The REOC dating officer has been pretty thorough, if not particularly positive. In his opinion, the chassis number has been altered and although the cycle parts agree with the year (1953), the plates the Black Bullet came with date earlier than both frame and engine numbers, which isn't possible. There's been skullduggery in the past it seems.
The DVLA are bound to take a dim view of this but, as I've said, my main aim is to maintain and ride the bike, I don't care that much about the registration number they give me. If they want to play silly buggers with the paperwork they can just go ahead and do it, provided they give me what I need to be road legal.
I got the MOT certificate before breaking the carb, the tester was sympathetic - a big step on the way to being road legal. Insurance is cheap and even includes breakdown assistance! Road tax must be applied for and a disc displayed but it's free. I've got the forms to get the bike registered but I want to go in person to submit them. I'd post them in if the REOC report on the Bullet's provenance was a bit more positive, it's the phrase, 'this letter now needs to be taken to your local DVLA office for approval or otherwise' that worries me. If they want to be otherwise, I want to be there to discuss it. I hope to make it there this week but I've got a lot on at work.
The good news is that I found time to install the relacement carb. I haven't ridden it yet but I did get it started and it pissed petrol all over the place - shit, back to square one. At least the thing runs, a small but important point, and I'm relatively upbeat about this. It's a simple machine and there's probably just one thing I'm missing, one piece in the puzzle that has to fall into place.
I've been sitting on the ground just staring at it and hoping for enlightenment. As it happens, I spotted another small difference in this carb; the float chamber cants back at a five to seven degree angle where the old one was perpendicular. I don't know why this is and if if this new difference is going to prove to be a problem. I tell myself it's a bike and bikes lean in the corners and go up and down hills but then why manufacture carbs with angled float chambers? It's a mystery, something else I'm going to have to investigate. It's like walking through a 1950s engineering mind.
The DVLA are bound to take a dim view of this but, as I've said, my main aim is to maintain and ride the bike, I don't care that much about the registration number they give me. If they want to play silly buggers with the paperwork they can just go ahead and do it, provided they give me what I need to be road legal.
I got the MOT certificate before breaking the carb, the tester was sympathetic - a big step on the way to being road legal. Insurance is cheap and even includes breakdown assistance! Road tax must be applied for and a disc displayed but it's free. I've got the forms to get the bike registered but I want to go in person to submit them. I'd post them in if the REOC report on the Bullet's provenance was a bit more positive, it's the phrase, 'this letter now needs to be taken to your local DVLA office for approval or otherwise' that worries me. If they want to be otherwise, I want to be there to discuss it. I hope to make it there this week but I've got a lot on at work.
The good news is that I found time to install the relacement carb. I haven't ridden it yet but I did get it started and it pissed petrol all over the place - shit, back to square one. At least the thing runs, a small but important point, and I'm relatively upbeat about this. It's a simple machine and there's probably just one thing I'm missing, one piece in the puzzle that has to fall into place.
I've been sitting on the ground just staring at it and hoping for enlightenment. As it happens, I spotted another small difference in this carb; the float chamber cants back at a five to seven degree angle where the old one was perpendicular. I don't know why this is and if if this new difference is going to prove to be a problem. I tell myself it's a bike and bikes lean in the corners and go up and down hills but then why manufacture carbs with angled float chambers? It's a mystery, something else I'm going to have to investigate. It's like walking through a 1950s engineering mind.
