Just had grandson Jake staying, and he's sabotaged the flush in Granny Helen's Beach Hut. Usually he manages to swing a door or two off their hinges so I'm feeling quite lucky.
Now you have to give the handle two short jabs, and then that lo..o..ong hard swing that you hope doesn't result in a kickback....
Oh the memories...

The Velo alternative to the kickback is of course the slipped k/s ratchet which

s - t - r - e - t - c - h - e - s

all the bloody tendons behind your right knee, and hurts like hell!!!!!!

Come on now Larry you were spotted unloading a huge starting roller out the back of your van! no kickstart required there! Or is that because of the damaged tendons?? In fact i think half the paddock used that roller at some point!

piece of cake helen, starting those little 350 and 500s. you just try starting a 650 panther on a cold, wet monday morning. you're wearing baseball boots [cause you spent all ya money on aforementioned bike] and there's no kickstart rubber. the advance and retard cable is that frayed that you can't retard the damned engine, and to cap it all, it's one of the very few solo panthers you've ever seen. holding one of those things up under those circumstances is NOT funny. and yes, i still have the scars to prove it, from my ankle blob to just under my knee. but what a joy when you got it right [and what a mess all the other times] ;-]
ade! xxx

Tut, tut...anyone who had a Panther could only expect grief...now, a wee Velo Valiant...
Afraid the Thruxton would have broken my leg...Larry, I'm still wincing at that description..eeeeek!
Got a sore leg today anyway...climbed out the back bedroom window on to the dining room roof, to fix the toilet cistern overflow (JAKE AGAIN!!), and then realised I would have to climb back in...oh, dear, barked shins!
And the window cleaner along the road watched me climb in, without either
a) asking what the H*** I was doing climbing in someone's window, or
b) offering to help!
Oh, all done in my slippers too...

Oh Helen, forget about all the injuries caused in the above, it's those rotten slippers that will bring you undone. I'm sure there are more breaks and strains caused by the wearing of them than anything else. lol

John, a 350 Velo is one thing, a Boxer running at damn near 13:1 compression ratio is quite another.

Definitely rollers only!

Anyway, the 5-speed BM racing box doesn't cater for a kickstart . . . . . .

You're only a cub though - you wouldn't remember a Viper Special!

Jane says she started not just half the paddock - more like 85%, practice and races!!

By the way, haven't seen that Bob Mac Memorial programme -- you sent it??

Ah now, my wife's Velo is so easy to start.
Leave both feet on the ground, grasp the long lever on the right and pull it back smartly.

It's a 1955 Mk II LE.

My 1934 KSS 350 requires the Velo ritual but is an easy starter, Castrol R and all.

Worst bike I ever had was my very first. It was a kind of hybrid C11G/C12. It was taller than me, had a kick like a demented mule, and I sold it to a guy in Jesus sandals...never saw it or him again.
Not much better was the foul little Bantam I learnt on...oiled up constantly...spitting little thing...
Best, of course, was my Baker TZ350 racing outfit...the most fun you can have with your clothes on...

"............the most fun you can have have with your clothes on."

Appart from swimming, with your clothes off, I can't think you can mean!
Perhaps you can show me next June.