Then I was working on the carburettor and the manual said be sure to wash all the parts in paraffin. I thought, paraffin, why would you want to melt candles and put carburettor parts in melted wax? To this day I can't remember whether I actually melted a candle down. I would probably be too ashamed to admit that I did.
The English way of doing business is so different to the American way. I love that sense of understatement. One day I was working on my Brough Superior SS100. I had seen an ad in a paper - there was a place in Bournemouth that specialised in Brough Superiors. So I called. It was February.
I said. "Hi, I'm calling from California. I need an exhaust system for a Brough Superior. It's got the Matchless engine."
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| Brough Superior: Matchless engine, dubious service |
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"Yes yes, I've got one here," he said. "Matchless engine. Overhead valve, but look, we are a bit busy now... can you call back a bit later?" I look at my watch and it's about 4pm in England. So I say, "How much later?" And he says, "Can you call back in the autumn?"
That was one instance. I have a 1937 Norton Manx, too. I saw an ad for a place in England which did little cork squares for the clutch. So I called them.
"Hi. I am calling from America."
"America, yes."
"You know the little cork clutch squares?"
"Yes, know them well."
"Well, I'd like to buy some."
"Don't carry those."
"Really. I'm surprised. I'd have thought that would be a part everybody would want."
"Yes, that was the problem. Everybody wanted them. Folks were calling every second of the day. Finally we were so tired of the phone ringing we stopped carrying them."
