Britbike forum Forums British Motorcycle specific Brands Bsa bulletin board A70 L dry frame-bike

Hi there,

I have recently stumbled over a superbly looking bike for sale in Germany.

In the small ad it is described as a BSA 65/ A70 and the seller tells the story that in 1971 the American BSA dealer Donelson in Missouri had built up eight A70-engines in dry frames as Spitfire look-a-likes.

I gave the seller (which seems to be a very nice bloke) a call and asked for the engine-#. I had expected the usual SRM/Devimead-whatsoever big bore engine and was surprised. It appears to be a genuine A70L-engine # stamped in August 1970. He claims the frame-# matches it, it looks like the bike's chassis had been assembled from parts and the engine-# stamped onto it.

A quick search via Google brings Donelson as a fromer dedicated BSA dealer, the bike's engine-# seems to be listed here.

I never heard of such dry frame A70s, did you?

The bike is priced quite high but given the number of A70 and the condition it seems not that bad.

Lucky me, I have enough bikes, so I can stand the temptation.

Cheers!

Phil

Donelsons still exists, and still does some vintage Brit dealings. They still have a Brit parts inventory on hand, I've bought from them in the past, and they had a few old-timers there that remembered the 60's-70's. (I actually own a 70 441 with the original Donelson dealer decal on it). If you wanted verification of that bike's provenance, it is possible that they could provide for you. Though it sounds like you're passing on this one...

https://www.britbike.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/33851/re-1972-spitfire-a70-mark-v

Hi Steve.

thanks for your reply and the hint regarding provenance.

You are right, I'll pass that bike. The seller has an asking price of roughly 16k $, which would prove a challenge for me.

But apart from that, I am a firm believer that bike should be ridden and used as the makers intended.
Given the number of unique A70 engine parts and assuming they'll be hard to come by I'd be scared to ride the bike.

I am none of the investment guys.

Cheers and thanks again

Phil

There are surprisingly few unique A70 engine parts. all things considered.
The main differences are in the crankshaft and the timing side main bearing/shimming.

Of course, those parts are a bit like hen's teeth.

Apart from those, the steel capped connecting rods were also used in some late A65s. Triumph T140 pistons can be used, but may require some modification. The crankcases are machined slightly differently to A65 cases. An A65 timing side bush can be shortened.

Sigh....

The bike is tempting for sure...

Nonetheless, it seems out of reach for me money-wise.

And I am not that brave as Lloyd.

Cheers!

Phil

Do you have any photos of it Phil? And would you be happy saying how much it was?

(Just for curiosity this time, i darent offer to buy it lol)

Nor do I, I mean daring to buy the bike.

I have saved the pics just for my own sake.

As it is not my bike I shan't post the pics but link the small ad. The asking price is included as well. on first hand, I was unsure whether or not linking the ad would be okay for the board.

As stated earlier, the bike looks really nice from my perspective.

The bloke selling it seems to be reasonable which comes as no surprise as he is a fellow countryman of mine.
I grew up 30 km resp. 20 mls in your money from where he lives.

Cheers!

Phil

One thing I forgot to mention...

If any of you guys living abroad was interested in the particular bike I can offer support.

In case let me know.

Cheers!

Phil