New member from Sweden

[Rocketerik]

Having read this forum for some time I feel it is time to introduce myself and my bike.We met in1971 when a friend of mine bought it in Gothenburg . The machine  was in full cafe style with glassfibre tank and seat plus fairing.In retrospect I feel that my mate was a brave man to buy it,beeing a beginner .At the time I inspired several of my friends to take up motorcycling,so we could have some fun.
The green registration book stated the bike to be a BSA Rocket Gold Star. My friend rode the bike for a few years until it ended up in a cellar in a number of parts. It came into my hands in 2002 when a rebuild started . I wanted a practical British bike ,originality not beeing my primary point. I feel that now its is a rideable practical bike with enough speed and flexibility. Earlier this evening I took it for a chilly ride to my brothers place and back. I live in the countryside with many nice small roads where the traffic is low. This time of year there is a lot of gravel on the roads left since the winter. I will come back to this excellent forum with details about my A10 and questions to you about this and that.
Erik

[RichardL]

Erik,

After a chilly ride, accept a warm welcome to the forum. We look forward to seeing pictures of your bike and hearing about more of your exploits. I believe it is still required for newbies to have five posts before pictures are accepted, but that might have changed. I'm sure our administrator, Erling,  (your Norwegian neighbor) will set me straight. In any case, here is the link to instructions for posting pictures.


http://www.a7a10.net/forum/index.php/topic,427.msg2151.html#msg2151


Richard L.

[muskrat]

G'day Erik,
              a very warm welcome from down under.
A RGS, everyone will want to see pictures. Can't think of a better way to start classic motorcycling.
Cheers

[Rocketerik]

I have to start from the beginning. Hopefully I can submit a couple of b/w pictures from around 1972. The first will show my friend Lennart on his (now mine) Bsa 650 along Gothenburg seafront. I can see that the fiberglass saddle has given way to something else made by himself. Inside the barrels were lumpy pistons giving Lennart a hell of a time to start the engine sometimes. But it went very well. It was always a bit faster than my Velo Clubman. The front brake is from British hub company ,still used today by me.
The second picture shows life in those days. Backyard workshop with brothers Inter,my Velo,a friends Norton 500 twin.
I will come back  with more material from memory road about a bike that  is not necessarily a RGS but a nice 650 twin anyway.
Erik

[a10 gf]

Welcome, looks like you have a lot of history to share, nice to see old original pictures.
e

[Rocketerik]

Thank you! It feels nice in our small world of old motorcycles.
I hope you can bear with me for taking so long to come to today.Thing is that I have a scanner so I can discover negatives from the past. The pictures below may be from 74 or so.
Lennart and I are taking a late holiday on the island called Öland. A ride of about 400km one way. You can see the BSA has changed a bit. Cerianis in front ,normal oil tank instead of central alloy. This adds up to nice anticlimax as the bike in the garden shed today looks rather much like it did back in the 70s.
Next time I hope to go modern .
Erik

[muskrat]

That's great mate. Keep'em coming.
Cheers

[flashblack]

Welcome onboard Erik, nice photo`s, do you live in Gothenburg, lovely town, i visited there a couple of years ago while visiting my brother who lives near Hassleholm with his swedish wife. The roads are empty and wonderfully scenic in Skane, and i vow to one day take the bike over on the ferry (i think there`s maybe more chance of hitting a moose than another car!)
Keep the snaps coming.      regards Rich

[MG]

Hi Erik, welcome to the forum.

One more guy from the continent here  .
Great pics btw, keep them coming!

Cheers, Markus

[tombeau]

Hello neighbour!
Welcome.
There seem to be quite a number of guys in long term relationships with their A10 on this forum.
I wonder who's been together with the same bike the longest on here.
Cheers,
Iain

[Rocketerik]

Thank you all.
Yes Rich I live outside Gothenburg and look out for wild animals riding in the dark. And Iain ,I have been to Suomi on the pictured Velo,even found my wife there.
To stick to BSAs and my bike life here comes todays picture from around 75-76. Camping with friends. By this time I had started the habit of owning a second bike. Pictured to the left is a 175 Jawa that served me very well for a few years. It had a wonderful gearchange/clutch/kickstarter mechanism that made it possible to start onehanded with a pizza in your left hand and ride away! Jawa later gave way to a 250 Husqvarna that was very loud,but still a very nice bike to ride over Norwegian mountainroads. Today I cleaned my Rocket to make it nicer in the pictures that are coming soon.
Erik

[rocket man]

welcome rocketerik to the forum have fun  


dave

[LJ.]

Good Stuff Erik, Nice of you to join us!

[Rocketerik]

So the Rocket turned to sleep in a cellar in the late seventies and woke up in my cellar in a new century. I had never owned a parallel twin or even ridden one. I simly put it together best I could. Sensible modifications coupled with economy was my idea. As it stands it has neddle roller bearing mod (Bezza Bill thank you) where my brother Harald did the machining work. Norton clutch with splines on early semi unit mainshaft .Thank you Goffy for information. Have used  Mikuni 30mm carb earlier,might fit again. After fighting with Lucas magneto to get the sparks come where thay should I fitted an electronic ignition named Runtronic. I like magnetos and have good  faith in them once they are well sorted out but have not reached that point with my Lucas.
Erik