Britbike forum Forums British Motorcycle specific Brands Bsa bulletin board 1965 BSA Lightning Rocket-Original Survivor

I just brought home this 1965 Lightning Rocket. It is a 2600 mile original paint survivor. Feel free to pick it apart or gush over it. If any detail pictures are desired just ask.

What a wonderful example. Drool worthy. Fabulous!

Gushing, not picking!!! You lucky man.

Looks fantastic!!!

What a great looking bike. In process of building one now.

Excellent! If you need any detail pictures just let me know.

Must have been in a large Zip Loc bag !

Congratulations Dave on acquiring a fine example of an L/R!

Been out of town, I will answer your questions on the other site soon.

The seat looks tacky compared to the rest of the bike.

It is the stock seat and is in like new condition as the rest of the bike. The first time I saw a stock LR seat I thought it wasn't correct.

Perhaps, perhaps not. On a bike like this, you probably would want to preserve it. I guess you could put a "clubman" seat on it for fun.
While not near as nice, my 65 LR 283 units newer down the assembly line, untouched with 6,003 miles. Same seat.

It does almost seem like it. I only know a sparse history of the bike since 1982. It was displayed in a business office and never ridden.

"Never ridden" is why the con-rods never let go.

Ha! Believe me, I won't be testing the redline on this one.

Shouldn't it have Gold Star type tank badges?

The "home market" tank had these style.

Congratulations Dave!!

Inquiring minds want to know....How did you happen upon this time capsule of a bike, and what is its story?

A few extra bits that came with the bike. 50 wt oil, the original spark plugs, Lucas points, handbook and 65 brochures.

Not too exciting Jon. There is a motorcycle and car museum about 200 miles from me that had this on display for 2 years. Since they do not have unlimited space occasionally they sell off a few bikes to make room for others.

Not quite sure what you mean, but its in great condition and someones taste is their own personal opinion.

I recently aquired an original seat like that, I thought that they were only used on the off road models but on further searching found they were correct for the lightning. I like mine, much better than the hump seat which came later, especially for carrying throw over bags or a pillion (which is the reason why I bought mine). I much prefer the look over the type fitted here to the likes of the Star models with the beading all the way around the top, like a bantam seat.

Yes. Correct seat and I think it looks good. I rubbed my seat with baby oil and it restored flexibility to cover.

It's amazing to think that this bike could have been kept in a place where the seat material, tires, rubber bits, seals, etc could have been preserved for 57 years. It wouldn't even have survived in my HOUSE all that time without daily maintenance.

It's encouraging, though, as I get older and think about what bike (or car) I might like to ride or drive out of all the thousands of models I've seen, drooled over, and/or lusted after in the last 50 years .... that pristine examples of almost every car or bike ever made are still out there, ready to ride or drive.

And you found one! Maybe I'd like a perfect 1955 Nash Metropolitan with 8,000 miles on it. I'm sure it's out there, and cheaper than a new Subaru too ....

Lannis

The toolkit appears to be quite complete. The plastic plugs are the same size and thread as the sparkplug.

Had a hard time finding nice correct headlight and tailight for mine. Found these nos ones from Baxter cycle. These 64 and 65 LR are so unique.

It's a real time capsule.