The BIG news is that 2 days ago, on Jan. 30th. We started the bike, (after taking that carb on and off at least 20 times.) It had been so long since Pat had started one of these that he forgot that you had to open the spark all the way, pedal it, then pull in the advance at the right time. I even started it! Yeah… BIG moment for my confidence. I was starting to get discouraged and began to think w should just send the bike off to Steve in CA to get it running good. I really need this time to learn to ride it. I can’t imagine how freaky it would be to start off in Kitty Hawk on a bike I haven’t had much experience on. Scary thought.
So… not only did we (and I) start the bike… we pushed it up the hill and started it in the driveway, on the straightaway. Pat went first…than goodness. Then, I took the handle bars… made 2 or three good passes up and down! I only rode it in first gear, but it felt pretty good. Talk about a confidence booster! I think I can get netter at this if I have more time. I would have ridden more… BUT got a flat tire on the rear. Unreal.. we worked so hard and now a flat? Oh well. Back to the drawing board for another day. We hung it up for the day. Oh and the carb started to leak again… my beautiful, squared cork washer failed!
The next day, yesterday… Sunday Jan. 31st, we once again removed the rear wheel. Hung the bike from the ceiling n the garage and took the wheel off. Pat thinks that Sid, ay the H-D shop, who mounted the new tubes and tires for us put the washer on the valve stem on the outside, instead of the inside. So, we wrestled with the tire, Pat had a old metal barrel that the top had rusted off that we used for the perfect tire changer. We tied the wheel down with straps and it worked to get the old tube out. We got some dishsoap and water and a brush it slipped off the rim. Then, we carefully put the new tube in. (thank goodness we ordered a few extras) and after a few tries, we got it in okay. Popped the tire back on… more soapy water did the trick. Filled the tire with air and it seemed to be fixed!
We decided… okay, lets try and start the bike and ride it again. Well. After trying for a while it wouldn’t fire. Pulled the plugs, checked the spark and it was there, though weaker than it had been before. Now… I’m getting discouraged again. The horn isn’t working, so the battery must be dead and not holding a charge. I am totally confused as to how this Mag Dyno is supposed to work. I thought the battery was only for the electric lights oh this bike. First year of electric lights for H-D. Not sure what we will do if this is a Magneto problem. We put the battery back on the charger and went out for dinner.
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