Ron's new shop

Ron has built this great shop behind his house and there's lots of room for motorbikes, scooters, cycles and other junk. It's like a great big blank canvas, just waiting to be filled with crap.

My first project was to get my little blue Honda C70 Passport running. My wife Barbara bought this bike at a garage sale about 15 years ago and apart from occasional mistreatment from my sons, has stood in storage, neglected for all those years.

The carburetor was full of varnish, and had to be disassembled and cleaned. After installing the carb and checking for spark, we still had trouble getting it started. Finally, Ron brings around a garden tractor and ties one end of a short rope to the tractor, and the other end to the handlebar column on the bike, and pulls me down the alley and into the street. I hammered the shifter into gear and about 1/2 a block later, she fired and bolted on me, very nearly ramming into the back of the tractor before I remembered how to slow it down.

After a lot of smoke, backfiring and laughter, the little bike finally leaned out and idled more or less. Next time we should use a longer rope. It was great to get the bike running again. I felt like a twelve year old with a new toy.