That was one of Barry French's bikes. He had 2 Comets that I know of, and a red Rapide with a Steib sidecar attached. The Rapide is still for sale, but it is not an original red one. That might explain the red paint on some of the parts on this Comet, I had seen a box of left over spares and many of the parts were painted in red. The other Comet still lives up here in Qld and its owner has done a full resto on it. Your bike is a nice original bike, and I have seen it up close (in the back of a van) you don't see many Touring models here in Australia, and as suggested, it would be good to leave it in that condition........... The leaking carby is normal, mostly due to leaking fuel taps (leaking internally) this is more than the standard needle/seat in the float bowl can handle and the carb will drip, though it is not a fault, if the fuel supply is stopped properly, the carb will stop dripping. You have done the right thing by asking on this forum..........Good luck with it all......... Cheers....... Greg.
