Project musings

I got the GT550 repaired for the cost of a half hour's labour, though it will have taken a minute to sort it, at most. But it was money well spent because I was paying for expertise...and the man has saved me trying everything else the manual suggested; it didn't suggest this though! The tube which uses the vacuum created in the engine to draw fuel had somehow come off...and now I come to think of it, I probably knocked it when securing my tank bag. The result was that the bike was starved of fuel...though I think this was in one cylinder only. Anyway, I had a long ride after the repair and my confidence in the bike (recently purchased from the friend of a friend) has been restored.

Receiving a complimentary email from Tom, who came across my Lambretta Lowrider by accident and wrote to say it looks fantastic, makes me feel that I really must get it back on the road soon....when the van is finished. Tom is planning on building his own lowrider using an Li125 as a starting point. Good luck, mate.

I am thinking of selling Lily. She is getting rusty and I worry that I don't have time to deal with her deterioration. I feel ashamed, letting her go to hell like this. Mind you, I said this before, started getting her ready for sale (new battery, etc) and then taking her for a spin changed my mind! The few hundred I'd get for her would never compensate for losing her to some other lucky bugger. What a dilemma.

I also need to do something about putting my Cyclemaster back together. A local expert took the coaster hub apart and machined a replacement part which had sheered and jammed the brake on. I have all the parts of the bike ready to be reassembled, but it has sat cluttering up the box room for a year!

So much to do and so little time!

What next?! Bike breakdown - problem a mystery

After three hours glorious riding yesterday, I broke down on the A12 between Ipswich and Colchester - three times. Each time the bike started to lose power in top gear......and changing down progressively achieved nothing but a temporary reprieve....the bike died. Starting was hard....though leaving it for a while meant that it eventually started, except the last of three break-downs, though by then I think my battery was drained (electric start). Each time I got going I was able to cover only about a mile.

I didn't have a toolkit with me, though even if I had I would not have got further than checking plugs which I have checked and found fine today. I gave up and called the RAC who were diabolically slow and eventually a recovery truck arrived two and a half hours later, even though they'd only had to come from ten minutes away.

Today I checked the plugs, which looked fine, charged the battery, which meant the the bike did start, but it won't start without choke (even on a warm day like today's) and died when the choke was put in. It would not tick over without my hand on the throttle.

Damn, what do I try next? Tried all the simple things.

Air intake blocked, perhaps? Any suggestions?