Bad things happen fast :-(

A local Scooter shop owner asked me if I would bring a vintage odd scoot down to jis shop's monthly cookout for display this past sunday. The Rabbit being the closest to the door got the job. I brought it down had a fun afternoon loaded it back on the trailer and got ready to leave. Now my friend Tom has said a few things in the past about concerns he has with the Canyon Dancer system for stapping down bikes. His concern is the ammount of downward force on the handlebars. I did not think that that would ever be an issue (boy was I wrong).

The parking lot was a bit tight and I needed to back out. Two issues with the "trailer in a bag" are that it is impossible to see the trailer behind my truck in my mirrors, or over my sholder. (I can just see the top of the handlebars), and its short toung length makes it very easy to jacknife when backing.

As I was backing out of the lot the trailer jacknifed quickly. I was able to stop before the bumper hit the Rabbit. I put the truck in drive to straighten it out as I eased forward someone started shouting "YOUR HOOKED" I stopped and got out the tiedown strap on the left front of the scoot had hooked the truck bumper, and as I pulled forward it tightend, something had to give and the handlebars bent down! Oh Crap!!!!! The casting for the headset appears to have taken all the damage. Luckily a local scooter guy has a few parts bike and can probibly hook me up. But it really ruined my week! Photos to follow.

Rabbit run

Well last week I was all ready to run the Rabbit. I started adding fuel to the tank and found the fuel tap not only did not work but had a bad leak. I pulled it off and am having it rebuilt. today I did more cleaning and started to repair the cover for the relay box (It has a big hole in the top). The other night I replaced the front tire. I have to still replace the rear tire.

Lights!

This afternoon I dug into the electrical system one more time. Opening the voltage regulator I looked for stuck contacts and did not see any. So one more time I checked all connections under the dash. Logic told me that since all those connections had been undone to remove the tank, I had likely made an error in reconnecting them. No luck there!

Back to the wiring diagram and the voltage regulator. I started by disconnecting the starter dynamo from the regulator. Reconnecting the battery I tried the starter button "CLICK" I heard the relay. looking at it, all looked fine. I cleaned it, no change. Putting a volt meter to it I found power was getting through no mater the position of the relay. Looking closer I noticed a second set of points on the relay these were closed! A good cleaning and gaping and the problem was solved!!!

Testing the lights and horn all work except the dash indicator for the turn signal (Bulb?) I will look into that soon. Now I just need to change the crankcase oil and fill the torque converter with fluid, add gas and give her a try!!!! Stay tuned....

ALMOST ... Not Quite

Was working like a madman to get the Rabbit running for the Gould's 15th Microcar show this weekend. The rabbit was there but not quite running yet.