It's a runner!!

Discussion in 'Classic Motorbikes' started by The Older Gentleman, Oct 4, 2003.

  1. At 3.30 this afternoon, young Helen Murray became the first person in
    nearly 17 years to ride the little Dax 70 I've been toiling on all this
    year. Into first, in the back garden, and open the throttle and....

    Good job she went into the spare beehive, or she'd have collided with
    the occupied one, which would have made life rather eventful.

    Anyway, yes, it lives and runs. Connect electrics, fuel in tank, acid in
    battery, oil in engine, stick new spark plug into cap, kick and nothing.
    No spark at all.

    Bugger.

    Set to with a multimeter, and determined I was getting current through
    the ignition switch, so attention turned to the electrical connectors by
    the battery, and I'd forgotten to plug in one of the wires from the
    coil. Doh.

    Re-connect, and kick again. Hm. Bit difficult to see a spark in bright
    sunlight. What if I hold the plug and kick.... OUCH! Ok, that's
    working.

    And away it went. I am a very happy bunny.

    I've still got to connect up the lights, brake light, horn etc, fit the
    speedo and what-have-you, but we have a Dax that goes (sounds OK, too)
    and runs through the gears, though I'm not sure exactly how many are in
    the box. Three or four?
     
    The Older Gentleman, Oct 4, 2003
    #1
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  2. The Older Gentleman

    Timo Geusch Guest

    The Older Gentleman was seen penning the following ode to ... whatever:
    Bwahahaha. Better than going the other way though, the Doctor might
    have had a word or two to say about finding the Dax in the living
    room. Might have upset her a bit after the shed incident.
    Arrgh. What is it with you and electrics?
     
    Timo Geusch, Oct 4, 2003
    #2
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  3. The Older Gentleman

    JB Guest

    3 from memory. assuming some monkey hasn't swapped out the motr for a C90.
    It has been a while.
    For what it's worth, my kids reckon they want one each!.
    Nice to hear it's finally alive.
    Take care.
    JB
     
    JB, Oct 4, 2003
    #3
  4. The Older Gentleman

    Mike Buckley Guest


    Excellent - look forward to reading it in the mag. Been one of the more
    interesting restorations in there recently.
     
    Mike Buckley, Oct 6, 2003
    #4
  5. The Older Gentleman

    WorkTOG Guest

    Got everything sorted now. Lights work, main and dip, brake light
    works (off *both* brakes, if you please), horn emits a sort of angry
    wasp buzz, and the only thing absent is the neutral light - that can
    wait for the moment.

    It's being threatened with an MoT on Saturday.
     
    WorkTOG, Oct 9, 2003
    #5
  6. The Older Gentleman

    Guest Guest

    Any chance of some piccies posted somewhere?

    Regards,

    Simonm.
     
    Guest, Oct 9, 2003
    #6
  7. Yeah, I've got to take some this weekend. Stay tuned.
     
    The Older Gentleman, Oct 9, 2003
    #7
  8. The Older Gentleman

    Mike Fleming Guest

    Count the neutrals and subtract one.
     
    Mike Fleming, Oct 10, 2003
    #8
  9. That'll be 83, then.
     
    The Older Gentleman, Oct 10, 2003
    #9
  10. The Older Gentleman

    Mike Fleming Guest

    Ah, the close-ratio box for the racing version.
     
    Mike Fleming, Oct 10, 2003
    #10
  11. The Older Gentleman

    Champ Guest

    heh. But it raised an interesting thought - it means that the first
    powered two wheeler she's ridden (I assume this is the first) is older
    than her, which is something to be quite proud of, I reckon.

    Who else can claim to a) have started on a bike older than them and b)
    has ridden a bike older than them. I've not even got within 10 years
    of b), I don't think.
     
    Champ, Oct 14, 2003
    #11
  12. Within 7 years...
    Me neither...
     
    William Grainger, Oct 14, 2003
    #12
  13. The Older Gentleman

    Ace Guest

    Mmm, well one of the first bikes I rode was a Tiger cub belonging to
    my bro, which may well have been older than me. Anyone know when they
    stopped making them?
     
    Ace, Oct 14, 2003
    #13
  14. The Older Gentleman

    fred Guest

    fred, Oct 14, 2003
    #14
  15. The Older Gentleman

    Sean Doherty Guest

    Me. It was a grasstrack bike... a Hagon frame with a Honda 90 four
    stroke engine in it[1]. I was 11 at the time and the bike was *way*
    older.

    [1] I moved on to schoolboy motocross when I was 12.
     
    Sean Doherty, Oct 14, 2003
    #15
  16. The Older Gentleman

    Bob Scott Guest

    Within 4 IIRC - learnt on a mate's '71(?) B25. Then got wise & bought
    myself an MZ.
    I have - rode a friends plunger framed bantam. Horrible bike, he bought
    it to learn on but didn't. Several years later he passed his test on a
    hire SR125 & swore blind he was never going to buy another British bike.
     
    Bob Scott, Oct 14, 2003
    #16
  17. Champ said:
    Nope first off-roader was brand new (Bultaco) and first road bike was
    built in 1970...
    Quite a few - Velocette LE Valiant that I owned for a couple of weeks -
    195?, 1958 Beezer Bantam that I won (some bet about shagging munters
    IIRC), ad I recently had a go on a mates 'Humber' built in about 1920.

    No mates with old bikes is your problem. Of course at your age it's
    getting more difficult...
     
    Simon Atkinson, Oct 14, 2003
    #17
  18. The Older Gentleman

    Lozzo Guest

    Champ wibbled incoherently...
    In my teens I was riding regularly off-road on a 1956 NSU Quickly 50cc
    thing (POS), but the first bike I ever rode was a 1971/72 TS90 Suzuki
    kids bike. The closest I've come to owning a bike of my own age was a
    1967 YDS3 Yamaha, 5 years younger than me.

    --
    Lozzo
    ZZR1100D, GPZ500S, CBCBCB750RSRSRS
    BOTAFOT#57/70a, BOTAFOF#57, two#49, MIB#22, TCP#7, BONY#9,
    ANORAK#9, DIAABTCOD#14, UKRMT5BB, IBW#013, MIRTTH#15a/16,
    BotToS#8, GP#2, SBS#10, SH#3, DFV#14, KoBV#3.
    Url for ukrm newbies : http://www.ukrm.net/faq/ukrmscbt.html
    www.mjkleathers.com
     
    Lozzo, Oct 14, 2003
    #18
  19. The Older Gentleman

    frinton_boy Guest

    <de-lurk>

    Until very recently (ie about two months ago) when I went through CBT
    and a direct access test. I had never riden anything younger than
    myself!

    As a kid, our garden/shed/house was home to a continuous stream of old
    bikes and cars. So I had (at various times) a couple of Corgi's, a
    couple of BSA Bantams, a CycleMaster and a PowerPak to play with. At
    the same time my dad went through a Douglas, Royal Enfield, Sunbeam, a
    Triumph Thunderbird, and a BMW R51/3 (which is now mine, and one of
    the main reasons for getting round to doing my test). So I got to have
    the odd go on these also. Most of my Dad's friends were into old bikes
    also, and when we went to shows etc I got to ride these also

    I joined the Army at 16 (before getting a chance to gain any licence),
    and did not touch a bike again till this summer. I was pretty shocked
    when I moved up to the CB500 (the 125s were similar to what I had been
    used to as a kid)!!

    But I have fallen back into old habits now, and own; my Dad's old BMW,
    an NSU Prima scooter (sorry), a Cazenave moped (even more apologies),
    and the most modern of the lot (and the only one younger than me)
    another moped, this one a Batavus HS50 in a gorgeous 70's orange!

    Frinton Boy
     
    frinton_boy, Oct 14, 2003
    #19
  20. The Older Gentleman

    Pattledom Guest

    Not quite... my first bike was a Cyclemaster, but a late-ish one so it was a
    couple of years younger than me.
    Several. The second bike I got was a 1948 Norman, so that was five years
    older than me. Since then, about half the bikes I've ridden have been older
    than me.
     
    Pattledom, Oct 14, 2003
    #20
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