Britbike forum Forums British Motorcycle specific Brands Bsa bulletin board Hornet, Wasp, Spitfire Hornet, Cyclone (Restored)

Ok folks, this is a start to restoring the thread started by Gary E. It's a little bit raw, I'll dress it up if it becomes necessary.
Hope you like it, feel free to post away.

Hornet, Wasp, Spitfire Hornet, Cyclone (pages 1 to 64)

Well done John. I am sure Gary will be feeling a little happier with the world now.
Thanks again, a brilliant effort mate.

Nice work. I got 'em saved now but this is an excellent start for resuscitating this thread.

Good onya as we say in OZ.

Now that is sweet. Thanks a ton for the compact comprehensive list. You da man!

I have been saving each page the last couple of days, but I can only get about 10 in at a time, as google locks me out after several. Must me sensing that I'm a hacker or something. Then I have to wait several hours before their system resets to go at it again. Also I couldn't get pages 23 and 29 to load. Got them now.

'67 Hornet Basket - Ebay

It's located not far from me. It's currently at $1,000, so is above my interest level.

Hard to tell by the fuzzy images, but looks to be a west coast frame. The frame number supports that based on my data base of Hornet numbers. The engine number, although not matching, also possibly fits in with west coast model numbers.

Not much else there in the pile is '67 or original. Oil tank, front end (forks, wheel, hub), carbs. are not Hornet items. Side covers are '66. Old primary cover. Tank, has no side transfer indentions. Can't tell about the rear fender. With the holes, looks to be non-Hornet. Also, don't know if the high pipes are originals or reproductions. So, basically a frame, engine, seat, maybe pipes, towards it being a Hornet machine again.

'67 Hornet West Coast model - Ebay relisted after failed sale

Seemed appropiate to put this on the thread even though it has a thread of its own. Also since another contributor to the other thread had alternative motives not related to the subject.

Richard mentioned in the other thread about the center stand. As you all know, west coast model Hornets didn't originally have a center stand since the TT pipes are in the way. Looking at the pipes on this machine, they look to be pulled out to the side more than normal. Maybe to facilitate being able to utilize the center stand.

Also, the right side pipe looks to have significant damage on the bottom. Not much support for the pipes with the rear mount cutoff. Only support then would be up front.

It was not me. Show us a link so we can see it.

From memory you have never seen one of these Gary? They are in the parts manual as a West Coast Hornet item.
Try this.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/300887323462?item=300887323462&viewitem=&sspagename=ADME:B:ONA:US:1120&vxp=mtr

Sid

Oh and by the way I dont recall ever seeing a photo of your 68 Firebird Gary!
Sid

Look at the mounting bracket! This seat is for a 1966 B44 Victor Enduro or a B40 Enduro Star/C15 Pastoral. The bracket sits on top of the little loops in front of the top shock mounts.

Still quite hard to find and the brackets are almost impossible, I've been looking for one for years, - but not convinced it's an A65 seat.

I'm with Vic on it looking like a seat for a machine other than the Hornet. The rear mounting brackets are too far forward to line up with the mounting tabs on an A65 frame. I think the buyer is going to be disappointed when he gets it if he bought it as an A65 seat. He will be real happy if he bought it as a seat for a B44.

As a side note, the factory "Parts Service Bulletin No:GA.22", dated November 1966, for "'A' Group MODELS - 1967" is a list of part number changes, additions and deletions. For the solo seat in the '67 Spares manual the bulletin deletes "H U.S.A." and adds L,T,R. Figure that one out.

I'll post a pic of the Firebird when I get it freshened up this fall. It's restoration is work in progress as a rider until I get the '68 Spitfire going in the next month or so. Both will be at the '14 International Rally, with the Firebird as my backup machine.

The seat and pan probably are the same as the one for the A65. The front bracket on the solo seat is bolted on rather than welded like the later B44 brackets, so it can have other mounting set-ups (the T20 Cub solo seat is the same with a differently shaped front bracket bolted on). The rear bracket of course is bolt-on also, so there may be other configurations for it also?

Interestingly there was the same style and condition seat sold a couple weeks ago on ebay, advertised as a B44 seat, no mention of A65. It only sold for $90... so apparently adding in A65 to the auction was pretty good marketing!

Vic, if you are looking for a rear bracket, Steadfast (one of the sponsors here) sells them for around $20... don't know if they have the fronts, but one can easily be removed from a later B44 pan, drilled and mounted on the solo.

As you say, the seat and pan may very well be the same for B44 and A65/A50. The factory did that a lot. But the distance from the seat front and rear mounting tabs on the A65/A50 frame precludes that particular ebay seat from being used unless some adaption is made.

Yes, good marketing, purposed or not.

How about these from the same seller? I haven't seen the cable guides available before but suspect they are for an earlier A10 model like a Spitfire Scrambler?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/300887366927?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2648

Sid

That seller is mis-identifying parts and getting big bucks for them. Those handlebars are way to tall to be Hornet bars, or any other model of the period. Never seen original factory cable guides that look like those either.

As the saying goes, buyer beware. I think I'll put some old cocktail shaker style mufflers on ebay and label them as Hornet originals.

I went back and read about half of the old thread. Two things really come to mind: thanks to you all who rescued the thread. And too bad Skeet isn't with us any more.

Skeet made great contributions to the thread early on. He was instrumental in me starting the thread.

Hi Guys,

as a Newbee I'm not up to speed about the thread issues here but do I presume that there is still a Hornet thread or is it now rolled up under general BSA?

Thanks all.

Ardee

Ardee,
The "Hornet, Wasp, Spitfire Hornet, Cyclone" thread still exists. This is it. You are in the right place. The very first post of this thread includes a link to the entire original thread of 64 pages that were lost when the forum experienced a total loss of several threads.

A big thanks to Two Alpha for reconstructing and saving the original thread, providing a link to it, as well as doing the same for several other threads.

I'm going to try to put some photos of my new project Hornet up.




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[img]http://i1203.photobucket.com/a...s/bb386/2stillwaters2/SAM_0740.jpg[/img]bums/bb386/2stillwaters2/SAM_0761.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

I read the Hornet threads from start to finish and they amount to a fantastic body of knowledge. In fact they answered just about every question I had about the bikes.

I saw my first Hornet about 20 years ago sitting in a classic bike shop in Suffolk UK. It was quite tatty and had a huge hole in the back of the crankcase/gearbox. The asking price was well off my budget but I discovered this one advertised in Old Bike Mart by Yeomans Motorcycles in Worcestershire UK.

The bike came over from USA in a container full of spares and was one of three which they took delivery of.

The other sold for around £4.5k and I picked this one up for £3.5k. THat's a fair price I feel in view of the fact that the machine looks pretty complete and also I liked the fact that it looked well used! Engine compression is reasonable but I have no spark yet as I haven't fathoed out the ignition fitted.

It has a fout wire alternator cable which all seems to connect to a zenor diaode thingy (rectifyer?) and provision for a battery. Not sure if it's still 6V or 12v though. can anyone help please.

This is a fantastic forum and I congratulate you all for provided such a superb technical and editorial content.

Well done Y'all!

Ardee

Ardee,

Thanks for the info and pics of your Hornet. Some of the links didn't work. You got a good start with what you've got there. A good idea is to get the CDwith the part manuals and shop manual as the Hornet has some different parts not common to the other A65/A50 models of the period.

The original Hornet stator is a 5 wire unit, but some of the wires are not used as they are for adding lights. And that stator/ET coil combo didn't produce much in the way of light brightness anyway. Not good for riding at night, just for getting you home after a brew at the local pub. Don't know what you got on there, could be either 6 or 12 volt that someone added.

Thanks for the feedback

Here are the missing pics. Any guidance on that ignition system would be very much appreciated.



This is the engine number which matches the frame.




ANd the frame number.



So waht sort of coils are these please anyone? A battery is fitted.



This is a Lucas item - Lucas Rita? 12 volt?



Are these exhaust supports period items or after market? They appear very well made.

Cheers. Ardee

Lets all have a great day! Leon Bee, who has never deleted a post in his life no matter how dumb.

By the way, going up to Kansas to pick up a 65 Spitfire Hornet about next week.

Ardee, it's just been converted from the ET ignition. Do you have another box on there somewhere?

Ardee,
The frame and engine numbers do indicate it is a '66, late in the model year. So original parts would be the same as the '67 model year, except for the side covers (indented emblems & color) and color of the tank.

The exhaust mufflers and there supports are after-market items. Also, don't know what the plate below the pipes with the 4 bolts is, but it is not an original Hornet item.