I eventually found the bits I needed at Vintage CB750, and the guys there were very helpful in arranging the quickest deliver possible. Even with “express delivery” though, the parts would not arrive until Monday at the earliest. Given that most courier deliveries happened late in the day, this meant I had 4 days to wait.
Having already had a pleasant bike ride along the lake shore before my first departure, I thought that I could use the time to get some of the exercise I had been missing over the last few months. Over the next days, I completed 2 loops around the park on the other side of the lake, the first 15 km with a climb of nearly 300 m and the second 19 km with a 400m climb! The latter was quite a challenge, and I was more than pleased with myself to complete it with no forced stops. After a shower and dinner, it felt like every part of my body, well maybe not every part, had been given a good workout, and I retired early.
I read a book entitled The Science of Secrecy, which was most interesting and explained to me, at a basic level, how internet financial transactions are secured. This involves some vey large prime numbers and something called Modular Arithmetic.
I used some of the time to transfer some of the B-2-B Part 1 blog to the website, but as I couldn’t work out how to post it where I wanted it, those episodes remain as drafts. I also looked at the ins-and-outs of getting my bike to NZ. This at first glance looks easy and cheap, but on deeper investigation, it is anything but.
Finally, on late Monday morning the parts arrived. My happiness was tempered somewhat, when I found they were not the “original” parts I had been expecting, but reproductions made in Taiwan. I communicated my displeasure to the supplier, even though I had little choice but to use them.
After all the drama of the previous few days, I thought the end was in sight and it was a simple procedure to replace the plug caps, put everything else back in place and get on with the journey. Wrong!
I trimmed the ends of the HT wire to ensure a good connection and one of the little ends flew off and went straight down the plug hole – a postage-stamp opening barely 1” square and the f’in little thing has to find it. 🤬 Now I had to try to fish it out, when I could barely even see it, and to try to avoid pushing it down into the cylinder; memories of 1975 came flooding back! 😱
To make access easier I removed the coils and then, using my phone I was able to assess the situation. It was precarious; the thing was lying at an angle at the top of the hole, and the risk of nudging it further down was high. Using my extending magnet, with some superglue on the end was the chosen method of retrieval. My first attempt only succeeded in doing exactly what I was afraid of; nudging the bit into the cylinder. Fortunately, I had put the piston at TDC (the top of the cylinder), so it didn’t disappear into the depths like the 1975 pencil. My second attempt with more glue and a longer contact time before trying to withdraw, was successful. I was holding my breath and (almost) praying as I pulled the magnet back. 😮💨
With that accomplished the rest was straightforward. With everything back together, the bike started easily and a short ride around the neighbourhood left me feeling happy for the first time in days.
So, it’s packing time again and tomorrow morning I’ll set off again, with more success this time 🤞I hope.
Belfast-2-Belfast-By-Bike 