So, what had I bought, a gem or a pup?

I collected the bike from Stockport - had to hire a van as I couldn't find anyone to borrow a trailer from. £60 into the restoration pot straight away and I heard for the first time a sound that was to become very familiar to me over the next couple of years - "ker - ching!"

What a nice guy I bought it from. In the inevitable box of bits was a Haynes manual, the original owner's handbook, the original and almost complete toolset and an original advertising brochure for the Dream. Also in there were the carbs and air filter etc that had been stripped off to try and get the bike going.

Here's the photo on EBay, which was how I first saw her. Didn't look too bad really.......

I got her home and in the cold light of the next day could really see what I had. Well, the rust had really set in - she had clearly been sat outside, but I think covered up partially. The mudguards had rather more than surface rust and the exhausts fell apart when I knocked them!

But on the positive side, everything looked to be there, original and unmolested. The tank and side panels were undamaged, but would need a repaint. The seat base was sound. She still sat on her original tyres - everything I could see supported the low 10,000 miles showing on the clocks.

This was great, but I really wanted to try and start her. The carbs clearly had issues related to the choke - the shaft that the butterflies sit on was completely seized into one of the carb bodies and the choke cable had snapped. Could it be something that simple that had caused her to be laid up?

I sat the carbs in really hot water for half an hour, got some mole gips on the shaft and, little by little, it started to come free. Lots of WD40 and 3 in 1 later, it was moving but not ideal - good enough to try and start it though.

There was still some petrol in the tank - from 2 years ago or 20 years ago?? Let's give it a bash and see what happens. I taped the exhausts together with duct tape (!), stuck some jump leads on from the car, and after 5 or 6 kicks she sparked up - first on one cylinder, then both. She sounded very rough - a combination of old fuel, gummed up carbs and holed/missing exhausts I hoped, but at least she would fire up and run. 

I took the first decision - go ahead without an engine rebuild, assuming that fresh fuel, a carb rebuild and new exhaust system will clear her lungs - hope so. 

Let battle commence!