We went to the Classic Motorcycle Days show up in Maryland – tho we took the car (I’m not ready to ride the bike any real distance until I get time to check it out further). It was a VERY hot day – in the 90s!

There were a 20 or so vendors selling all those esoteric bits of Britanium needed for classic bike repair … tho I got off cheap … What was even more impressive was the 200 or so classic bikes there. Not everything was British – there was a European catagory which included Beemers, Benellis and Guzzis (Oh my!) ….

Lots of neat bikes, but because it was so hot we didn’t stay more than 1 1/2 hours … and I didn’t do much more than take some closeups of a few 500s to help with sorting my bike out …
But I do have a few more pix I’ll try to post later …

Click to enlarge

One of the folks at work just bought a new Harley V-Rod, another has a new Harley on order … and the weather has been very nice lately.
I’d ignored the bike as I still need to get it through inspection and winter caught up to me before I finished that task last year. But … Its time!

So after a lot of yard work this weekend, I rolled the bike out of storage, tickled the Amal with my thumb, and gave a few solid kicks – nada. Didn’t sound like it even fired, so I hopped off and flipped the headlight on, watching the ammeter for any signs of life. (Glad I made a point when I wired the bike to install an ammeter, even if its not "authentic" for that year, its a handy tool!)Nothing. Battery must have run down during the winter. Rolled it up to the house, and checked it with a voltmeter – 7.5volts … I flipped up the seat, connected a trickle charger, and left it alone for two days.

Yesterday after work I disconnected the charger and checked the voltage again … 13.5 – great! Rolled it outside, tickled it, and gave it a kick. Fired up and died.

Did that little ritual a few times and as it warmed up, it ran longer and longer. I had to feather the throttle to keep it going, but finally it was running on its own, tho a bit uneven. Put my hands at the end of the pipes and could feel the right cylinder was missing occasionally. Guess I ought to install a new set of points – or at least file the surface a bit – maybe that will help.

But I couldn’t resist any longer. Went inside and swapped my shorts for a pair of jeans. Grabbed my helmet and papers, and my cellphone, and headed back outside.

Started it up again – first kick, now that it was warmed up, so I flipped the kickstand back and rode it through the gate and up the driveway … Yeehah!

Yes, I know it was just a short ride around the neighborhood, and I know I have work to do yet … but it was such a rush of energy just riding it around, knowing I’d rescued it from a rusty fate …

Maryland Classic Motorcycle Day May 23, 2004 Butler’s orchard, Germantown, MD.

Triumph Come Home Rallye June 11th, 12th, & 13th, 2004, Spring Grove, PA –

VA British Motorcycle Club Rallye October 3rd 2004 – Leesburg, VA