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My b50mx project just completed. Almost ready for the track!

My '71 Rocket 3. Just 4400 miles on it when I got it.[img]http://https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/50855074716/in/album-72157717959562116/[/img]

1966 A65L

[img]https://postimg.cc/75kDs1wb[/img]

Howdy, all.

As I've finally arrived as a BSA owner, guess a couple pix are in order. For anyone not following along, I just bought a 1966 A65T Thunderbolt in nice original condition. It has 5516 miles showing on the clock. The guy I bought it from (3rd owner) had it since June 2008, rode it barely 300 miles- BUT added a Boyer + new wiring harness. The owner prior (#2), had it sitting in some basement for 30 years- as the story goes. No details on how much he/she rode the bike. I assume the original owner put the bulk of the 5516 miles on, but I'll never really know. It is certain tho that the bike sat around most of its 55 years however. Andy Lorenz tells me the bike was dispatched to New Jersey on 16 March 1966. The seller told me he somehow had the impression the bike was purchased out of Maryland? In any case, it hasn't made it very far from its original point of entry into the U.S.! The bike will be a rider for me, but it's original, complete, and clean enough to show on occasion.

Cheers. Tom

When my dad was in high school in Ohio—but not yet driving age—he had his older brother buy an almost-new 1968 BSA Starfire for him.

He used the bike as a runabout for a few years, but then he parked it in the barn in late 1977 or early 1978, never to ride it again.

With 6,089 miles, the bike rusted away in the barn until 2007, when I was able to convince him to bring it down to me in Texas.

From 2007-2020, I stored the bike in garages and climate-controlled storage. But the bike was getting to a desperate state.

In September 2020, we finally pulled the trigger. I worked with a British bike specialist, and we quickly assessed that the engine could indeed run. We decided to go for a full restoration, salvaging whatever parts we could.

Here's the BEFORE state:



It looks pretty good from a distance, but the condition is rough. Check out the speedometer, for example:



After a 30+ week restoration, way too much money for the bike, and numerous technical challenges due to Small Heath's proclivity for "tweaking" things continually, I'm happy to say the bike has seen the road for the first time in 43 years!

The frame was powder coated, NOS front wheel fitted, NOS rear rim with new spokes and original hub built, new Dunlops sourced from the UK, all casings vapor blasted, all brightwork rechromed (except a few small pieces that were replaced), engine completely rebuilt with MAP conrod, very slight .020 bore, Pazon ignition, spin-on oil filter kit from Paul Goff, new AMAL Premier carb, speedometer restored by Vintage British Cables, and much more. We lined the original fiberglass tank and kept it (original paint, original badges for now). We also cleaned and reinstalled the original oil tank and side cover (original paint for now).

Here are a couple of photos and a video of the AFTER state:


(restored by Vintage British Cables in Alberta, Canada)





At some point, I should probably create a whole thread about this one

Speedy.....great job!!!!! looks/sounds wonderful!!!

Brings back memories that Speedy me first bike as a kid cracking job there mate !!!!!!! credit

Well, i just thought to post a picture of my latest project bike which is on the road now since last fall.


because of miserable weather over here in Germany for a long time, i just made roughly 1200 km with it. We still have temps under 10 ° C and it is no big fun touring with the bikes. Was out with another bike of mine yesterday and get fully wet. Had to spend one hour in the hot bathtub afterwards to get warm again. But i am very pleased with the bike so far.

1953 bsa a10 golden flash. I used to have a 51 model the same colours back in 73 so very nostalgic.
How do i post a jpg file? I don't have a web address of it.[img]https://photos.app.goo.gl/JWyVsDLjMa948Fsr6[/img]

Use a third party image host like Post Images. Load the image on their site, then post the "forum style link" they provide on here and the image will appear.

Just do not use Photobucket.

‘68 Firebird

Is that a bsa issue 4x12? Nice job on the rebuild.

1971 Rocket 3

My 68
[img]https://www.dropbox.com/s/y5zkd5trqhxsl0u/20210523_182124.jpg?dl=0[/img]

This little Beasty is taking shape. Looking to get it running this winter

C15 Factory Scramble Frame
B44 Square Barrel 441V
B50 Front end and tank

This is my new to me 1969 BSA 441 Victor Special. It had been stored in the previous owners living room since 2005 and only has 5,491 original miles on it. I now have it running very well, but still need to fine-tune the ignition timing. I love BSA singles, previously owning a B50 that I regret selling years ago.

[b]1969 BSA 441 Victor Special[/b]

You are going to like the footpeg location VS a standard Victor. I have the same setup, a '65 C15FSR frame with a '67 B44EA engine. That heavy back wheel with the tiny chain got ditched and replaced with a Husky wheel, and it ended up with a grey leg Husky front end and wheel on the other end. And then I rode the crap out of it for years so it's gotten a little tired lately. But you're going to have a great bike there.

Husky rear wheel....Interesting.

As with all other sub-groups, all previous photos of my bikes are long gone since PictureTrail went away; so, I'll start over.

My first BSA was a '68 441 Victor with newer forks & 21" front wheel, a Mikuni pumper carb, tall dirt bike handlebars, and a few other upgrades. Only had it a very short time before I traded it for an all-original beater 441; I never got a photo of the first one.

This was the one I swapped it for, then I restored it...





Did a total restoration to near original, but had so many bikes that this one didn't get a lot of use. I gave it to my older brother, he rode it some then gave it back. It sat for years, then I sold it to a bb.com member



That oil tank cap sure is a pain in the thigh...

My second BSA was a chopper rescue of a '69 Royal Star 500.

I was scrounging for parts for a few years before I got serious; I had been leaning toward building a replica "Army" bike when I found this tan seat, but never got THAT serious about it.

The bike was bought in a "threefer" chopper rescue from a dud in Oklahoma, and ALL THREE bikes were covered in red dirt, hard caked with black oil.



As I was raising a young 'un, I had to pay bills, so off it went... (it sold well as a "beater bike", which was much appreciated at the time)

In 2006, I made a lot purchase for a U-Haul truck full of Britbike parts including a bunch of BSA thumper stuff (and a real nice Rickman Montesa 250), a pile of Triumph T120 engines, a half dozen Norton big twin heads, and a mess of bodywork, suspension, and wheels.

I think the middle bike was the nearest complete thumper I was able to put together until I bought ANOTHER lot of all BSA thumper parts from an old racer friend, and put together the other two (plus one last really incomplete one that I'm ashamed to show)



Only one of these (the one with Ceriani forks) was restored and sold, ALL the rest of my BSA thumper stuff was re-sold in one big lot that I delivered to St. Louis.

This A65 started out as a "mostly there" rolling project, loosely assembled along with a half-dozen other bikes from two separate lot purchases. Most of it came from a 7-bike Alabama deal.

I put together a bunch of rolling projects and sold most of them right away, with two of them being commissioned by buyers to be resto/mods, and two to be restorations.

This was one of the resto/mods to a "rat" cafe racer.



The buyer didn't have the funds for a full engine overhaul, so like an idiot I agreed to build it with just a flush of the bottom end and a rebuilt top end. That came back to bite me in the butt because I was an idiot and gave him a warranty allowance when the purchase was clearly WITHOUT warranty. I did it mainly to save my reputation from a VERY threatening situation (I had just started my business). The guy was a website designer, so it cost him nothing to create a very libelous website, then basically blackmailed me with it (although we was very "polite" about it).

eh...you don't want to hear about my problems, there's the photo of the BSA...

that looks like the rolling 'project' you sold me about 10 years ago loosely assembled with zip ties

ALL of the rolling projects I sold used zip ties.

...and allthread, and coat hangar wire, and mismatched parts, and mismatched hardware.

After all, they were rolling PROJECTS! That stuff wasn't meant to be anything but enough to roll it onto the shipping truck, and roll it into the buyer's shop to get to work on.

I did one other warranty replacement where there was no warranty paid for, offered, or implied. THAT one was handled in a much more friendly fashion. THAT guy ended up giving ME a rolling project that he came across, totally of his own accord. Pretty cool.

The next A65 I found was pretty rough, it had a steel tractor seat welded to the frame before I took this "before" photo.



I got it in a "twofer" with a '61 Triumph, from a small town near Laredo. Check out the front fork covers, they're rolled up sheet metal safety-wired in place.