A recent shot taken at Maxwelton Beach near our place on Whidbey Island. I have new fork seals in and the starting is sorted out, this is a one-or-two kick bike now, no matter its temperature. Fantastic.

The bike after a few years in service. Need to redo the fork seals, which gave out after about 300 miles, and nearly all of the reproduction rubber has deteriorated depressingly quickly. As with nearly all British twins, despite careful prep the engine started leaking copious amounts of oil almost immediately. A real shocker!

Otherwise, it’s a nice bike to ride, and I’m finally getting it sorted out after some benign neglect as we’ve moved a lot over the past few years.

History: This site used to be a “static” site with a “frame set” and other annoyances. I figured it would be a simple matter to grab a WP blog and throw the content in it, making it more usable at the same time.

My bike was shown on the Vintage Motorcycle Enthusiast’s stand at the International Bike Show here in Seattle. Made me a proud papa, for sure.

Some shots just after the bike was finished. The tally at the tail of the previous entry was pretty close to the final amount, minus one rebuild of a magneto.

Just some new photos of the tank mounted. I do not recommend looking too closely at the pinstripes…what a chore.

Running expense list:

    $9,920 (previous entry total)
    ------
         0 No new parts
    ======
    $9,920

Running time clock:

hours  180 (previous entry total)
      ----
         8 (misc.)
      ====
       188 (total to date)

Things are going fairly quickly now, but I’m now up against several walls:

• My seat isn’t back from the upholsterer’s
• I need to get my sidestand painted (it’s the wrong one, but close enough)
• I need to figure out what to do about a battery and
• Something’s wonky in the gearbox.

The last item is a bit worrisome, as the kick starter makes a horrible racket when going up and down…Once I have most of the rest of it together, I’ll tear the box down in situ and hope it’s something simple. Yeah, right.

Above Image: As she sits…nearly everything is on this side, excepting the pipe, side stand and pegs/brake pedal.

This side is a bit more complete, though I have to take the levers and peg off to attend to the gearbox. The very expensive mufflers have the notches for the center stand in the wrong place. I mean, how hard can it be. I will NEVER send any business to the firm in England who supplied them. I can’t believe the sheer quantity of JUNK they sent. Just looking in the catalogs of the competition, the photographed reproduction mufflers they sell have the notches in the right place…a good six inches further forward than these. So, do I consign the $300 pair to the scrap heap or ride around with the center stand hard up against the mufflers?

I have not yet sorted the wiring on the rear half of the bike, hence the taped ends and general mess. I can’t fit the pipe until the side stand is ready…

Running expense list:

    $9,800 (previous entry total)
    ------
       120 Misc. parts
    ======
    $9,920

Running time clock:

hours  175 (previous entry total)
      ----
         5 (misc.)
      ====
       180 (total to date)

What have I been doing for the past nine months? Not much on the BSA. But I finally have the engine back.

But first some thoughts on spares. I put a big order in originally with a BSA specialist for a batch of stuff–some of it was decent, but much of it is pretty crummy in quality and fit. Mind, a lot of stuff I’ve bought out of suppliers in this country hasn’t been very good, either. But it’s a bit distressing to buy something, spend quite a bit for the piece, and then find it’s, at best, a mediocre copy of the real thing. Ah, well.

As you can see, the engine is looking great and it’s finally in the frame. Progress has been made beyond the current pix, but once again I find myself waiting for parts to arrive. If I restore another bike this old or older, I am going to spend some serious time looking over all of the fasteners–they’re by far the hardest thing to replicate and replace.

Firmly bolted in. Since this photo, I have the chain on, the chain guard in place, and a few other things done. I’ll post some more pictures very soon.

Running expense list:

    $6,980 (previous entry total)
    ------
       100  Cad plating (mediocre to awful quality)
        70  Chrome plating of original hand controls
            (excellent quality--Show Quality Metal Finishing, Seattle)
       150  Painting of parts I forgot in the original batch
       500  Misc. parts
     2,000  Engine and magneto rebuild (approximate)
    ======
    $9,800

Running time clock:

hours  135 (previous entry total)
      ----
        40 (misc.)
      ====
       175 (total to date)

The rear wheel is on, and with that the darn thing is starting to look a bit like a motorcycle. There seems to be a big hole in the middle, though.

This bike will look great from a few feet, but I’m either not careful enough or way too clumsy to be able to maintain every single piece in “perfect” condition. You’ve all seen those cars and bikes where no matter where you look, you can’t find a flaw. This is my first real restoration, so this won’t be one of those. But nothing makes you appreciate fine craftsmanship like trying to mimic it, and my hat is off to those who routinely produce show-winning machines.

Running expense list:

    $6,980 (previous entry total)
    ------
            No new costs
    ======
    $6,980

Running time clock:

hours  130 (previous entry total)
      ----
        5 (misc.)
      ====
       135 (total to date)

The tires arrived, the drums were turned, the brake shoes were relined, and the front wheel is now on. I put the tires on myself, and I pinched the tube in the rear wheel, so had to do it over, and at some point in that process, I scratched the chrome in several places on the rim, including one “chunk” which is gone. Simple carelessness. I doubt there is anything I can do about it at this point, except to try to disguise it somehow.

My cap is tipped to anyone who does a ground up restoration that doesn’t do damage as they’re putting it all back together. I have numerous places where I’ve nicked the paint on the bike. I guess that is what touch up is for. Pretty disappointing, none-the-less.

This is the damage done to the rear wheel. Ugh!

Running expense list:

    $6,830 (previous entry total)
    ------
       100  Reline shoes, fit to drums
        50  Ammeter (reproduction)
    ======
    $6,980

Running time clock*:

hours  120 (previous entry total)
      ----
        10 (misc.)
      ====
       130 (total to date)

*I work at a leisurely pace. It’s pretty damn approximate, too.