TALES FROM THE SHED
I was getting bored with walking round and around the BSA - the formerly project BSA. It looks very nice, and it's very interesting to look at, but ... OK, it's time to learn how to start it. My first attempt had been notably inefficient, with serial kicks producing nothing nothing nothing, followed by a sudden and unexpected roar and a lot of spitting back and reluctance to rev.
A motorcycle, be it ever so handsome, is nothing if I can't start it. Was this BSA secretly a Velocette in disguise? I rarely have any problems at all kickstarting BSA twins , and never the soft old sofa single-carb models, so I was plainly doing something wrong. The answer is clear: email Richard the rebuilder and ask him if there was A Procedure?
It's not easy to express mystification via email , but he did very well. And his instruction was clear: full choke, tickle only enough to ensure that the float bowl is full - none of this enthusiastic planet-destroying flooding nonsense - then kick. I tried this.
It worked. The engine fired up second go and revved away merrily . I wound back the choke. The engine stumbled towards the land of the stall. I closed the choke again. The engine picked up. What's with this mysterious choke performance? My bikes almost never demand choke, just a serious flooding and careful catching on the throttle, followed by a few moments of
