Hitchcocks Forum

Put the new head gasket on this morning and couldn't wait to see if it had cured the poor compression the bike seemed to have, so I gave a good swing on the kick starter and was totally disappointed to see no improvement. If anything, things had got worse. Checked and adjusted valve clearances and still no better. Double checked the de-compressor to no avail. Tried kicking it over again and found the problem straight away. In my haste I had forgotten to put the spark plug back. I'm definitely getting worse.

Experience is what allows you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.

And it didn't occur to you to get somebody to stick a finger in the hole and hold the HT lead in the other hand?