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Happiness is a full garage. (as long as the wife doesn't have a litter to foster)



Opie

Lookin' good Opie! :bigt

Don in Nipomo... hey, about that phone number

I sent it to you in my last mail????....I'm headed out to walk dogs...be back in a bit.

336-667-5684

Opie

You have no idea...the best in a long time. Had some quality dirt time with the ceefer and at least 40 other BSA's. Pictures and video to follow in another thread.

Glad to hear you got it sorted even if I had to razz you to stay on it

Not surprised it was something simple...it usually is.

So, if a C15 is a Ceefer... is a B40 a Beefer?

Seems the obvious conclusion to me...

Steve, are you going to the clubman's show? I believe I have a front wheel of yours.

C15--250 Ceefer
B40--350 Beefier

Alex, I still don't know about the Clubmans. I was planning on going with a friend who cancelled out over the weekend. And my van has developed some problems that make it untrustworthy for that long a trip this coming Friday. I'll probably decide at the last minute, and rent-a-wreck if do go.

What wheel do you have... I don't remember it? It may be Gordon's?

Steve it is indeed Gordons or at least the front wheel of that Enduro Star lump I picked up in Sacramento for gordon about a year ago. Let me know if you do decide to go I can bring it.

Gordon,
You have told me before that you wern't a B50 fan. I ask why? They have all the character of a B44, except perhaps the niot so pretty gas tank and that danged electrical box. After you get by those things.....and you have already done that, its all good. The B50 has a more comfortable riding position, a better seat, better brakes, more power, a better bottom end, better handling and a speedo that works for more than a year.

What say there singles man?

Mr Mike

Hey Mr Mike, sorry for the slow reply, it's been a crazy week.

My first motorcycle (in 1969) was a 1965 BSA Enduro Star. it was sort of a mongrel (long story) but it was love at first sight and still today I think it's one of the best looking unit bikes BSA made. My riding buddy had a 1968 Victor SS and we rode all over S. Cali on those bikes. He talked me into buying a brand new 1968 B44VS and the love affair continued.

I've just never liked the looks of the stock B50. Several years back I had a vision of a B50 I wanted to try and started buying any and all of them I could afford. I ended up with 4 or 5 and the one I have now is what came out of it....but it took me....what???.... 6 years to finish it because some where along the line I lost interest. During that time I let three of the B50 go too......damnit. But I like this bike and we'll just have to see how it goes. Since right now I'm waiting on engine bits for the B44 I want to attach the sidecar to, having the B50 to scoot around on will be a blessing.

Time will tell....I can tell you that so far....I love it.

See ya in May....your friend in another part of NC....Gordon

What do you need?
Dennis

Gordon,
I will agree that the b44's, both Victor and VR/SS are the better lookers. I hated that my SS tank went south on me and i now have a SS/VS mongrel. Your B50 looks real nice with that tank, exhaust, and the electric box gone. Can surely see the Sidecar rig being the priority now. Ain't it nice to to have to choose between such good things.

Been remodeling the house so riding is taking a back seat...but I'll be done by TSMR.



Mr Mike

Sorry Dennis....I just now saw this. My bits are in the shop getting some magic done to them. Just taking some time to get them done....the man is busy and I'm not in a hurry.

GG

Spring has finally sprung here in this part of NC. The plan for today was to get both the B50 and the B44 rig out and air them out a bit. I started on the B44.......and well, was having such a good time I spent the whole day on it.

Started off giving some gravel a try like Don's been suggesting.



I'm a bit too high geared for much of that....damn near threw me off the bike!!!!

I stayed out of the mountains and down in the foothills....Elkin, Austin, Traphill and a lot of back country roads.



I'm finally getting the hang of it and I'm starting to REALLY enjoy the rig. I rode through several small towns....traffic and all. This is a shot of the city park in Elkin. Nice to see some color.





Almost 200 miles today....it'll be the B50's turn tomorrow.

Hope your weekend is going well.....Opie in NC

Gordon, that outfit really looks great. I can't think of a better way to travel or camp. I'm sure it will be loads of fun and attract a lot of attention wherever you go. Looks like ya'll had as nice a day today as we did. I was invited to tag along with Cass and a couple other guys on a ride. We also did about 200 miles, including the Richard Russell Scenic Highway. That is really a great road, especially since they repaved most of it. Enjoyed your pics. Greg

Hey Greg....yes, I remember the Richard Russell Hwy. Beautiful country up there.

My plans are for my first camping trip with the rig to be for the BIBR 2014. I was just shy of covering that distance today.
I have already mapped out a route and it'll be two lane roads all the way. Should be an easy ride and a GREAT event to attend. I miss hanging around you guys and look forward to being there.

The rig will replace my cooler bags and have enough room I can actually bring the kitchen sink!!!!

Take care and hope to see you this summer.

Gordon (aka Opie)

How'd the B fitty go, Gordon?

Well.............not so good. Talking about having a good time is a LOT more fun than talking about bad times. So I've been quiet until I could sort it out.

Bad news....the miss came back. What had me baffled was I could drive around the neighborhood for hours and it runs GREAT. All cleaning the swarf out of that little hole let me do was get another quarter turn out on the mixture screw (maybe?? I did have to adjust it again). The bike will start with one or two kicks hot or cold. BUT...if I head out on the highway....ugh.... it starts to cough and spit ??????????????????

So....what's a man to do? CALL DON ROE!!!!!!! It takes him a 10th of the time to figure it out than it took me to tell the tale. "It's probably VIBRATION related" he says. I used a new handlebar mounted ATV accessory switch for my ignition switch. As it turns out it doesn't like the B50's Buzz...so I've ordered another switch that is designed for an ignition switch.

I should have it out of the neighborhood and out on the road this weekend.

I have ridden it some at speed (before the switch started to fail) and my first thought was "I'm going to have to get a better helmet"

When there's some good news to post....I'll be back with photo's.

See ya in May, your friend in another part of NC....Gordon

Hope that's all it is. Had a similar situation last year that turned out to be a bad coil.

Is Barbara going to need a ride this year or is she going to be driving Greg's Thruxton?:)

YEE HAW....FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (uh...fingers crossed...)

All I can say for 100% sure is I did almost 100 trouble free miles today....without one hiccup. :bigt

The plan was to get up early and go see Windy. I drove around last night until late and the bike was doing fine. BUT....Windy's is around 75 miles one way and in a direction where I would have trouble getting back home if need be. My wife is at the beach and I'm home alone with nobody to call. So I decided to make a loop out of it instead and put Stone Mountain State Park in the middle of it.




It was a beautiful day. It was in the 60's when I left and almost 80 when I got back. Pretty blue skies. I picked this area because I knew a lot of locals would be in the area and if I needed to hitch a ride it would be pretty easy since I would never be more than 30 miles from home.

Our (North Carolina) Stone Mountain is beautiful and is stuck way back in the woods with little development around it.



I parked at the lower parking lot and took a 2 mile hike to the bottom of the mountian.



The trails are well kept but it's still early and there's very little color right now. Lucky enough though the Roddies are always green.



Some of the "first" people used places like this up here as shelter.



Later on the shelters looked more like this



To be continued....opie

Here's a shot of the rock itself. As you can see the leaves are just starting to bud. If you look close (if you have zoom) there's a climber on the rock to the right just above the trees. To help you tell how big the rock is, that's a family walking into the woods at the base just left of center.



It takes a fat man a bit to do 2 miles but by the time I got back the bike still hadn't marked it's spot. :bigt I found a cure for that worn out washer on the oil filter's bowl bolt. (ask and I'll tell)



I took this shot in hopes you could see how that tree has grown on that rock.





And these to show how nice and clear the water is up here. No cow pasture run off or septic systems to mess things up.



The head pipe's changing color...I figured it would since it was really thin. If it doesn't get much worst than that I can live with it.



Quick stop at the Stone Mountain Country Store for something to drink and a rock in the rocking chairs.

It was a good day. I was a bit worried, I know most of you know the feeling, waiting for that first sign that something's not right. But today it all went well.

OH....you might be wondering what the problem was with the B50.
I would have bet my shirt it was that switch. I worked with the bike off and on all day yesterday and one by one checked things off the list of possible causes. Turns out (I hope) Mike Baker (mblab) was right....changing out the brand new (Emgo)coil with an old (Lucas) one put the bike back on the road.

Hope your weekend went as well as mine.....Opie in NC

Oh and I figured out today what the side cover decals need to say

"NO, it's NOT a Triumph"

For pete sakes two fellows today had never even heard of a BSA.

Opie

wish you would of let me know you was not coming up . was to nice of a day to just hang around here. I did FINALLY get the bike out and run up the mountain a few times.

Yea....that was crappy of me...sorry... But in my defense I left pretty early...probably before you were up and I planned on calling you along the way. Once out of Elkin...I had no service until I got back into Wilkes County and home.

I tried a couple of texts messages from the park....sometimes they will go through before a call will...but no go.

I kept thinking I would go ahead and slip up the mountian and over to your place but just the thought of trying to walk from Mountain City back to Wilkes just didn't fit well and hitching along that road sucks....too many city folks.

Sorry if I messed up your day.. ..I'll make it up to you next Sunday???? Lunch on me at the BBQ place???? (if they're open Sunday?)


Opie