BSA

[motogrady]

Allred wrote

1971 BSA Fury............what were they thinking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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It was 1971.  What were any of us thinking!

[motogrady]

[motogrady]

[motogrady]

https://youtu.be/WGoDaYjdfSg

[Fatfatboy]

Allred wrote

To many the epitome of a BSA is the 650 A10 Rocket Gold Star.

Produced at the end of the A10 run in 1962/63 it had 9:1 compression pistons, a high-lift 357 camshaft, a 1 5/32 Amal monobloc carburetor, optional siamese exhaust with a Gold Star muffler, alloy rims and clip-on handlebars. Could also be had with the Gold Star close-ratio RRT2 gearbox.

They produced 46-50rwhp depending on exhaust and every one I saw was finished in silver-gray and chrome.

A buddy of mine had one, it had a tasseled seat and front and rear crash bars........sounds a little over the top, but it actually looked fantastic!  

The truth was that BSA was readying for the release of the new A50/A65 and had a hodge-podge of spare parts that needed to be used up, the result was the Rocket Gold Star........at a 30% price increase! A sales maneuver to be proud of!


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 That is a beaut. I like the way the carbs are slanted forward and down as if to say to the motor,,,, "Chug this!"

What was the main issues with the pre-unit models that brought in the unit construction?
Was it just because the Jones's were doing it?

[Fatfatboy]

Allred wrote

Fatfatboy wrote

This here is the A50 that is for sale about 3 hours North of me that I've been considering.

He's asking $3k for it.

"It does leak oil. As the BSA advertisement says: if it doesn't leak bring it back so we can fix it till it does!"

I'm suprized that it has a sls front brake, although I do see many pics of that model year with sls, I guess the tls was an option?. And it looks to have a Amal Monobloc (can't really tell, from one side it looks like a concentric, from the other side it looks like a monobloc, pictures aren't hi-def enough)

Are we sure it's a 1969?

It's showing the passage of time, but it is 50+ year old.

The seat looks very "used".

I'm puzzled as to how those mufflers are attached? And they don't look to be OEM BSA.

Looks like some loose wiring under the bottom triple clamp?

Some side panel screws missing.

It shouldn't leak oil, both the A7/A10 and A50/A65 were pretty oil tight when assembled properly...........where is it leaking oil from? If it is leaking from the primary case, or the cylinder head area it is pretty easily fixed. (I would want to take the head and barrels off anyway, just to inspect the inside).

What did he say was the work recently done to it?????

I bet he would take $2,500 in a heartbeat.


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The recent work from the ad;
"New wheel bearings, petcocks, points, condenser, battery, and a shifter shaft (250 just for that) since everyone tries to use it as a brake. (shift on right, brake on left)"

I was going to contact him to inquire but alas it is sold. Probably for the best. I really don't have the room for another bike right now.
I have a few options on what to do about this dilemma.

1) Sell something.
2) Move some bikes to my work.
3) Build an out building on property next to the house.

#1 is not my favorite option.
#2 Is not a bad idea, I'm in the process of purchasing a commercial building that has a 3000 square foot out building that would make a perfect bike shop but it's 3 miles from.
#3 makes the most since but it would take motorcycle money to accomplish plus the permit process and property tax sucks the life out of the fun of it.
Why does the guberment have to be such a buzzkill?

[Fatfatboy]

Allred wrote

1971 BSA Fury............what were they thinking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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Okay,,, I have to say it,,,, I like the paint scheme. Though being called the Fury it doesn't fit. I would think a fire red or black and red would fit better.

I'm not a fan of the robotic look of the motor but it sounds like it had some promise from the Wiki link.
A stock 350cc that could reach 110mph sounds like they were heading in the right direction.
A little too late. Pity.

[Fatfatboy]

motogrady wrote

You guys had purple dots, Challengers and Hendrix.
My generation had










You won.

[Allred]

Fatfatboy wrote

That is a beaut. I like the way the carbs are slanted forward and down as if to say to the motor,,,, "Chug this!"

"Carb" singular, the A10 only ever had a single carb on production models.

Fatfatboy wrote

What was the main issues with the pre-unit models that brought in the unit construction?
Was it just because the Jones's were doing it?

A very good question! I think it must have been a "natural progressive step"....... although, Norton never took it!  

Maybe it was a corporate decision to upgrade what was an old separate gearbox design, a similar step was also taken by Triumph, although the new Triumph visually resembled the outgoing model, whereas the BSA was completely new.  

The pre-unit designs meant that to adjust the primary chain you have to loosen and slide the gearbox rearward, which in turn loosened the rear chain, which in turn meant the rear chain had to be adjusted by loosening the rear wheel and moving it rearward. But that was hardly a reason to design a completely new engine with all the re-tooling involved. Maybe the tooling for the old design was ready for replacement, and also maybe they were seeing the writing on the wall from the Japanese and had to produce a tidier, sleeker, more compact design, while at the same time designing it to be able to reliably produce more power.  

Looking at the A10 versus A65 I'm not sure the "improvements" were worth it, there wasn't any significant increase in power output, and I'm not sure the overall design was any sleeker. It did replace the archaic generator of the A10 with an alternator, but that could have been easily upgraded on the A10. Similarly they could have re-designed the A10 primary drive with a fixed duplex or triplex chain adjusted by a spring-loaded or internal tensioner.

Norton took the virtually none committal step of retaining the pre-unit design, but introduced a "floating engine" to reduce vibration..........a factor that no one was complaining about anyway, large capacity parallel twins were supposed to vibrate!

What was needed was a completely new design, something that cured the pre-unit look and also cured the vibration, and also boosted power output, and of course that would be the Triumph Trident and BSA Rocket III................desperately needed in light of the impending and world-changing Honda CB750 and soon-to-follow Kawasaki 900 Z1.


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[motogrady]

As far as the robotic look of the motor, they were just too far ahead of the game imo.
Look at the stuff out there today, say, 2000 and up.  Especially the 250 and 450 dirt bike engines.
Very close in appearance.  

Funny how things come and go.

Seems like the crotch rocket thing is on the wane, and that British Rockers / Aces Cafe thing is coming back.

[Allred]

motogrady wrote

Seems like the .......... British Rockers / Aces Cafe thing is coming back.

Damn, and my old gear doesn't fit me any more!!!


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[Allred]

Jay Leno's 1966 BSA Lightning. (wait, is that oil I see underneath it!!!!!)


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[motogrady]

^^^^^

Now that is a beautiful bike.  

[Allred]

The infamous BSA Dandy! Available from 1957 thru 1962.

Using a 70cc two-stroke engine it could bounce its way to a maximum 30mph. The rear "suspension" consisted of the whole rear of the machine, including the engine, pivoting under control of two un-damped springs, hence the bouncy ride.

The two speed gearbox was a strange, pre-select affair whereby you twisted the left grip to select a gear, but the mechanism didn't engage until the clutch lever was depressed and then released. Correct, and constant adjustment of the clutch cable was necessary to avoid a rough gear change.

Ignition was via an energy-transfer system, the kicker being that the unit is housed inside the crankcase!!!! To adjust or replace the contact-breaker points you had to remove the engine and split the crankcases......I KID YOU NOT!

It sold reasonably well initially, but there was strong competition from Yamaha's and Suzuki's excellent two stroke "step-thoughs", and Honda's hugely successful Super Cub, so needless to say, once its foibles were discovered sales dropped dramatically.


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[oldironnow]

"Waitwaitwait...Who the fu.. Why the he...I mean how in the worl...."

How does every design element from the foot pegs back get approved and put into production???

[Allred]

oldironnow wrote

"Waitwaitwait...Who the fu.. Why the he...I mean how in the worl...."

How does every design element from the foot pegs back get approved and put into production???

And believe it or not, it took two years of development from an Earl's Court (London) motorcycle show debut, to a showroom floor model. It took them that long to fine-tune those special features for an unsuspecting buying public! LOL!

[Allred]

The BSA/Ariel 3..............it was sold as an Ariel, but was in fact a BSA product.

I think the same design team that worked on the BSA Dandy must have be assigned for the next 8 years designing the ill-fated BSA/Ariel 3, for in 1970, they released a 50cc "leaning" tricycle moped.

The whole front section of the machine would lean for going around corners, supported by two torsion bars. Drive from the 50cc two-stroke engine went to one of the two rear wheels. There was no electric start, there wasn't even a kick-start, you had to pedal the machine up to speed and drop the decompression lever to get the engine to fire!!!!!

There was basically no rear suspension, and it had what was a glorified bicycle seat.

Electrics were 6 volt, and the headlight had no high-beam.

They were an absolute pig to work on, you couldn't get to anything without tearing the whole back end apart, it was a complete nightmare, and priced 25% more than any of the cute and reliable Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha 50cc step-thru's, predictably sales were poor.

The development costs were £2,000,000 in 1970 pounds sterling, which is around $35,000,000 US in today's money, and it is frequently reported that it was what finished BSA financially.


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[Allred]

Enough of ugly BSA's, here's a beautiful 1961 650cc A10 Super Rocket, with alloy gas tank, solo seat, rear-sets, clip-ons, swept-back exhaust pipes, chromed rear chain guard, alloy levers, bell-mouth and float-bowl extension.


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[oldironnow]

^
I feel like I just got vaccinated...

Thank you.

[Allred]

Or, if singles are your want, then a DBD34 500cc Gold Star should meet those needs.

Alloy gas tank, solo seat, lightweight alloy fenders, alloy wheel rims, nice double-sided 2LS front brake(s).


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