I don't think I've ever heard a better sounding bike than one of these with a Piper 3-1 as it was rolled off the throttle from full chat. We really were in the golden age of motorcycling in the 70s.
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- Thread starter glasgowcyclist
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I don't think I've ever heard a better sounding bike than one of these with a Piper 3-1 as it was rolled off the throttle from full chat. We really were in the golden age of motorcycling in the 70s.
Good luck, lets us know how you get one, please. Fingers crossed!
Tail End Charlie
Well, write it down boy ......
- Location
- In green and pleasant hills.
And it's mine! Couple of minor things so far, a fuel leak and brake light sticks on but nothing major. That said, I haven't started it yet, there's a knack which I don't have.
@fritz katzenjammer I believe you had on older one like this, any tips? It has a decompression lever and I've looked on YouTube. It may be that it hasn't run for a bit so fresh petrol may do it.
fritz katzenjammer
Der Ubergrosserbudgie
Starting from cold: Fuel on, choke on, decompressor on, ignition off. Kick it through twice to get the juices flowing, a bit of throttle here may help. Next.. Decompressor off. Kick it through slowly until you feel compression. Ease it over top dead center. You can use the ammeter to find TDC, just watch for it to twitch which the points open. Let the kickstarter return to top. Ignition on, give it a whiff of throttle and kick through like you mean it. It should start first time every time once you get the knack. Once you are used to it this whole thing only takes a few seconds. You can turn the choke off pretty quickly on these things.
kick it like you mean it or it’ll kick you right back. That’s a 500 which came with a 6.5:1 piston… so it can’t kick back too hard.
starting from hot: no choke. Turn it over to find compression, watch for the ammeter twitch, ease it over compression, let the kickstart return, ignition on and a whiff of throttle, one nice smooth kick like you mean it and she’s running.
each one is different so you will need to figure out which little variation yours wants but it you follow the procedure / ritual these stupid things will start first time every time after sitting for months with stale fuel and a nearly dead battery. You’ll learn to love it for that alone.
don’t follow the ritual and you can kick away until you have a stroke and it’ll only give you the occasional fart.
wave a dead cat over it on tuesdays for extra karma.
these things came jetted very lean. If it hasn’t been done getting a slightly larger main jet makes a nice difference in engine performance across the board. I think your’s came with a 110 main jet and could do well with a 120. Oddly the gas mileage won’t change. My 350 got 90 to 95 mpg forever, it never varied. I think the 500 is good for 75 or 80 mpg.
whats the mileage on that lovely thing?
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fritz katzenjammer
Der Ubergrosserbudgie
For encouragement… this is what they look like after 18 years and 76000 km. No idea what the inside of the motor looked like because it still ran like new when I sold it.
Congrats! Hopefully years of happy biking ahead.
Tail End Charlie
Well, write it down boy ......
- Location
- In green and pleasant hills.
@fritz katzenjammer that is very helpful, thankyou. As you say getting to know the vagaries of the bike is part of the fun, but you've given me a good place to start. Good info about the main jet too. I've got to fix the fuel leak before I have real go at starting it.
The mileage reads 14500, which I think is right looking at the previous MOTs.
The mileage reads 14500, which I think is right looking at the previous MOTs.
dicko
Guru
- Location
- Derbyshire
1960s Royal Enfield Crusader 250cc I wanted one of these so much in 1963 I would stop off on my way home from work and drool on the dealers showroom window.
fritz katzenjammer
Der Ubergrosserbudgie
Neat little bikes. Except they stuffed a five speed gearbox into the space for the old four speed making for a rather fragile package. I still want one though.
however… since I couldn’t have that, I put this together. My last bike before retiring from a life long sport. Traffic is too stupid to be survivable now so it was sold on back in the spring.
*sigh*
dicko
Guru
- Location
- Derbyshire
The Suzuki 250 single is still today a bullet proof engine parts everywhere mechanics dream to fix.
fritz katzenjammer
Der Ubergrosserbudgie
Actual, what made those engines so great was that you never did have to fix them.
unlike my Kawasaki Ninja, which went through its buttery soft cams faster then it went through tires or brake pads.
No kidding, what a turd.
and then there was…
