W/E 26th April 2015

That don’t look good!

On Wednesday the Atlas went onto one cylinder. I discovered the cause to be an ignition pickup that had come loose – two minutes to tighten everything back up but maybe by then the damage had been done…

I discovered the messy plug after I’d spent a happy hour or so re-fitting the Sachse ignition and decided to check the plugs. Guess this is a casualty of the ignition pickup that had come loose – must’ve put the timing all over the place and led to this. Of course this mess can only come from the piston…Having put everything back together with new ‘old’ plugs I found the bike remains a reluctant starter. Perhaps a new set of plugs will cheer things up?

Hanging

I’d gone through all the wiring to connect up the Sachse box and started it whilst ‘untidy’. It’s a simple task to wire up the Sachse, especially as the timing had been ‘pre-set’ before as the ignition spinner comes off and the timing cannot wander once set. I spent a bit of time pondering where to put the ignition box – it previously sat on the rear mudguard but this exposed it to the elements so I wanted a place under cover.

Snug

The final resting place made use of the gap left once you remove the original ignition boxes – I hadn’t spotted this before as it was only when I’d used the same space for the Mk 1 ignition I ran that I’d taken off locator plates which reveal this cosy snug. I’ve wrapped the Sachse in bubble wrap and water proofed the whole thing with cable ties and an additional plastic parts bag. The only concern I have is the heat from the engine…when and if it starts. We’ll see.

ILOC stand

It hasn’t all been misery however. Saturday I took Mrs A and my daughter (on her Yamaha) to the Bristol AutoItalia day. The Atlas ran poorly at low revs but seemingly okay when underway. The rain did come on the way home but it was okay. As I followed Catherine navigating the puddles I thought how it was all part of her motorcycling education – sometimes it rains but if that’s going to stop you then maybe you’re more suited to a car?

Numbers were down on last year because the weather forecast was poor. However the day passed off without rain.

My favourite – Lamborghini GT

The poor numbers extended to the exhibits which were a bit ‘samey’. It must be quite a let down to see your red Ferrari in a line of red Ferrari’s! What is the big dog on the block is just another Ferrari at events like this. I was musing how much cooler it would be to rock up in a Lancia GT with Carrozz Touring coachwork than some dull rocket with wide tyres and spoiler. Like the cars the bikes were mainly a sea of Ducati’s – a few Morini’s and a sprinkling of Guzzi. Hardly any Laverda but also hardly anything alternative from the 50’s or plain odd from the 70’s. Pity. Anyways always good to talk to the guys from ILOC + met Ferdinand and we spent a happy couple of hours talking bollocks!

Ferdinand, Mrs A and Catherine

Away from Atlas #1 the journey to get Atlas #2 road registered seems to go on and on…I now have to wait for the DVLA to send me a damned V55/5 – you can’t pick it up in the Post Office (like the good old days) or even download it. Nope put in your request via the computer and wait for up to 10 days and only then can you kick start the process which may or may not involve a DVLA inspection. Jeez!

Nick 🙂