She’s alive!

The kickstart lever (center) and cause
of my sore knee.

Suitably chastened by my sore knee and blown electrics, I approach the bike a few days later in a more philosophical attitude. 

I start to make a list of what is missing, broken or just past its best, and get another surprise -- supplies of spare parts are excellent and they are very reasonably priced, compared to the Japanese stuff. One supplier in particular -- the excellently named Feked -- seems to have everything. I splash a whopping £230 on a ton of parts and consumables, and another £45 for a top quality battery. Plus the £55 registration fee, it's an expensive week, particularly as it does not even run yet.

In the cold light of day, I find plenty of good reasons why.

1. Fuel. The carb is gunky, and when I try to remove the main jet to clean it, it breaks in half. No wonder it would not run. But here is another nice surprise. Despite being made back in 1970, the carb -- an Amal 930 -- still has a good supply of parts from the original manufacturer no less. I order replacements for all the important bits -- jets, needle, o-rings and gaskets (£35).

2. Spark: There is indeed a spark at the plug, which I checked last time. But in my haste I only checked the right cylinder,  and sure enough there is nothing on the left cylinder. No wonder it would not run. The no left HT lead turns out to be made of high-resistance automotive cable, so I change that. Then I set and clean the contact points. We have a spark on both sides now.

Contact breaker points. Old school or what?
Not used since about 1980 due to being, well, crap.

3. User error: OK OK, this is the main reason. On every bike I have ever ridden, you pull back the choke lever to start, and it adds fuel so the engine can run from cold. On these bikes, it's an air control and it works the other way around. Closed to start, and open to run.

4. Also... the clutch is stuck, which I had not even noticed. Easily fixed by tying the clutch lever to the handlebar overnight.

I refit my carefully cleaned and rebuilt carb, go methodically through the starting procedure, and try again, bearing in mind this helpful tip:

Tip: Do not try to kickstart large engines with your leg and foot parallel to the bike (the obvious way). If the starter disengages, your leg will shoot down and your knee will hyperextend. Ow. If it kicks back, it will jam your shin or foot into the foot peg. Double ow. The safe way is to put your right instep on the starter with the toe facing the bike. The left knee can go on the seat for more stability and leverage. And wear good boots.

Second kick, it fires and dies. I try again with a bit more throttle, and it starts right up! It sounds good, no nasty rumbles or rattles, but a lot of good noise. It's loud, reverberating around the workshop. The original "peashooter" silencing not doing a lot of silencing.

You named what
after me???

In comes the wife with a cuppa. "Loud, isn't it?" I think it sound great. "What are we going to call it?". "Bagheera," she says, "She's called Bagheera".

I don't have the heart to point out that Bagheera was a panther, not a tiger. Or that this bike is not supposed to be black, it's supposed to look like this. Or that it's definitely NOT a "she".

The wife has spoken, and she is Bagheera. But more importantly...

She's alive!

TOTALS TO DATE: Hours: 11. Cost: £4835.