I have a good, clear image of 2751 – it was taken when the bike was at speed but whomever took it knew what they were doing. I used this photo to prise the rare K1FTT magneto from the grasp of its former custodian. The photo shows that magneto most beautifully.
Trying to work out the position of the adv/ret cable and HT pickup isn’t so straightforward though.
This arrangement hardly seems ideal as it necessitates the HT lead being bend upwards at an angle approaching 90Λ…
I ran this past David Dunfey and Bill Hoddinott. They surmised that the pickup is indeed angled directly at the barrel fins or “muff” as some are wont to call it!
Surely arrow 1 in the above shot is the adv/ret housing and arrow 2 the pickup. The HT lead appears to be taped to the adv/ret cable to keep it off the fins. I felt that this had be right but Bert was having none of itβ¦ He held onto a strong view that the pickup should be of the “straight” variety, enabling the HT lead to be kept well away from the hot engine. He arranged for a pickup to be specially adapted to fit this application as there was nothing available that would suit. Once it had arrived from Switzerland he sent me some pics.
You win squire! There is no contest whatsoever!! I gave him an immediate “green light” – if a future owner wants to revert back to the angled pickup then they are most welcome to do so – it can be easily done. Bert performed some modifications to enable it to seat and be secured and…
Once again I find myself bending a knee to the mighty Bert and his decades of wisdom! He’s spot-on and this arrangement looks far far superior to what I was proposing – the end result is really something… And Bert dug into his spares and found some period NOS HT lead – this has the very soft rubber sheathing and looks just ace!
And there was more… Because I was so magnanimous, Bert found a nice period adjuster for the adv/ret housing. ππ»
I really feel that digging deep on this has been worth the effort and energy – I am much obliged to Bert for his enthusiasm and insistence.
Grey Flash 2751 