TALES FROM THE SHED

Although the only slightly wonderful Sunbeam has been a little neglected in recent issues, it has still been cheerfully absorbing both cash and time in sizeable chunks. Isn’t it always the way? A chap starts out on a voyage of discovery, learning (slowly) how a strange motorcycle works, achieving a little early success … only for it to crumble around him as a cycle of chaos and irritation ensues. It’s always like that in the dank confines of The Shed, of course, but I’d expected the old Sunbeam to shed a little brightness into the gloom of the long dark days of winter.

You may recall that although the S8 hadn’t run for the thick end of a quarter century, it took surprisingly little effort to coax it back into life. Remarkable. Even more remarkable was that the old lorry not only ran, with no really disastrous noises or clouds of noisome noxious smoke, but it also rode surprisingly well, even on its ancient tyres. Nothing is perfect, of course, and although a leisurely rebuild of the distributor was all that was really required to provide sparks to ignite the fuel, there were issues. There always are. Anyone sufficiently eccentric to attempt to convert museum-piece motorcycles into something resembling transport knows full well that the road back to the … ah … road is more usually a challenge than not. Which may of course be why we do it.

I think I’ve hinted about this before, but the problem was a completely unexpected and mystifying misfire. If an engine has been running well and