I got home yesterday after a pretty brutal day of meetings and
blah, blah blah...and it was 14C outside and -
HOLY SH!T - the sky was....sunny!
So, I wheeled Betty ('78E - Miss November 2023 calendar girl) out of the garage, turned on the petcocks and waited the obligatory 15-20 seconds for the float bowls to fill, push the enrichener lever down and hit the button - and she lit right up (not bad after a 5-month sleep). I rode about 20-25 km over to buddy's place to pick up a part that he had taken delivery of for
Big Sue (his office is in the US, so I often have US-origin stuff shipped there). We had a nice chin-wag and then I set out for home again.
He stopped me before I had gotten far down the driveway because he noted that my taillight was out. Fortunately, he had a good supply of 1157 bulbs and I was back in business in a jiffy. I have just ordered a batch of 1157 (tail/brake light), 1156 (turn signals) and 194 bulbs (instrument panel) so that I can do a full replacement of all the lights on
Betty and on
Big Sue just as I had done on the redoubtable 1976 XS650C Lucille
after she kept blowing
bulbs nearly every time I went out.
Since I replaced all of Lucille's
incandescent bulbs with LEDs just after I got her on the road, she's never blown...any of them
(which is kinda sad I guess...if you're a light bulb).
Anyhow, my first ride of the season was really good and Betty ran perfectly. Isn't it odd how XS650s run better and smoother after just a few miles down the road?
Pete
Have a small gasket leak between the header and muffler by the looks
