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I’ve had some successes but a big problem. I’ve been working so I’ve not had the time to do too much, today was my day off and the engine start spray arrived yesterday so I did some work on it. I bought a cheap trolley jack with support cups to lift the bike up by the frame so I could take the forks off. It wasn’t what I was expecting. I thought it was a full length platform to lift the whole bike. Nope. It fits across the bike and just raises one end or the other. Meh. I can make that work for most jobs. Then I went to slide it under the frame and because of the raised cups it wouldn’t fit! I had to angle grind half of the raised legs off before I could even start. Anyway, I got the forks off, finally got the seal covers off and the seals out.

I think they were due for a change.

That’s the good.

Today I cleaned and washed the carb after it’s overnight soak. I put it back together (missing a part, dumbarse) and tried it. Still not running, so I started on the other jobs. I pulled the front brake off, stripped and cleaned it, put it back on then bled it. I tried to do the same with the rear brake but it’s got Torx bolts. I don’t know if Torx come in imperial but mine were slightly loose and the bolts are set solid. I didn’t want to strip the head so I’ve ordered some Torx sockets. In the meantime I bled the brake. I pumped the tyres up. It rolls forward and back now without too much resistance (other than it’s native standing mass, obvs) and the brakes both work. I remembered to test and both my brake lights work. Brilliant. I need to fit indicators but so far the only thing electrical thing that isn’t working is the horn. I’m happy about that because I hate electrics.

When I put the carb back on I noticed one of the throttle to carb cables was slack. I was worried I’d done something wrong. I’m having issues with fitting the choke cable back in position as well. It’s one 17mm nut. What can possibly go wrong? Yet it doesn’t seem to want to work. Odd. Anyway, when I noticed the part of the carb I’d omitted (left it drying in the sun) I popped the carb off and rebuilt it. The slack cable came away in my hand. It had snapped in it’s sleeve. I’d already ordered a new set, but it was good to see it wasn’t me.

I’m working my way through the peripheral jobs (it all needs doing) as I’m trying to get the engine started. I’ve ordered a cheap trolley jack (with support cups to position under the frame) and a fork seal and dust cover set. I’ll pop the forks off, drain the fork oil, clean inside and then put fresh oil, seals and dust covers on.

Day One:

I dropped the van off this morning then cracked on with the bike. I’ve fitted the new battery, hotwired it, and I got lights, (low and high beam and clock and rear light, forgot to test if the brake is working) but no horn yet. The engine turned over nicely, sounded like good compression. I didn’t have any spark at the plugs though. I gapped the plugs and traced the wiring, the leads to the distributor were loose so I tightened them, SPARK!

It still wasn’t firing so I took the air filter off and gave it a wash, then took off and stripped the carb.

I went to pick it up today. That took me all day. All, stressful, day. Brand new rental van, it only had 280 miles on the clock when I set off, and they were being very picky about how I’d get royally screwed for any damage. So, no pressure. The guy I bought it off was selling off a bunch of bike projects because he was so ill. He looked proper yellow, it looked like kidney failure, poor sod. In a way it made me think I was right to get a Harley now, you just never know how long you’ve got.

The downside is the camera was very flattering. up close all the chrome is rusted, there are no indicators and no ignition key. It’s a proper project. I’m not going to change the battery, fill the tank and ride it to an MOT.

And, obvious when I think about it, I’ve had to buy new tools because American’s still use imperial sizes. Of course they do. All my lovely tools. Grrrr.

I’ve been looking at engines I could strip down, just for fun practice. That invariably leads me to looking at cheap bikes because I would want to get it running again afterwards to prove I’ve not broken it. This has been going on for some time. The cycle often leads to me stressing out so much I literally lose sleep over it.

I’m not sure how, but suddenly I made the jump to wanting a more expensive, but really cool project bike. I saw a 1958 BSA A10 for sale for £2,750 and was going to get that. But then the doubts crept in, getting parts, whether it was what I really wanted, and as it was all ready running, if I would be able to replace my bulletproof VFR with a bike older than I am. And a Brit relic, at that.

Then I saw a site selling “cheap” (relative term) imported project Harleys. I was very tempted. But they are still asking a lot for a pig-in-a-poke bike. One I liked was a 1971 1000cc, 4 gear engine, it had no wiring harness, no starter motor, was thought to be not seized but not guaranteed, wasn’t registered in the UK, and they wanted £2,000 for it.