoolbox.co.uk so he knows what works.

I can not tell a lie, I have always wanted a press since using fly presses during my apprenticeship at British Aerospace.

They have always been the preserve of engineering shops and whilst you could get a really old fly press affordably, they were absolute monsters and few hobbyists have the ceiling height or space. Fly presses are also quite good at causing serious injuries to those who haven’t received some formal training. Many a dozy fitter has been knocked spark out by a fly press handle or lost digits from the business end.

Hand pumped hydraulic presses are the most inherently safe presses, given one hand has to be pumping to create the movement; if you were to start to squish your finger then the other hand is going to stop.

As many of you will know, my favourite bike is the mighty Z1 series of air-cooled fours. A problem I have regularly come up against is that the cast-iron liners lift out of their aluminium block by what is usually a small amount, but enough to bugger up the seal with the head allowing the vital 10w40 lifeblood of the engine to dribble down, which I don’t mind telling you is annoying. The solution is usually very easy to remedy – press the sods back in. I tried with large drifts and hammers to no effect, but on borrowing a hydraulic press I found it to be a piece of cake.