Britbike forum Forums British Motorcycle specific Brands Bsa bulletin board 66 Victor up on the bench

So as you could read on the original thread , there were some questions about how bad the rear fender mounts looked on my frame and now here are some better photos of that area after the frame was stripped.












At first I thought maybe my frame was brazed by the new guy on the line but I can see a line of braze were the original brackets were or so it seems..... No idea what may have happened here .....



Although the rest of the brazing isnt that pretty either







Now I am anxious to see how the painter prepped this area before paint.... I was on his ass for the last year to fix this so I could see it before he painted it but he didnt do anything until he did it all at once


I will be continuing this thread in the project forum....
https://www.britbike.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=707608#Post707608

So I went to pick up the Victor from the shop and was pretty happy with the job that they did. They dumped out a couple 5 gallon buckets of Whitworth hardware for me to go through and find some replacement for my either missing or nasty looking or just completely wrong hardware on my frame.... Pinch bolts and shock mounting bolts and stuff like that. Mine had home depot bolts for pinch bolt and even nastier mismatched bolts on the Shocks... A few hours searching through hardware and I was golden.... Or as golden as I could be I suppose .....

Things I will need as I put this beast back together are becoming apparent as well.
Bent shock so I'll be looking for a pair of those.


I'll be looking for a rear fender as well. But here are a few photos of how the fender brackets turned out. It is not the nice clean factory job but short of that its a lot better then it was.















My fork caps were in bad shape so he put these on. Mine were more round on top so I will keep an eye out for correct ones but these will do for now


The new pinch bolt I sourced from the buckets look to be somewhat correct


Ill be needing these oil tank rubbers as these are just sitting on there with the bottoms broken off


A better photo showing the sweep at the end of my fender. This seems to be correct for the 66 model. And maybe only that model?
Correct me if I am wrong before I go searching for a fender


This image shows the pinch bolt I sourced which fits but I dont think its correct so I will look for a correct one


Another problem I am having is getting the axle all the way in. I think the thread are full of 3 layers of paint. Anyone have a reversed thread tap for the fork leg on a 66 Victor??????? Does that exist.... Other tips on cleaning out the threads?

Also it seems to be pulling the wheel over to the left . I dont see a spacer on the workshop manual but I need to no more before I proceed



Over all though I am pretty happy with the results and I am anxious to get started on polishing , rebuilding and learning more about this bike. All tips and suggestions are welcome. As if I wont have enough suggestions from Ruppert Ratio

Wade,
I have been using NJB Shocks on my bike and have been quite satisfied. They look the part, fit, work a whole lot better than Emgo knockoffs, and are a lot less expensive than Hagons or Ikons. Walridge's carries them and frequently has a discount on them during their Christmas sale.

Ed from NJ

Good to know Ed ----Thanks !!!

Thanks for the photobucket fix Daryl D .... I can see photos again

Hi,
Cheap Chinese 9/16 x 20 LH taps are available on ebay
It will be fine to clean out the paint from the fork leg
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2X-Right-Left-Hand-9-16-20-TPI-Unified-USA-Standard-Threads-HSS-Right-Hand-Tap-/302309574258?hash=item46630e0672:g:7-YAAOSwsjRZiCGl

or a set of carbon steel taps
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RDGTOOLS-9-16-x-20-tpi-left-hand-CLASSIC-CAR-taps-MYFORD-/290687222865?epid=1456172734&hash=item43ae4f0451:g:x6UAAMXQPatTKATt


John

After all this time I spent the day back at Sixth Street Specials to see if I could get the Victor to start... We got teased a bit but it will need a little more love and attention

https://vimeo.com/500678334

[vimeo]Starting Rebuild Tease[/vimeo]

The fact that Victors didn't come with chokes doesn't help in getting them started or running when cold.

I fitted a choke to my Victor, does help a bit on cold starts but oddly works better at hot starts when you have left the bike for 10 mins. Must be a heat soak issue or a lack of vacuum draw at kicking speeds because as soon as the engine starts it 8 strokes until the choke is turned off. What does help the cold starts is an extended throttle stop screw, turn it in 1 to 1.5 turns and you no longer have to guess the starting opening and it will tick over when cold allowing gloves and helmets to be donned after kicking.

That was a little painful to watch... it wants to start (maybe not run, but wants to start).

Wade, read through a few of the many previous posts on starting the Victor. I won't go through a drill here, but I will suggest that;

No throttle, none at all while starting . You might alter this slightly after getting to know the bike.

Compression release is your friend, acquaint yourself with when and how to incorporate it into your starting procedure.

The kick itself is more of a stroke, not a jumping jab like starting a Jap bike. Kinda hard to describe, but you'll know it when you do it (really feels good!).

After a few failures to start, walk away for a couple minutes. More fiddling is probably just going to flood it.

You'll get there...

I agree, painful!

I found starting a very hit and miss afair after I had rebuilt it. The bike was well sorted with new piston, rings, valves, carb, electronic ignition (vape), and, when running, well tuned.

Bugger to start until I watched this .

The guy is a little younger than me, but my weight makes up for his youthful vigour on the kick. technique is all!

He makes that look easy !!

Another question... I replaced the front sprocket when I did the motor but it seems I put on the wrong size. Its for regular chain and my rear sprocket is 520... I even ordered 520 chain... What are my options for changing rear sprocket? Is it interchangeable? I ordered the sprocket for a Victor . Did the later Victors run regular chain?

I assume by regular chain you mean 530, if so then the A65 used rear sprockets of 530 and have the same bolt pattern but maybe not the same number of teeth.

So at the shop says that I had that chain thing wrong... Front sprocket is 520 . My rear sprocket is smaller... What was the factory size on a 66 Victor?
Do I have options on changing the size of my rear sprocket or do I have to change my front sprocket again?

428 chain, matched to a variation of the C15/B40 6" rear brake. 67 onwards is 520 with 7" brake and QD hub. So change the gearbox sprocket or get a 67 onwards rear wheel making sure it's not the A65 version. Swingarm is unchanged and takes both wheels, you will need axle and bolts, spacers etc.

This the most useful BSA post I've seen to date! Good on him!! My B44 powered B40 is about a year out from being started, can someone tell me how to save this video? I am computer illiterate, so be patient and help me if you can.

old daddy . Just bookmark the video page . So you can go back to it anytime. .

I ordered a new 520 rear sprocket today from Speed and Sport to fit my full width hub... So the build can go on.... Are the points hard to get? my shop said they werent available when they ordered a new condenser and some other stuff for me.

just one small addition to the video I posted ...........

My bike can flood moderately easily if I tickle the carb when it doesn't need it, Unfortunately determining if it needs it or not is far from being an exact science. If it doesn't start 1st or 2nd kick assume flooded.

So, to start if flooded........ ignition OFF (I know some say ignition on, too scary for me). throttle wide open, pull deco lever, kick over 5 or 6 times then start as in video.

Keep the ignition on when kicking over with decompression open and full throttle. When the spark returns a loud bang will shoot out the silencer and then you can follow normal routine,

Why switch the ignition off? I have started many a B50 thats flooded by ignition on, throttle fully open, ease it over compression and kick, it might take a couple of kicks but you know when its ready as it will just start right up... with the throttle wide open still, just close the throttle when it has.

Kommando, it is the loud bang that scares the willies out of me! and there just is no need for it, 5 quick pumps of the kick starter takes no effort with the deco lever pulled invariably works (for me and my bike), no need to scare the horses don't cha know!

Pub car park entertainment.

Still weighing my options on the Victor's Ignition woes... PLV apparently makes an electronic ignition as well... If I dont stick with the points and ET ignition and decide to go electronic ... I think the PLV or the electrix system are the other options.... Ive heard some opinions on the Electrix , how about anyone with experience with the PLV german made system???

Said it before and will say it again ......... the Vape (sold by Wassel) system is cheap, very well made, and staggeringly easy to fit.
It also has the huge advantage of not being able to mess around with it,
No "I'll just try it a couple of degrees advanced / retarded", nope, you fit them to the one set of marks, and done.

Have you fitted a new carb yet? lets face it any carb that is 55 years old will be shagged and no number of rebuild kits will sort it out.