That sick pit in my stomach!

[JeffK]

Gents,

This past weekend I was finally to fire up my "proof of concept" H1F that I began working on at the first of this year. It's an engine built with the input of some friends so we did some things a little differently then most triples builds but that's not important to this post. I had put myself on a schedule with this build and it's been one thing after another that has continually caused delays to the original February completion target. I had installed knock-off carbs (Had a nice & short chat with Higgs about them<lol>) and I finally, after replacing all the cheap Chinese brass with genuine Kehin parts, get the beast to run. The sound is spectacular and the waves of two stroke power reverberate off my basement walls (yes, my "assembly" area is a finished room with a sliding glass door in my basement adjacent to my shop area, also downstairs) and I am flushed with triumph. I shut it down to fuss with one thing or another and go to restart it. I power the ignition and give it a kick......and the kicker remains at the bottom of the stroke!

...Now we're in early June so when I looked down and say the lifeless kicker dangling from it's mount.....I just got sick in my stomach....knowing that it meant removing the engine that I was SO close to completing and while the work isn't difficult and regardless whether the case was bad, the spring or even the shaft, I have plenty of parts.....but time is the one commodity I do not have I went from the elation of victory to feeling like crying in the space of ten seconds.....many of you guys have been there and of course I'm exaggerating for the reader but you all can relate to some extent....

Once I set to removing the kicker to examine the extent of the damage, I was happily surprised to find that only the splines in the kicker itself had sheared. YEA! Ten minutes later, with a replacement kicker in place, all the anguish disappeared and I can move forward to completion. Btw- the GENUINE carbs should be delivered today!

jeffk

[TallyB]

Good luck with finishing the job now.

[robh1f]

Wow ..............betcha that was one BIG sigh of relief fella