Am happy to report my Twin now runs, starts, idles better than ever before thanks to my visit with
journeyman Vincent man Glen Bewley. Of course the natural question is, "What was wrong?" and not
sure that can be answered other than 1) My starting technique; 2) A professional job of adjusting, cleaning
carbs. I visited
Glen at his impressive shop in Tennessee and thought I had prepped the bike to be worked on..more on that
in a moment.
Glen was able to start the machine on 3rd kick as it was and I waited a few seconds for it to die. It didn't.
But it also didn't sound great. So up on the lift to check timing, all adjustments, etc. Turns out my timing was
OK, so Glen fiddled with carb adjustments, and after re-starting, it was still giving us a bang-bang..Ba-bang-bang
at low RPM's. So off with the carbs and into his ultra-caustic solution, then more adjustments, and on and on.
I had timed the thing half a dozen times prior to taking the bike to him, and thought, "Well, he's got some
extra B-TH's on the shelf, so maybe he'll want to install one of those." Thus the last time I put it together, and for
the first time in my life, I just hand screwed the exhaust nuts on, and left the muffler off, and just slid it on to start
the bike. I finally mentioned to Glen the exhaust nuts could be 'a little loose' and Glen noted with some
real clarity, "Why didn't you tell me so?"
After tightening up the nuts and some more air screw/idle screw adjustments, the bike started per normal, and
idled better than it ever had. I started the machine several times and Glen then said, "OK, don't even think about
touching the throttle, just kick it." It started and immediately went to idle. I've never trusted my own idle, especially
at a stop light, so have always kept the throttle just above idle for fear of having it die at an intersection.
From what I can tell, my starting technique with my old B-TH was all wrong, yet got the plot started time and
again. And after watching Glen start the bike I attempted to clone what he was doing, finding any compression, and
kicking and releasing. I don't always get 'a full swing' in as he does, but when I do, the machine starts. I weigh about 160 lbs, and even with strong legs, I use more body weight than leg strength, thus my kick (and decomp release point) hasn't been enough to give it spark enough to fire it. I now, after all these years, more fully understand what is
needed to get the bike fired.
I still don't know why it died when I got it started with the Lucas in my shop, and why I couldn't re-start it, but
I'd have to admit that I just wasn't getting a full swing through, as the Lucas must require. Then too, the carb
adjustments he performed were the result of knowledge I didn't have.
So for now, I'm about as happy as one can be. Nevertheless, my B-TH has been sent back to England and I
should have a report on it this week. I don't know if the 'factory' can really assess if it is in need of repair or replacement, but my sense tells me the plot would be a little easier to start, dead cold, with the B-TH than the
Lucas. Once warm, as noted, it's just waiting to fire.
A trip through Glen's shop tells one he speaks fluent Vincent from machining broken, worn parts to welding aluminum and bringing the 'it's no good' back to life. I couldn't have found a better person to go over the machine and sure enjoyed the trip to the beautiful countryside.