Halfway point? - resto update

I've got the article somewhere, must see if I can find it. I didn't buy
MCS&L but I had a quick flick through and the Frank Melling piece
appeared to be a reprint of the article you remember. What was
different was the Jeff Smith piece that accompanied it. I knew I should
have bought it when I saw it!

Amazing to think, though, that BSA could spend that much to try and
retain their title and then Paul Friedrichs on a CZ took it away!

Mark

 

Wotcha.

Strangely enough, we've just done this to a B25 Starfire motor - and fitted
a Triumph gearbox, mounted upside down, behind it. A most strange beast,
but it looks like it will be a success ( fingers crossed ).

 

Wotcha.

The C15 is a unit motor - it shares a lot of its design with the Cub engine.

 

I have raced a 441 BSA in pre-65 MX a few times.............whether or
not someone as clueless as you believes the BSA comp shop didnt race a
605cc bike in the 60's, doesnt concern me in the slightest!

k

 

BSA were actually able to repair these bikes trackside, and if you knew
what you were on about you would know how!

k

 

Enduros, hare & hounds & trailriding.

--
Krusty.

http://www.muddystuff.co.uk
http://www.muddystuff.us
Off-road classifieds

'02 MV Senna '96 Tiger '79 Fantic 250

 

The speedway engine looked interesting, but I dont know whether it
would ever have been competitive against the Jawa's and ESO's, that
were around at the time. The actual BSA engine is still around and
owned by a bike dealer in Yorkshire.

k

 

Exactly. In other words, the opposite of how pre-powervalve smokers
behave. My Fantic's a prime example of a bike with a big hit. If you
open the throttle at low rpm, you can get off the bike & go for a cuppa
whilst waiting for the revs to build. Then when it finally gets to the
powerband, it goes from a few bhp to 43 bhp in a fraction of second.
It's stupidly good fun, but hard work on the arms if you're at racing
speed for a couple of hours.

2T vs 4T power delivery has reversed somewhat in recent years though, &
something like a 300cc Gasser can be a more relaxing ride than the new
breed of high-revving 4Ts like the CRF. It also varies across bikes
within a particular range. E.g. the 450 KTM EXC apparently has much
more of a hit than the 400 & 525. Similarly the 250 2T KTM & Gasser
have a bigger hit than their 200 & 300cc counterparts. Life is never
simple!


--
Krusty.

http://www.muddystuff.co.uk
http://www.muddystuff.us
Off-road classifieds

'02 MV Senna '96 Tiger '79 Fantic 250

 

I'm hoping to do a bit of trailriding on the 441 when it's done. I'm
near the Yorks Dales and have scoped out a few routes already. Got my
eye on pre-65 trials too, but that'll need another or a different bike.
Enduro and H&H sound interesting. Any good links on that stuff?

Ant

 

Uh-huh. My last 2 stroke was a GT380

Ant

 

Its got nothing to do with being relaxing to ride................riders
of lesser ability need less powerful bikes full stop. A wobbler on a
bike with a lot of power is always going to have problems, thats why a
200cc bike is a very good choice for the less able off-road rider.

k

 

.....

I not sure if that is the same article from MCM that TOG and I both
recall or an update but it's by Frank Melling who did write both the
original article & the version in MCS&L a couple of months ago.

cost.......

What still seems incredible to me is that BSA could do that and be that
big a company within my lifetime and what are we left with now as a
British bike industry? Triumph excepted, not much more than a cottage
industry - what a shame!

And I always wanted a Griffin helmet like Franks in the accompanying
picture with that colour scheme (red with white stripe) but you only
seemed to be able to get white with a coloured stripe. I've still got
mine, with a blue stripe, bought new in 1976!

Mark

 

BSA was a sprawling empire with fingers in a zillion businesses. In
these days of firms concentrating on 'core competencies' and all that,
BSA looks like something someone made up to illustrate bad business
practice.

My bro in law worked there and says the state of the plant was a
disgrace, aged machine tools etc. According to him all the bike wheels
were put together by two old guys who laced em up in about 5 minutes
flat.

Ant

 

Had they sent some production offshore? ;0)

Ant

 

I must have been thinking of the C12 then, sorry.

Ken Young

 

This time I looked things up, 1953 is right, though that model
was different in crankcase design with the split off centre.
There was one unit BSA single that was not developed from it
though, the Dandy (75cc).

Ken Young

 

Surprisingly torquey lump in those things.

 

It sounds like it. I recall that very passage.

 

I was used to British twins and singles so its power band felt like a
kick up the arse to me. It soon went after I rode it from Brum to
Reading and back and I spent a week's wages in petrol (well, maybe I
exaggerate but mpg was in the 20s somewhere).

Ant

 

Wotcha.

Very possibly.
The C10 ( a horrid little 250 side valve jobbie ), the C11 & C11G - and the
C12 were all 250 pre-unit.
I ran a C10L - a plunger Bantam framed bike - for the best part of two
years, and in all that time I can honestly say I thrashed the living tits
off it ( top speed of 56 mph, then you got valve float ) and it never let me
down once. I seem to recall it was the first British bike to have both coil
ignition and an alternator.

Ah - those rose-tinted goggles ;-)