Today .I took my bike back to the garage for an MOT retest on the horn and lights which had failed last weekend..
Now doesn’t that sound like a nice straightforward easy job for a fine Saturday morning!.........no chance.
I was already running a little late as I bolted in the battery that I had recharged overnight. Turning the choke and both petcocks on I checked both the fuel filters and one was clearly not filling up.wtf? Checked the tank and it sounded distinctly hollow. Mmm rushed back through the house grabbed a spare petrol can and ran back to the bike and filled the tank .
Turned the cock on still no petrol in the filter. ?? Pulled the fuel hose off whereupon the empty filter immediately back filled itself from the other carb, great it can run off one petcock.
Seconds later petrol started gushing out the foam air filter. Damn Damn Damn.. no tools so I raced around the carpark until I found a small rock to hit the fuel bowl with which stopped the leak.
Taps back on , held down the choke, pressed the starter and the engine coughed nearly caught twice then the battery went flat. Bugga !.
Carbs and spark Plugs are now swamped with fuel so lots of kicking later and no sign its going to fire. I’m sweating like a pig in the 30 degree heat as I strip everything off .
I have a brainwave. I tie the choke on with a strip of discarded windshield rubber I find on the floor. Eventually it starts so I desperately put all my clothes, gloves and helmet back on whilst blipping the throttle . Its not going to die on me now.
Jump on and ride the 8 miles to the garage like a maniac arriving just as he is closing for the weekend. The tester takes pity on me and checks the horn and signals and gives me a pass ticket. Fantastic! I’m legal again.
The bike needs a jump start to get going and I’d only ridden ½ a mile from the garage when the engine starts to die . Lots of stuff flashes through my mind and finally just as the engine is about to snuff it I remember I haven’t turned the petcocks on back at the garage doh...... Quickly flick them on and she picks up and roars off like a scalded cat.
As if that isn’t enough drama for one day ... As I ride throughour tiny village and turn into my road the engine suddenly decides to rev to 4000rpm and nothing will bring it down . As the engine is about to explode I turn the ignition off and coast the rest of the way home. It didn’t take long to find the culpret. Do you remember that little strip of windshield rubber I tied onto the choke ? well it had got stuck under the throttle adjust screw . Whats the odds of that !?
Hows this for a quaint old skool garage...yes its that shed in the centre West Coker Garage
Now doesn’t that sound like a nice straightforward easy job for a fine Saturday morning!.........no chance.
I was already running a little late as I bolted in the battery that I had recharged overnight. Turning the choke and both petcocks on I checked both the fuel filters and one was clearly not filling up.wtf? Checked the tank and it sounded distinctly hollow. Mmm rushed back through the house grabbed a spare petrol can and ran back to the bike and filled the tank .
Turned the cock on still no petrol in the filter. ?? Pulled the fuel hose off whereupon the empty filter immediately back filled itself from the other carb, great it can run off one petcock.
Seconds later petrol started gushing out the foam air filter. Damn Damn Damn.. no tools so I raced around the carpark until I found a small rock to hit the fuel bowl with which stopped the leak.
Taps back on , held down the choke, pressed the starter and the engine coughed nearly caught twice then the battery went flat. Bugga !.
Carbs and spark Plugs are now swamped with fuel so lots of kicking later and no sign its going to fire. I’m sweating like a pig in the 30 degree heat as I strip everything off .
I have a brainwave. I tie the choke on with a strip of discarded windshield rubber I find on the floor. Eventually it starts so I desperately put all my clothes, gloves and helmet back on whilst blipping the throttle . Its not going to die on me now.
Jump on and ride the 8 miles to the garage like a maniac arriving just as he is closing for the weekend. The tester takes pity on me and checks the horn and signals and gives me a pass ticket. Fantastic! I’m legal again.
The bike needs a jump start to get going and I’d only ridden ½ a mile from the garage when the engine starts to die . Lots of stuff flashes through my mind and finally just as the engine is about to snuff it I remember I haven’t turned the petcocks on back at the garage doh...... Quickly flick them on and she picks up and roars off like a scalded cat.
As if that isn’t enough drama for one day ... As I ride throughour tiny village and turn into my road the engine suddenly decides to rev to 4000rpm and nothing will bring it down . As the engine is about to explode I turn the ignition off and coast the rest of the way home. It didn’t take long to find the culpret. Do you remember that little strip of windshield rubber I tied onto the choke ? well it had got stuck under the throttle adjust screw . Whats the odds of that !?
Hows this for a quaint old skool garage...yes its that shed in the centre West Coker Garage
