ok i know the other UK siren collectors will kill me but the pin that connects the handle bar to the main gear sheared when i was cranking it. It wasnt on the stand tight enough so i guess it started lurching forward until BAM, the handle caught on the stand at full speed and slid to a halt. i cranked it and found it slid, i thought about the myth that the gear teeth are very brittle and that they may be stripped. turns out the gears are intact besides the pin. the fact that the gears strip easily on the secomak is a lie. if they didnt strip from this they never will. no if ands or buts!
here is a pic of the pin (not mine but still the same thing):