So how do I start this little yarn, well like this I guess, I love the John Bull rally, I love Belgium, it may not be everybody’s cup of earl grey, but it suits me just fine, the little back lanes, the smoked eel and mackerel from the market stall, the fine beer, cheese, bread , chocolate frogs and cream cakes, you can find it all with a cheery smile in Belgium. So as you can imagine, I was looking forward to the rally, and hanging with some mates, and this year being an old bike and British bike rally I had spent weeks preparing my 1973 Guzzi Eldorado for the trip.
Rally Ready
The bike was all ready, infact I had fettled it beyond the call of duty, it had even had run in miles, and had the heads all re torqued just as it says in the manual, it was ready. So with a day off work on Thursday, I loaded up and headed out, the bike running great, the sun shining, all was good in the world. But, twenty mile in I had a loss of power, and a small back fire, but as I was adjacent to an exit on the motorway, I pulled off and turned back for home, but the bike was again running great, and I though that maybe it was just some dirt in the carb and it had flushed through, so I again turned around and headed back towards Kent, 140 miles away. Again the bike was running great, but another twenty or so miles later, as I sat on the infamous M25, it again lost power, and as I was near a services, I pulled off and gave the bike a good look over, but I could find nothing wrong, I had recently fitted a new coil, condenser, plugs, leads, etc, fresh fuel, new fuel lines, I had been through everything, and after a coffee, the started right up and sat ticking over like a good swiss watch. So I again hit the road, another twenty miles, and repeat, this went on for the next four hours all the way to Kent, where I called MrEd out to give me a hand. Ed bought out a compression tester, and both cylinders had an identical reading, we again fitted another condenser, and new plugs, but this made no difference, it was still playing up, only now I was only getting a mile at a time . Eventually we made it to Ed’s house, let the bike cool down, and I again went through everything, but could not find anything wrong, I played with the carbs a little, and rode it around the block, and it seemed better, so we left it for the night, and headed out for a curry.
Ed’s place
Early next morning and we pulled the bikes out for the run to the ferry, and the Guzzi was running great, paling strong, and all was good with the world, but twenty miles in it all started again, loss of power, little backfire, pull to the side of the road, leave it ticking over, pull away and all is fine, two miles later it does it again, repeat above and it does it again, this time I call it in and wait to be recovered, and Ed heads for the ferry and Belgium, I sit and wait for the truck.
Recovery Time
Backstreet Thunder 