TALES FROM THE SHADE

If your memory is unusually acute, you might recall that last month’s offering ended in a vaguely triumphant haze. In fact, it ended in a great big cloud, rather than a haze. A cloud of smoke from the decently patinated silly fat silencer of the Matchless CSR twin which has been perched on the bench for at least a decade, maybe more. Maybe a lot more. It certainly feels that way.

So, engine running, sounding surprisingly robust for a unit which has endured decades of neglect and indeed abuse and which is almost certainly terminally worn out, it is time to hit the highway. Of course it is. Possibly.

There are always tiny fleas in the poultice, however, and I am that old dog with no new tricks, so I applied caution. Caution is good. It’s a great word and it disguises many awkward truths. Such as this: just because an engine has started once, there is no reason why it would start twice. You can spot the illogic immediately: if an engine will start once, there is no reason why it won’t start twice. This is that half-full glass moment.

I practiced starting the engine. Admiring gazes from the Better Third became less frequent, despite the heroic roaring – and decreasing smoke cloud – from The Shed. It starts easily. Although Jacqueline PUB assured me that the magneto – upon which she had breathed – was sufficiently vigorous to start a soft old engine like