A few very tentative miles as a solo machine, was having trouble relaxing into the ride due to a square sidecar back tyre coupled to my unfounded fear that it was all going to fall apart at any time.
Using the front brake caused a massive judder which unnerved me a little.
It pulled quite well up to the mid 50s, about as fast as I want to take it for now, and it should only go up to 65-ish anyway, what with the low ratio final drive coupled to the 24-ish HP it produces.
After 20 or so miles I came back to base and took the front wheel out to discover a discoloured patch on the drum, oil or rust? it was hard to say. Cleaned it all of with a fine emery paper and it now seems to have diminished. Should it not go away completely, I'll get the drum skimmed - which can be done with the wheel complete.
There was a very slight drip from the right-hand rocker cover gasket- I'd removed the cover to check the valve clearances, and have bought 2 nitrile gaskets which I'll fit as and when.
A few drips of oil from the gearbox-to-driveshaft gaiter, I might have put a little more than the 100cc of oil in there, so tightened the jubilee clip a little more.
Tickover was not smooth, and it was hesitant when opened up, so spent an hour or two yesterday setting the carbs as best I can. Seems a lot smoother now when revved, and ticks over quite nicely. I expect I'll be fiddling with it for some time to come.
All in all, I'm more than pleased that it's all working so well for a 52 year old bike with it's 59 year old engine.
Put the sidecar on it today. I've not yet taken it out for a run, and will have to load two or three bags of sand into the ultra-light sidecar before I venture out.
It's starting from cold second or third kick now, and is so easy to kick over with it's 6.5:1 compression and all.
Hoping to ride out the the EM do at Ripley on Saturday, depends on the weather as I don't want to be broken down miles from home in the rain.
Here's a few photos of the bike with sidecar attached.
Bill