You want me to pet your WHAT, now........?
So, about a month ago a coworker said he was giving away his motorcycle to anyone who could remove it from his garage. It's a 1978 Yamaha XS400-2E. Since I've been meaning to get into motorcycling, I offered to take it off his hands. Amazingly enough, the bike has compression and good spark, ever after sitting idle for 6 years. I should be able to slap a battery in, prime the engine, and be ready to go. He even has the manual, which provided me with a good laugh when reading it at work today.
My motorcycle's primer choke is referred to as a "petcock." And you pull it out to prime the engine. You PULL OUT the PETCOCK.
I've never heard it referred to as such. It must have been coined by those fops in "Psychomania." I am dying to say to the local biker gangs, in an effrete British accent, "Pardon, chaps, but I seem to be having a spot of bother with my motor-velo. Could I trouble you to pull my petcock out for me while I work my choke?"
I'll be taking bets on how fast I can get jumped and beaten.
EDITED TO ADD:
Oh, it just gets better.
My motorcycle's primer choke is referred to as a "petcock." And you pull it out to prime the engine. You PULL OUT the PETCOCK.
I've never heard it referred to as such. It must have been coined by those fops in "Psychomania." I am dying to say to the local biker gangs, in an effrete British accent, "Pardon, chaps, but I seem to be having a spot of bother with my motor-velo. Could I trouble you to pull my petcock out for me while I work my choke?"
I'll be taking bets on how fast I can get jumped and beaten.
EDITED TO ADD:
Oh, it just gets better.
- My coworker has suggested I say the above phrase at the Red Dog Saloon, the local dive biker bar.
- Apparently, petcock is a real term. The picture on the wikipedia site for htis term is a side shot of the model bike I own. Odd.
- I've been cracking up with a coworker over this for like 10 minutes. Apparently, sleep deprivation makes me laugh like Muttley from Hanna Barbera.
- From the wiki:
Many motorcycles now have an automatic, vacuum operated, petcock
I like this idea. Bikes that come with hummers *built in* - Petcocks get used in farm equipment (this is already going downhill), "such as to provide vacuum to a milking machine if a normal vacuum source was unavailable." Uh......your farm has a petcock that provides vacuum? Isn't that, well, y'know....dangerous?
