Fuel.
Heavy.
Too much.
Then he leaned over the left side of the bike.
Garrett shouted:
“You planning to meditate?”
Owen ignored him.
He turned the engine through slowly.
Listened.
Once.
Again.
The crank cadence was slightly uneven but not mechanically catastrophic.
No deep knock.
No scraping.
No sound suggesting a broken crankshaft.
That eliminated much of Curtis’s expensive theory.
Owen checked the spark.
Weak.
Present sometimes.
Then disappearing.
He opened the points cover.
The timer showed:
4:09.
Garrett shouted:
“You got fifty seconds before I start charging you rent.”
Owen looked at the ignition points.
There.
The rubbing block had worn enough that the points were barely opening.
Not fully closed.
Not completely dead.
Just wrong.
The gap had drifted.
That meant weak, poorly timed spark.
Owen removed the feeler gauge.
Adjusted.
Tightened.
Turned the engine.
Checked again.
Better.
“Problem one.”
Garrett laughed.
“What problem?”
“Points gap.”
Nolan Briggs moved closer.
Owen continued.
“Barely opening. Timing drifted.”
Nolan’s face changed.
He had looked at the points.
He had not measured them carefully because spark existed.
A common trap.
Seeing spark and assuming ignition was good.
“Wouldn’t stop it completely,” Nolan said.
“No.”
Owen agreed.
“That’s why there’s more.”
The crowd quieted slightly.
Timer:
3:28.
Owen moved to the Bendix carburetor.
He removed the bowl quickly.
No wasted motion.
Nolan folded his arms.
“I already cleaned it.”
“I know.”
“You calling me incompetent?”
“No.”
Owen pressed the float gently.
It moved.
Then he pushed slightly sideways at the hinge.
It stuck.
Nolan leaned forward.
Owen repeated it.
Free.
Side load.
Stuck.
He removed the pivot.
A tiny fragment of degraded gasket material sat near the hinge.
Not enough to jam the float in every position.
Enough to make it hang when vibration pushed it sideways.
That explained why Nolan had missed it.
On the bench, it moved.
On the running motorcycle, it could catch.
Fuel would continue entering.
Engine flooding.
Owen removed the fragment.
Cleaned the hinge.
Reassembled.
He looked at Nolan.
“Intermittent float bind.”
Nolan crouched.
“Let me see.”
Owen demonstrated.
Nolan stopped speaking.
Timer:
2:41.
Someone near the fence said:
“Two.”
Not mocking now.
Counting.
Garrett stepped closer.
His confidence had begun changing.
Owen smelled the spark plugs again.
Wet.
Flooded.
He removed them.
Dried them quickly.
Then turned his attention to the electrical system.
Weak spark remained suspicious even with the points corrected.
He checked the battery connection.
Fine.
Main negative cable.
At first glance, fine.
Tight.
No broken strands.
Curtis had measured battery voltage and found it acceptable.
Owen pulled lightly at the cable.
Then stopped.
The cable did not move.
But the terminal felt wrong.
Not loose.
Insulated.
He removed the frame connection.
Under the terminal, where no one could see with the bolt installed, was a thin layer of oxidation and old paint contamination.