The Joys of Starting
Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2025 9:34 am
So I can usually start my bike on the first or second kick. Yesterday, I went on a ride in the evening to celebrate my newly working electronics, and rode down to the beach. Stopped there for ten minutes or so, had one guy ask "why's it smoking?" (oil running down the outside of the head), then started it up again and headed back towards home.
Close to home I was passing one of my favourite pubs, clocked the benches basked in the sunglight and figured it'd make for a nice stop. It's a very old-school pub, been in the same family since the 1890s, and attracts a good friendly crowd. After my dinner of a packet of crisps I hopped back on. Would she start? God no, took me a good five minutes, of kicking, removing gear because I was sweating in the sun, and moving it around incase the slope of the carpark wasn't helping. I was about to have a go at bump starting it when it finally fired up - though at that moment I heard an odd sound which it doesn't usually make. It was only when I looked up that I realised the sound was the friendly folks in the pub garden giving me a round of applause. Whilst I was then gearing up again a guy came up to me and said "I used to have a Red Hunter 500, it was a right pain to start at times!"
Close to home I was passing one of my favourite pubs, clocked the benches basked in the sunglight and figured it'd make for a nice stop. It's a very old-school pub, been in the same family since the 1890s, and attracts a good friendly crowd. After my dinner of a packet of crisps I hopped back on. Would she start? God no, took me a good five minutes, of kicking, removing gear because I was sweating in the sun, and moving it around incase the slope of the carpark wasn't helping. I was about to have a go at bump starting it when it finally fired up - though at that moment I heard an odd sound which it doesn't usually make. It was only when I looked up that I realised the sound was the friendly folks in the pub garden giving me a round of applause. Whilst I was then gearing up again a guy came up to me and said "I used to have a Red Hunter 500, it was a right pain to start at times!"