After 18 months on this forum and lots of questions, it’s finally time for an introduction and bike photo. I’m in Auckland, New Zealand, with early years on japanese bikes and then many years not riding. I bought the A10 impulsively as it looked awesome, had matching numbers and hoping it wasn’t lethally fast (I didn’t think about lethal brakes back then). The PO had made it look beautiful but the top end burned a lot of oil and soon I spun the timing side bush and cracked the crank. So a full rebuild replacing just about everything that goes round and round or up and down – new crankshaft, Thunder rods, +80 pistons, camshaft, SRM valve gear / guides / pushrods / oil pump and endless other bits. Also repairs to the tach, loom, oil tank, advance-retard, forks, steering head, electrics and other stuff. I purposefully lost count of all the $$ spent, but once you start, what else to do? It’s happily on 6v E3L with a DVR2 reg and 6 -to-12V step-ups for LED indicators (as I commute sometimes). Starts first kick. Still to do the back shocks, improve the front brake and lights (currently LED but not bright enough). I’ve also got a B33 as a leisurely backup.
If it takes village to raise a child then it takes an awesome forum like this one and the local BSA OC to restore an A10. And a tolerant wife. Special mention to RocketRacer for friendly local encouragement and local legend Balancing Bob for all the tricky bits on the engine rebuild. Kia Kaha! And to everyone on this forum who let me test the theory that there are no dumb questions. Also time to update my avatar to one of a shiny A10 rather than the old pile of engine parts (as achieved below).
