The story of the oldest working B.S.A. motorcycle in the world.
Foreword by Morgan Johansson:

In 1985 when I bought a BSA M21 ex AA patrol model. It lacked the proper sidecar and most of the AA spec parts. Contact was taken with Vintage rebuilds in Essex England. The present shop owner suggested me to contact Mr Brian Brockbank an AA patrolman with great interest in vintage motorcycles. Mr BB helped me out much more than anyone could have expected. A sidecar box was found in a retired AA patrolman’s garden. It had been used for gardening tools since 1962 and was therefor unusable, this was reported back to me and within three weeks another report came. A replica AA box sidecar had been hand made by himself using lock,hinges and other parts from the original box. The finish was even better than mint condition. Brian’s comment was that he enjoyed every minute working on it.

Click on the images.

Below you can read about Brian's latest project.

1911 B.S.A 3½ H.P.(brakeless).
Clutchless fixed engine. Built: 1911-06-11.

It was about 1982 that the remains of the B.S.A. were found by Terry, a V.M.C.C. member,
in the garage of an old house in a village in Essex.
The house had been lived in for many years by an old lady who now lived there alone. Terry had seen the front forks ,mudguard and number plate through the window, hanging on the wall.when he asked ‘what is the motorcycle in the garage’ she at first said that there wasn’t one in there.
Then she said that the garage had not been opened for about 50 years.
So the garage was opened up and most of the important parts of the B.S.A. were found. The frame, forks, engine, exhaust box, Bosch magneto, front wheel, tank and handlebars.
Then the old lady remembered that it had belonged to her brother who had taken it apart either during or soon after the first World War (1914-1918 ) and it was never put back together again.
Perhaps he had been intending to convert it for competition work because all of the original pedalling gear was missing, the handlebars look like B.S.A. T.T. bars and the tank had been altered at the back for some reason. Anyway, a deal was done with the old lady. I think a small donation to her church was all she wanted .

Although Terry is interested most types of motorcycles , the very early bikes are not really his thing so it was soon passed on to a friend of mine, John He made a start on it by rebuilding new wheels and sorting out the valves. But then he was suddenly taken ill with only a few weeks to live so he asked me if I would like to buy it.
He said that he was sure would go to a good home and eventually finds its way back onto the roads. I appreciated his confidence in me. So in 1992 I took it over and restored it during 1995-96. It has been checked by the B.S.A. marque specialist and it is thought to be the second oldest B.S.A. known to the V.M.C.C.
The oldest one is owned by someone living in the south of England, is unrestored and has been in the family since 1950. I have seen this machine and so I have been able to make accurate replica parts that that were missing. The owner has been a great help.

When I restore a bike I like to do as much as I possible can myself. So I have made all the pedalling gear, footrest assemblies, magneto cover box (the original magneto I had rewound and is inside), toolboxes and rear carrier. Also the leather work on the saddle and toolboxes .
The tank was a lot worse than I thought so I decided to make a new one. It was an interesting task.I was unable to get the correct Brown and Barlow carburettor but I did get a B.S.A.
variable jet carb’ that will do well for now. The painting and small nickel plated parts I did myself.
The cylinder barrel I had relined and bored to suit the old piston. The engine bearings were all OK.

At the end of 1995 it was all assembled and was looking forward to hearing the engine
run for the first time since 75 years or more. But the engine was so tight that I could not pedal it over fast enough. As luck would have it a friend of mine was making an electric road rolling machine. So when he had finished it I took the B.S.A. over to him and we ran it on the roller for 15 minutes without the spark plug in, to loosen everything up a bit.
Then the plug back in and a few minutes adjusting the controls and carb’ jet, it eventually burst into life. It was a great day.

I had a bit of trouble with the valves on the first two runs that I went on. First the valve guides were to tight and the valves stuck. Then after that was sorted out the valve pins broke, so I had the valve stems slotted to take a flat plate. Now, no problems and everything is settling down nicely. It is surprisingly easy to ride. I was once told that it takes 100 miles to tame a veteran motorcycle. Both the B.S.A. and I are now on the same wavelength and we enjoy each others company.

The fuel consumption is quite heavy. Only about 50 miles to the imperial gallon or 100 km to 5,3 litres. So to avoid running out of petrol on a rally I have made an extra fuel tank fitted to the rear carrier. It is actually an old fire extinguisher and is in a leather case. It gives me another 30 miles and piece of mind. Not being a very athletic sort of individual I must admit I do find it difficult to restart the engine sometimes especially if it is uphill, so to make life easier and safer I am now making an engine pulley clutch that will bolt onto the crankshaft. It is of my own design and so far looks very promising.

My next rally will be the 1997 Pioneer Run to Brighton in March. I wonder if John will be looking
down from above pleased that I have full filled my promise to him to complete the restoration.
Brian Brockbank.

 © copyright Morgan Johansson. all rights reserved.