Britbike forum Forums British Motorcycle specific Brands Bsa bulletin board what to look for buying a 68 A65 Lightning please

Hello
I would appreciate a guide of what to look for on buying a A65 Lightning 1968
Had lots of bikes but never a British one since 1973 that was a daytona
But quickly went on to a Suzuki gt750
But always wanted a Lightning and now im going to buy one
Any advice would be great and many thanks in advance
Cheers Colin

I'm guessing since your Daytona ownership, your not completely green when it comes to old British bikes. What can I say that hasn't been written on the toilet walls already? Seriously, before you start riding it regularly (Assuming it's a runner), is drain the oil, take out the filter in the tank, and inspect, clean the inside to establish the servicing quality. ( I'm also assuming your mechanically minded too). This will give you an idea of what's inside the engine. Even so, it's a good thing to do before replenishment with fresh oil.
Rattles(They all do that sir), can often be attributed to mis-matched timing gears, and can be remedied by simple try-it-and-see movement when offering up different pinions in place. Valve timing, Ignition and carburetion tuning in that order..but you knew that already, right? You don't need to buy a fancy magnetic sump kit, nowadays powerful tiny magnets are easily found on eBay etc. Just place a couple near the mesh filters in the system.

If not doing a detailed evaluation, I like to look for hints and telltale signs of neglect/abuse:

- rounded Fasteners from shitty wrenches and ham-fisted bodgers
- lot of replaced Fasteners with hardware store low-grade variety
- silicone/RTV at sealing flanges. That stuff has no place here.
- unsecured cables, wires, and hoses, bonus point for rips and crushes near pinch points
- taped off or terminated wires done poorly where people have bollixed the wiring
- "vestigial" parts showing lack of understanding when upgrading systems. Example: has a Sparx or Mighty Max charging box yet the Zener and rectifier are still mounted

You can get a sense of the state of the bike (and the owner, really) within five minutes using the above.

Jason

Don't know about that one.
I like the look of the Zener sink.

I still have mine mounted, albeit minus the zener diode but the heat sink sure tidied up the underside of the headstock.

Look for sensible tyres, preferably Avons, but not Skidmasters.Ask what tyre pressures it uses.
Check out the footrest rubbers,look for a chamfer from exuberant riding, this means it runs and handles well. If its been tarted up for sale it probably has new rubbers.
Be suspicious of pipes that are un blued, the motor probably doesnt run, or has hardly any miles on it since they were fitted to tart it up for sale.
Be suspicious of immaculate shininess everywhere , particularly the bottom side of the motor and gearbox sprocket area, again tarted up for sale, probably not run much.
A 68 will /should have matching frame / motor numbers, a strobe access plate in the chaincase, a finned rocker cover, and 8 inch twin leading shoe front brake.
Good none stock upgrades would be Electronic ignition with matching coils, modern reg/ rec unit. Hagon or other quality rear Shocks.
look at the rear brake switch , its a weird arrangement as stock , often bodged up.
Look for cracks in the rear mudguard around the rear section.
Ask for receipts from any rebuild, particularly motor work .
One very good upgrade is an end fed crank conversion, this is expensive and possibly means the bike has been well used/ cared for. pay more for one with this.
Look for choke cables/ and lever, these are often removed and the carb tops plugged, it should have them, but can be made to run without thanks to the carb ticklers,. Be extra suspicious of perfect shiny paint . and new pipes, but an engine that " just needs some fine tuning", thats not a good bike to get.Better to buy from a BSA club member, rather than a dealer or ebay, ask for any manuals or other helpful info and spares that might come with it.
Be prepared to learn about BSF / Cycle Fasteners, and get tools to work with them.

Sound advice from Gavin.

Avoid the ones with the left hand rod sticking out of the front too.

Many thanks Gavin
Yes im ok with spanners over the years and a few bikes ive had
It was the stuff like obviously the oil return which you can see return
But had a great deal of replies which im really very grateful for from everyone
Cheers Colin

Also yes Nick rods hanging out are not a good sign of the front or back or sideways

Out of everything written, these are two things that I would probably disagree with from my own experience,

I've never had a set of pipes go blue, original pipes were made of much thicker wall tube than many pipes around these days, Armours (and im not a great fan of theirs) use a heavier guage steel than most, closer to that what the factory used. I've never blued a set of armours pipes (though they offen don't fit right straight away), and the pattern type have turned golden all the way down the pipe, but never blue or other colours that show signs of excess heat. I would always be wary of blue pipes as it would indicate timing too far retarded, air leaks at the exhaust or gemerally running a lean mixture.

With the End Fed, I would always have agreed with you until the end fed motor that my friend bought started knocking within a few miles of being bought.
The remedial work that needed to be done on the engine was a joke, the crank was on -.050 and was knackered, the ball race cage was missing balls (but I have known of that before), the crank fitted was an early type as well (the bike being 1971), the list goes on and on, but it has been an expensive rebuild for something that was supposed to be all decent.

I agree with everything else that you wrote, but ultimately its buyer beware. documentation is important when buying a bike, it can help a lot but it shouldn't be taken for granted.

My own opinon is never pay more than enough for something that you might have to do a rebuild on.

Hello and welcome to the forum Colin. Just a thought, if you are in Walsall UK, why not pop along to a BSAOC Birmingham branch meeting? They are now meeting at the Blue Bell Inn, Hockley Heath, B94 6BP every second Sunday at noon and on the last Monday at 7pm. There are some knowledgeable people there who would give advice etc. to enable a viable purchase. Cheers, Ian

Good points, although can't see the harm in leaving the zener heat sink in situ, plus I've never had problems by using silicone on the rocker cover and primary case (clear silicone on one face and petroleum jelly/grease on the other).

With bikes this age, the more history you can dig up the better. Any seller that claims "I know nothing about this bike" likely means "I know plenty but will play dumb when you ask". Same goes for "ran when parked" (why was it parked? why didn't you try to get it running for sale?). "Probably just needs a battery" (yeah, right).

People often point to the timing-side bush as the weak point on these bikes but I would argue that many of them were parked due to electrical issues. Take a close look at the wiring and note how many time it's been hacked up and fixed. Unlike a blown engine where the point of failure is easy to identify, electrical gremlins can leave you stranded without warning or explanation.

As previously stated, best scenario is one that has been in regular use. Any machine that has been sitting for some time will need a thorough once-over so, even if it starts and runs, expect to spend quite a bit on flushing out the oiling system, cleaning out the fuel tank and carbs, tires, brakes, etc.

I really do appreciate all the info and definitely a great bunch of fellas
And i will definitely call over to the meeting in Blue Bell Inn, Hockley Heath, B94 6BP Thanks Ian
And im also in MarcB camp ran when parked up
Its very true 7 times out of 10 bikes get parked up because theres a fault
Starts fine when you know the trick !! = got no shins left or skin
The funniest i did see was a fella in Scotland 10/10 for honesty
Harley Davidson Ironhead 1973 for sale Starts first tow

You can get a sense of the state of the bike (and the owner, really) within five minutes using the above.

Jason

Yes Jason your dead right there its great advice plain and simply

Thank you

Also AlanG

Id say your advice is appreciated

Thank you

Sorry trying to reply to everyone's advice individually