Kicking the bike was not working… I certainly had tried…
Even some other BSA owners had said that sometimes these bikes just tended to bump start better. I have bad memories though of bump-starts. Although over my years I’ve pushed many and been pushed I’d also left some victims behind of pushes gone wrong. Eleanor fell victim once in Brampton where her hands and upper body just went faster than her feet :o). Michael O’Neil was my saddest story as he bump started my bike for the last time as he was heading west (I was heading east). It was on a downhill and once the engine caught the bike just left him on a bit of a slop (while running). He feel forward and although his hands broke his fall… the fall broke his wrists. His journey that year was cut short and I’ve had to fight the guilt for years.
The following video was unfortunately captured on the second loop, so it was running pretty good. I also have a picture of all the rubber left on the driveway, but to be honest it started after the third push Bohdan provided. On my first pass I yelled for him to record the event (as I was scared running it too long might cause an issue).
Might have to try and crop or edit this video to center on the run. At the end we had stopped video ing the event, but when we looked down gas was pumping out of the carburetor, so glad we did not have a fire and I’ll post about that finding next.
Photos show the rubber marks on the driveway as we were bump starting the bike. I rode it with no seat but it was not too uncomfortable. Bohdan checking it out after the run.
It was a great hot day
It sure was… rubber was melting