Nice Surprise -

[KJDonovan]

So back in April, I picked up another Six Day (73) which was the definition of a time capsule.  Completely unmolested and very low-use.  Until this bike, I had never believed any Penton speedometer mileage, this one shows 641 on the clock.  Anyway, after sorting through all the paperwork that came with it – title, sales slip from the dealer, and every repair receipt from the same dealer with the mileage noted until 1977 I realized that the speedometer most likely had the right mileage on it.  When I bought the bike, the owner said it ran, but he couldn't get it to start.  I explained I didn't care about that and would sort it out later.  Brought the bike home, drained the tank, and put it in the corner of the shop where it has sat since.

So, since arriving here this one has been puking gear oil from the shifter shaft all over the floor, I figured I would take care of that yesterday.  So just before pulling the case cover to change the oil and replace the seal I decided to just rotate the crank.  I kicked it once, and it immediately settled into an idle!  Just for a minute till the bowl emptied, but fired right up.  I then brought it outside and hooked up a test tank fired it right up and let it idle for 15 before dumping the oil and working on it.  Talk about the unexpected!  I know it still needs some carb work (float needle and seat) but it sure is freaking nice when stuff like this happens!  Picture attached – and yes I know the Zokes and Sun Rims are not original, but have the sales slip from the dealer when the original owner had them installed in November 77.  One last item - this one will not be restored, just cleaned up.

[Stuttgartautoman]

Nice find, looks like a great bike. I bought a 74 Mint 400 last year that had  been sitting since 1975 with 239 miles on the odometer but not nearly in that condition as it had been stored poorly.

[Kip Kern]

Proof, those great deals are still out there! Congratulations

[slvrbrdfxr]

Kevin,
Yes, this one is a keeper for sure and well worthy of your magic touch. The license plate is excellent too. Good luck !
Dave McC

[Daniel P. McEntee]

   I bought a '73 250 Harescrambler that was used as a farm bike, and I considered a rolling parts bike at the time. It had loose parts, missing some parts, and the carb wasn't even attached to the engine!! When I got home, my big brother came by and helped me unload it from my van. I went to open the garage door, and suddenly I heard it running!! My brother is in the habit of just kicking a bike through just to check the compression and see how it feels, so no different with this one. It must have had something combustible in the cylinder from someone trying to just get it to fire. It sounded weird because the pipe was modified with the stinger installed up inside the last cone of the expansion chamber. I had never seen this before but I thing I read somewhere since that it was a sort of common practice for noise reduction. It startled my brother because he was like me, and didn't think there was any way that it would fire up!! Just shows that you have to be prepared for and expect the unexpected!!
    Type at you later,
    Dan McEntee