Oops

Well, I got out on my test drive, and it feels much happier - smoother, more torque at the bottom end...

Unfortunately, about 5 miles in, a misfire appeared and the engine stopped. Having experienced this many times during the fuel filter saga, I was quick to look for fuel supply problems and cracked the fuel supply banjo to find all was well. The bike started again, only to stop again after about 100 yards - this happened once more, and then I was close enough to push it home...

Charging had looked good on the ammeter from the first day. All the lights worked perfectly, apart from one indicator which persistently rotated around to face the floor, but in general everything had been fine. However today, when I had the bike running again, switching on the lights would kill the engine.

The Lucas C35SD gives 70 W at about 1700 rpm which equates to 32 mph in top gear, but when you are running around town the ignition, brake light and frequently used indicator loads soon drain the battery, which appears as a fuel-starvation-like misfire. I cursed that fuel line again until I realised what was going on, and a CTEK battery charger came to my rescue. Actually you need about 20 W for the ignition alone, or about 3 Amps; in top gear, you get 3 Amps from the generator at an average of 23 mph – these bikes are really not for town use.

My 1951 Mk1 has a 20 Ah battery bank hidden in the Lucas GU11E style fibreglass box. I'd be surprised if you could even get to the shops with the earlier small battery...