Gremlins

[touchwoodsden]

I had decided that I was selling my Lombardini Tiger.
For the other reasons than I simply don’t use it and it’s heavy. However I absolutely love it and I could look at it all day long because I think from an engineering point of view it really is a thing of beauty.
I did list it on eBay about a week before lockdown, without knowing lockdown was going to happen to be extent it has but decided before that, I was fed up of Dick Heads offering stupid money when I clearly had said that I wasn’t desperate to sell it.
I pulled the advert in the end.
I was even selling it with a brand-new Gel matt battery.
There had been a problem with it because although it was okay when it was last used (which I admit was 18 months ago and probably more) now wouldn’t start. It appeared to be starter or really related because all I got were intermittent clicks. I really couldn’t be bothered looking at it so I was selling it like that.
What I should have done, and what I did was spent five minutes on it I shorted the solenoid out with a spanner and away went. The Triumph starter solenoid had decided that although it was okay when it went to bed, it didn’t want and play. So I purchased another from the bay of E for a 10er (new ones are over 50 quid) and away it went. TBH it would probably be better with a car starter solenoid which are very cheap new but they are bigger and need some kind of mounting whereas I already had the rubber bracket on the Triumph one. As it transpired the one that came off was some kind of cheap imitation. I took it apart out of interest but couldn’t see what was wrong with it. Always interesting to take things apart, particularly when you don’t have to put them back together again.
What I was getting round to is, isn’t it amazing that things work perfectly when they are put away when I wake up, they are dead?
I once had an MZ (I still have lots of them) and it had done no mileage between MOTs. The fruit wheel bearing was wrecked in the last MOT. I know you may think that it had been missed in the previous MOT but trust me, this was so wrecked it could possibly have been missed. I think Gremlins coming to the shed at night or when we are in lockdown and do “things” to our motorcycles.
I had another MZ which I rode back from Ireland. Parked on the drive overnight and came to it in the morning wouldn’t start. Dead as a dodo. The electronic ignition system was toast whilst being parked overnight. Definitely Gremlins. After all, what other explanation can there be?.

[alexanderfoti]

I know the feeling, you do get some windup merchants on ebay sometimes.
I have the same thing. Park vehicle up (superdream diesel in this case), start it up, and it has developed an oil leak from the filter relocation lines...... hmmmm Very annoying. Its the way of the world.

Shame about selling the tiger. I think it would be a bit too tall for me? never ridden one, but I rode a new africa twin and I was teetering at traffic lights. Did you turbo yours at all?

What money are you asking? I agree, best to fix the little problems and sell it as fully functional. I can imagine it would scare a lot of people off otherwise.

[pietenpol2002]

There's an entire shelf in my shop reserved for gremlins, whose job it is to ponder all things mechanical in their purview in the hope that they can wreak havoc at my expense. And they take their job very seriously. What ticked over marvelously yesterday is rubbish today. Must be some form of atonement for past mechanical sins.

Unfortunate that you're Tiger is at such a distance, as it is one bike I would consider adding to the stable. However, I fear the tariff for the trip across the pond would be prohibitive.

[mark_in_manchester]

I don't know how you cope with that big list of bikes at the end of your post, gremlin-wise. I sold my second MZ 250 leaving three bikes, and that's too many to keep on top of gremlin-havoc, even while I'm not going anywhere!

(Actually the remaining MZ250 is about as gremlin-less as any vehicle I've ever had - it has an old Edgar Uher alternator etc on it - but this is a diesel bike forum not an MZ forum so I'll shut up )

[gilburton]

My dragstar trike wasn't playing ball and fighting me and the spanners so the gremlins were having a good time today.
I took a lunch break and they must have still been on break as the job I was fighting went straight on in minutes