Britbike forum Forums Thread Like Summary - A65 end feed conversion

Who in the US does the a65 end feed conversion? Please and thank you

The fact that there are thousands of A50/65's still running on the bush bette than 50 years latter is testiment that the standard set up can work reliably for a long time on a bike that is not thrashed mecrilessly & maintained properly.
Down side is "maintained properly"
BSA recommends a bottom end job every 30,000 miles at which time the bush is checked, end float is adjusted and slippers replaced .
For the average weekend warriour that is more then enough
Clean out the sludge trap, fit an external oil filter and you can nearly triple that service interval .
The big problem was reluctance to change the oil and a bigger reluctance to clean out the sludge trap and as previously mentioned , abuse the bush and you are looking for trouble .
It is a very expensive job and down here at least there were quite a few questionable end feed conversions done resulting in grenading engines .
here are few different conversions being done and most require welding the cases then machining the weld
Welding 50 year old sand cast alloy is fraught with problems unless the welder is experienced in recovery welding on anchient castings .
The other way is external plumbing which has it's own problems

I bought my bike in 1982 specifically because it had/has an end fed conversion. I still have it, its a great riders machine , in the last 5 years its done around 17K miles.I use it for shopping, touring and such.
Devimead who used to market the conversion in the UK, claimed the following benefits, smoother, cooler, less friction claiming an actual HP bonus through reduced friction, and the possibility to reclaim a crank that was past the last regrind size "dont scrap that crank". IME the main benefit is psychological, when I cane the motor I dont worry about the drive side rod letting go. Now its near impossible to find OEM quality TS bushes the conversion makes even more sense. In theory the TS bush is adequate, in practice not so true, of course some riders have zero issues with it, on the other hand Companies like SRM and Ed V make good money doing the conversion because it is better than the original bush. Sure if the oil is kept clean it should last OK, on the other hand if the converted crank gets the same clean oil it will last longer than a bushed crank.
The biggest advantage is that hopping the motor up to 732CC with a big bore kit and an end fed crank makes for a far gruntier and smoother motor.

I understand that its not a cheap conversion, but once the money is spent its a better bike

I'm curious as to why this is necessary. I don't mean to sound like an a**, I'm genuinely curious. I understand the advantages and, obviously, it's a better setup for the long run. But I'm fairly certain a well-maintained bush (i.e., regular oil changes, street-driven bike, etc) should last 30k miles easy, no? And I would guess most 50+ year old bikes might see, maybe, 7k miles before changing hands or being parked.

Am I wrong there? Are you guys riding way more than that? Racing? Or does it increase resale value that much more? (not being facetious, I honestly don't know the answer)

On a restored or rebuilt bike (not hugely altered) my money goes towards reliability (carbs, charging/electrical, ignition) to make sure I have a usable bike when I need it. Granted, I have three bikes (plus other toys) and live in New England so each one is lucky to see 1000 miles per year and, usually, in short 100-mile rides.

Are there other benefits that makes this worthwhile that I'm missing?

That was not a cut at Nick. Back in the day I might have done the same. But now I have the machines and tools to do it differently.

The most important part of running a bush timing side bearing is having
an oil filter and ensuring the relief valve is not bypassing all the time.
All the big sidecar racers in the uk who won dozens of championships
over about 12 years running a65/a70's all ran bush type timing side
setups. The standard arrangement is fine if the oil supply is clean and good.