Time to rise and shine, Thumper…
The weather was wonderful today. It hasn’t been of late, well below the average temperature and short on sunshine. Global warming hasn’t kicked in around here, again. I’m beginning to think it’s all nonsense…
Anyhow, I thought it was time to bring my motorcycle out of hibernation and take a quick spin round the block to remove dust and cobwebs. That all sounds reasonable and why not? The sun was shining from a cloud free sky and the temperature was, well, reasonable. The thing is, one cant just jump on and ride off without doing a few basic checks. Lord knows what 6 months of inactivity could do to electrics, tyres, oil and fuel and I don’t like surprises…
The tyres had lost pressure. Easily solved, I have a compressor and a tyre pressure attachment. I checked for oil but since there was none on the floor under the bike then I know he hasn’t lost any. I pulled the dipstick anyway. No problem. I put the battery on a charger for a half hour. It was then fully charged, The electrics all worked with a turn of the key. Lights, horn, brake lights and all the instrument lights were working. Now to the fuel. We have to live with ethanol. It is in all our fuel. It might be clean and cheap or whatever but it isn’t good for anything remotely related to rubber or plastic and it attracts water. I checked all the lines for breaks or brittleness and then turned the fuel supply on. Sure enough, I was leaking fuel from the tiny float bowl under the fuel tap. There is a rubber washer in there and it had shrunk. I managed to tighten the bowl but I know that little rubber washer needs replacing now. It won’t last another year.
OK. Everything done up, checked and tightened where necessary. We’re ready for the off.
Boots, helmet and gloves on, I climbed aboard and attempted a start. Not entirely straight forward with a big single Royal Enfield Bullet…. It’s ritual. Pull in the clutch and kick it over to free the clutch plates as they will stick together like crap on a blanket. Then open the decompressor to get the piston over top dead centre, Close the decompressor. Set the stop/start switch to “run”. Ignition on, start help on the carburettor on and give it a kick. Pray.
If at first you don’t succeed, give it another kick.. and then a third…
VROOM!
Damn, it was so good to hear that big 500 cc engine roar into life. Even my neighbour cheered…
And then I was off, round the block a few times to get used to riding again. I’m more rusty than the bike. If I didn’t have a stinking cold right now I would still be out there but not being able to blow my nose every five minutes is so aggravating that I had to give up any thoughts of a good long thrash for the time being. But OK, Thumper is ready for that now. It won’t be long before we’re back on the road for more fun and games.. Let summer begin.
The Exile Files 