Hitchcocks Forum

Took the Bitsa for a fang down country yesterday. It's going particularly well since I replaced the idle circuit jet for a smaller one and maintained a steady 60 to 62 mph all the way down to Karamu. It did feel like it was vibrating a bit more than usual and when I got to the Bro's place in the country I did discover the the bottom rear frame bolt the 3/8" one that also holds the muffler and the side stand on had dropped out. To add insult to injury my tool box had vibrated open and my nice tool roll with an excellent collection of old whit spanners had gone too. Made a new bolt at the southern stop out of some nice 41/40 steel and replaced the spacer that sits between the frame lugs with a bit of brass tube apparently rescued from a cooling system in a power station somewhere. The ride back, whilst slightly affected by my steely gaze on the opposite side of the road hoping in vein for a sign of my tool roll and its contents, went well and all the vibration was gone. 63 to 67 mph with an amazing 60 mph kill climb up the Bombay Hills (a traditionally testing climb that marks the boarder between the Waikato country and the City of Auckland). I lay flat on the tank and held the throttle steady expecting it to drop to around 50 mph by the top but it had wings. A good ride in retrospect but I've now got to reassemble a serviceable tool kit.