Britbike forum Forums Buy & sell - private adverts only! Garage sale - The private buy & sell board 1969 BSA Lightning for sale

Hi all,

My dad's 1969 BSA Lightning has been in an unheated garage in the Boston area for my entire life, contrary to the desire of my mother to have it gone. He didn't have the heart to sell it in his lifetime and has left its fate to us. I live in California now and part of me wants to ship it out here and fix it up, but another part of me wants to sell it and put the money towards I bike I'll have to worry about a lot less.

I've posted on a BSA facebook group and have gotten some feedback about what the bike could be worth if I got it running and what it may be worth in it's current state, and I'm essentially looking for similar feedback here. My dream would be to have it taken off my hands by someone with the knowledge and bandwidth to get it running and keep it running, and to go on a ride with them and the bike someday.


Craigslist: https://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/mcy/d/cambridge-1969-bsa-lightning/7511224101.html


$5,200 obo

This bike has been unridden in a garage for the last 20+ years. My father was the second owner and didn't have the heart to sell it but it's time to make some space and get it to someone who thinks she deserves to be ridden as much as I do. In 2016, Madhouse Motors serviced it and got it running but it has been sitting since with some fuel in the tank. Madhouse Motors did the following work:

-Drained wet-sumped oil from sump, add new oil
- Installed new battery
-Removed raker cover, checked and set valves, reinstalled cover with Hylomar
-Replaced sparkplugs
-Checked primary chain tension
-Cleaned/synced carbs
-Replaced fuel line from tank to carbs
-Checked oil return flow
-Checked timing
-Checked brakes and bearings, lubed brake cables
-Replaced transmission oil and primary oil
-Adjusted chain

I have all of the service receipts that my dad had for it going back to 1992 but he stopped riding it around then so there wasn't much work done since. My mother remembers the motorcycle as being reliable. I washed the bike before taking these photos so if some parts appear damp, that's why. If you'd like additional photos of specific areas I may have them -- feel free to reach out.














[img]https://images.craigslist.org/00X0X_6WT46xfIE69z_0CI0t2_600x450.jpg[/img]
[img]https://images.craigslist.org/00W0W_lazU038X01Hz_1320MM_600x450.jpg[/img]
[img]https://images.craigslist.org/00n0n_dwi7MpUBjpRz_1320MM_600x450.jpg[/img]
[img]https://images.craigslist.org/00b0b_kr5dXWG7J4Qz_1320MM_600x450.jpg[/img]
[img]https://images.craigslist.org/01616_964w04mr1h3z_1320MM_600x450.jpg[/img]
[img]https://images.craigslist.org/01616_2CON6uSojG3z_1320MM_600x450.jpg[/img]
[img]https://images.craigslist.org/00G0G_70zuH9zJXyKz_1320MM_600x450.jpg[/img]
[img]https://images.craigslist.org/00404_f3KaSLcbT3qz_1320MM_600x450.jpg[/img]
[img]https://images.craigslist.org/00G0G_UUUnuBHXxzz_0CI0t2_600x450.jpg[/img]

Your photos are hosted on Craigslist
and can be hot linked here ... and they will show here
... by copying and pasting each url jpeg ... into the
Individual Image box button offered on
... use full editor ... reply option

like this

good looking bike . I think your price is very fair

Yes, as stated by quinten, this is a good-looking bike...a very good-looking bike.

Beautiful bike, but I don't think anyone's going to pay $5200 for a non-runner. It would make sense for a buddy who's familiar with these things to fire it up and be able to demonstrate that it runs and shifts, and THEN you're squarely in $5000+ country.

Absent that, lovely appearance an' all, you're closer to $4,000, I think. I get surprised sometimes, though!

Lannis

If it were my bike, I would add back the strap across the bottom of the gas tank before running / riding the bike any more. Seems like Madhouse Motors would have pointed that out after their inspection and rejuvenation. I don't know from personal experience, but I have read that the tank will split and gush fuel without that simple strap. If the strap was there to start with, they would have removed it to do their service work. Maybe they forgot to put it back? After all, their shop is a "madhouse."

It happened to me.

Before the bike is seriously ridden, that strap needs to on there, even though it's an extra step in removing and replacing the tank. Else the top front tank welded seam will fracture.....

Lannis

If only I had a knowledgeable buddy in the Boston area! Thanks for your input, Lannis I think you're right and I would much rather sell the bike running, it's just a bit hard to coordinate these things from the opposite coast. Maybe I'll hold onto it a bit longer and sort those things out. And good to know about the importance of the strap. I'll look around for it and try to source one if it doesn't turn up. There were a couple other things that someone in a FB group told me that were missing from the bike, but this one definitely seems worth remedying first.