Af spanners.

[ronan]

I asked in a local engineers suppliers if they had any spanners in imperial sizes. A few days later they had dug out a load of them, covered in dust, all good brands and i got them for next to nothing. Its worth asking.

 

[Beeezer]

Very good, thanks you've just put a idea in my head!!

 

[Rannsachair]

I have a 1958 A10 650 meself. Its all been repainted, i just have to buy the stainless fasteners to bolt it all back together.

The reputation for knocking out big ends probably comes from people not changing the oil often enough, causing the main bearing bush to wear, causing low oil pressure at the big ends.

I thought the timing side crankshaft bush was the A65's big weak point, also the aluminium oil pump that warped and for some of the post 1966 bikes and the drive side crankshaft bearing change from a ball to a roller allowed side movement of the crank and wore out the thrust washers were also not great. The good news was that Devimead developed solutions, now available from SRM http://www.srmclassicbikes.com/devimead.

I always liked the look of the A65 Spitfire and looked into them before buying my Bonnie.

 

[Seadog]

I think the problem was down to continuously up-rating an old design to the point where is couldn't handle the power. The original A7 was designed in 1938 for release in in 1939. The same happened with the Norton twin, it started out as a 500 and ended up as an 850 without too much thought being given to the design. Having said that, if you put one together properly and treat them with respect and are regular with oil changes, they do keep going.

 

[Rannsachair]

I think the problem was down to continuously up-rating an old design to the point where is couldn't handle the power. The original A7 was designed in 1938 for release in in 1939. The same happened with the Norton twin, it started out as a 500 and ended up as an 850 without too much thought being given to the design. Having said that, if you put one together properly and treat them with respect and are regular with oil changes, they do keep going.

I do not disagree, though there were some great engineers employed in the motorcycle industry, just not putting the profits back into design, development and replacing worn out machine tools that resulted in bikes like the A65.

 

[Seadog]

I do not disagree, though there were some great engineers employed in the motorcycle industry, just not putting the profits back into design, development and replacing worn out machine tools that resulted in bikes like the A65.

Indeed, profit over quality every time. So many opportunities to develop new bikes but the attitude was one of take-it-or-leave-it. There was a real problem with Bracebridge Street and the Commando. The cylinder borer dated back to around 1900 and, I've been reliably informed, it was virtually impossible to maintain any degree of parallelism between the two bores on the earlier engines. Of course the flexible crank and main bearing failure was also another classic. Why did these problems not manifest themselves in development and testing?

 

[ronan]

A serious problem with the commando was the cast iron flywheel. If the engine was over revved, it would explode !

A commando crank and rods can be squeezed into a triumph engine fairly easily. This gives a longer stroke, and if you use t140 barrels, everything works out spot on. You wind up with a capacity around 830cc.

 

[Beeezer]

A pic of when I first got her, changed a bit now though, new seat, bars and side panels. Will get another pic of her when I've put head gasket on and got her back together.

 

[zeppelin builder]

I have a 1958 A10 650 meself. Its all been repainted, i just have to buy the stainless fasteners to bolt it all back together.

The reputation for knocking out big ends probably comes from people not changing the oil often enough, causing the main bearing bush to wear, causing low oil pressure at the big ends

yer dead on i had an a65 with a devimead 750 kit it went ok till the timing side bush wroe out and big end nipped up ,however i got an ex sidecar racing motor that had thrown a rod ,i got the small bit of damage to the lh crankcase gas welded at the tech college at the time,crank was highly modded with an ina needlie needle roller bearing roller bearing and an end feed quill, internals were all drilled and polished and there was a close ratio box after weeks of trying to cure a misfire it was traced to a worn ignition switch

definitely one i wished i had kept it went well , i think you could get them out to 820 with an A10 crank and a few have been fitted with 270 deg cranks (rotated and welded together i believe) carrillo rods a good mod too,SRM engineering do all the mods that DEVIMEAD formerly used and it makes them a very reliable strong sorted motor

 

[ronan]

Zepplin, i believe the end feed conversion isn't all that difficult, especially if you have a decent size milling machine and a notion as how to use it.

http://bsa-a10.hailwood.com/mybsaa10rollerconversion.html

http://bsa-a10.hailwood.com/a65conv.html

Mark Parker over on Britbike done the 90/270 degree conversion to an A65, 800cc+, very smooth, faster and sounds a bit like a v-8 to my ears.

 

[Seadog]

The original Devimead conversion involved building up metal in the inner timing cover to provide an oil pah into the end of the crankshaft. I've not seen the A10 conversion before but it looks to be well thought out.

 

[Beeezer]

Well got the head off yesterday, took it to me mate, put it on his flat plate, nowt wrong, I recon someone took the head off and had it soda blasted then put it back together without torqing it up properly.

All looks brand new, gasket looks new, head to clean for a 45 year old bike.

Put it back together at the weekend with me borrowed tools.

Probably fit electronic ignition over the winter.

 

[ronan]

Well got the head off yesterday, took it to me mate, put it on his flat plate, nowt wrong, I recon someone took the head off and had it soda blasted then put it back together without torqing it up properly.

All looks brand new, gasket looks new, head to clean for a 45 year old bike.

Put it back together at the weekend with me borrowed tools.

Probably fit electronic ignition over the winter.

Electronic ignition is a great idea. Transforms old bikes, instead of hopping up and down on the kickstart for ages trying to get it to start, first or second kick, hot or cold with ei. Jap carbs, while poo-pooed by the purists, help a lot too with even running. Ditching the old zener diode for a solid state modern one is cheap and helps the battery. Loads can be done to improve these old bikes without spending a lot.

 

[8ob]

In my long gone biking days I always wanted a BSA but seemed to have ended up with owning nothing but Triumphs. Sorry for the derail but a few snaps of a Beeza one of the lads that worked here restored.

 

[Beeezer]

Yep, been looking into all this stuff, want her as a daily ride, I'm not one of these types that leaves it in the shed and polishes it!!

Don't get get me wrong, she ain't going to be abused, lol.

 

[Beeezer]

In my long gone biking days I always wanted a BSA but seemed to have ended up with owning nothing but Triumphs. Sorry for the derail but a few snaps of a Beeza one of the lads that worked here restored.

Very nice!!

 

[ronan]

Cannot resist uploading this. Anyone know the dealers ?

 

[ronan]

I'll answer it meself.

The motorbike shop was filmed at the Broadway Motor Company on Gladstone Road, Merton, London SW19. The garage is now a Wetherspoons pub.

http://www.reelstreets.com/index.php/component/films/?task=view&id=460&film_ref=if&start=20

 

[mechman]

Cannot resist uploading this. Anyone know the dealers ?

Is that a Spitfire thought Rocket Goldies were pre unit?

 

[ronan]

Is that a Spitfire thought Rocket Goldies were pre unit?

100% correct, whoever upped the vid got it wrong.