Fouled Plugs and Stale Petrol

1949 BSA

Oh woe, it will not go…

Mech: What’re the symptoms?

WBB: It’s been sitting, it started, then I shut it down, came back, it turned over, then backfired with a great BANG.

Mech: Let’s take a look (unscrews spark plug). Plug’s fouled. Coated with carbon, see? The spark grounds on the metal shell rather than jumping the gap. And the petrol smells old.

WBB: You can tell?

Mech: Sommeliers have noses. Mechanics have noses too.

WBB: Gas I bought in 1949.

Mech: Ewq. New petrol, new plug.

__________

Voice-over

Bike engines are fussier than car engines. If the machine has been stored, and you can start it, keep it running, take it out on the highway for a half-hour run. Otherwise, as Mech says, "New petrol, new plug."

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