Good And Bad News

Firstly the good news, she lives!

After getting the engine fitted into the frame on Monday, I spent Tuesday putting all the fluids in and pumping the oil around the engine to make sure there was plenty of oil around the engine before I started it.

I had put oil on all the surfaces as I rebuilt it, but still wanted to pump some round to be safe.

So yesterday I went out and try to start her. Sadly the pumping of the oil took the edge off the battery, yes I forgot to put it on charge. So after the battery was charged I had another go, and she started, which was great news.

I've only let her run for a few minutes, mainly because she is in my garage and didn't want to fill the garage with exhaust fumes. She appears to be running on 3 but think this is more to do with the carbs than the engine, but we will see.

So today, all being well, I'm off to check the compression in the cylinders to see where we are at with those and then take her out of the garage to give her a proper run.

So to the bad news. I read today that Kells road races have been cancelled due to lack of funding. This is the second race of the season to be cancelled, the other being Bush, both for the same reason, increased insurance costs.

Part of the problem is that most road races are free to watch and revenue is generated by the sales of programmes. Now most programmes are about a tenner, so not much for two days racing. So if you are planning on going to an Irish road race this year, please, please buy a programme, as otherwise the sport may well die.

Speak soon

Cheers
Stuart