This all started 33 years ago when I picked up a very clapped out BSA A7 engine from a friend. A couple of years later I bought a 1953 BSA A7 Star Twin, which was eventually restored and sold on. Meanwhile the old engine lay under my bench in the garage. About 8 years ago looking at the engine and some odd spare cycle parts – oil tank and yokes to be accurate I thought it may be a good idea to get a plunger frame and build a bike up – minimalistic style with a sporty look – no lights, rear sets etc. You know the style. Target was to do this without spending too much money so I set of an a love affair with swaps and Ebay and started to collect various bits and pieces. This quickly became a mini obsession leading to 5 years ago getting the frame, oil tank and yokes powder coated, which was the start of the assembly. Rob Wardle rebuilt the engine for me a couple of years ago, which includes a timing side oil feed upgrade – great job done as the engine was indeed on its last legs at that stage and even another engine I managed to acquire was no use except for parts.
After my experiences with the concourse Star Twin, which I did not enjoy riding due to getting it chipped, dirty etc I decided that this A7 was to be built for riding and so went for non originality - that is what’s been achieved I think. As I amassed parts it became clear that the stripped down concept was not going to work as I had enough parts for lights and a battery however I was still on the trail of non originality, which made the build a whole lot easier. Fortunately a lifetime of not throwing out any nuts and bolts helped when it came to bolting everything together.
The help of Rob building the engine, which was very very knackered and this Forum (take a bow all of you!!!) kept me focussed over he years and on many occassions inspiration. Thank you.
As you can see the bike is non original but thats whats intended. I would like to say it started first kick but it didnt! Due to the clutch slipping slightly on the first 10 kicks it didnt offer but as I gave a last kick the clutch started to grip and it coughed slightly. Given this encouragement I took it over tdc and give another kick and it roared into life. Its now a first kick bike which I'm putting down to the Pazon unit...
So what’s not original?
- Front wheel (TLS unit from a 1971 Lightning, sourced in the Mid West in the USA)
- Eddie Dow type fork dampening rods
- Homemade front mudguard stays and front mudguard
- Enfield switchgear and controls
- Indicators front and rear
- Straight through exhaust courtesy of Tim Wassel (thank you – superb job!)
- Homemade head steady
- Homemade rear mudguard stays and mudguard
- 12v electrics
- Electronic ignition
- All of the electronics, coils, ignition unit, and regulator are stored away inside the toolbox
- Akront alloy rims front and rear with s/steel spokes
- 12v gel battery (thank you Geoff for all electrical parts/help)
- Homemade wiring designed to be as tidy/unobtrusive as possible (I hate wiring and cables showing)
- Charging point for the Optimate charger
- Indian petrol tank (thanks Tradesparesauto – another first class tank)
What didn’t go well?
- Original petrol tank leaked through several small pin holes prior to it getting ready to start for the first time. Discretion overtook valour and I ordered a new tank from Tradesparesauto on Ebay as I didn’t want to see the bike go up in flames if it leaked in use.
- Wear between the QD splines on the back wheel caused some head scratching before I realised that I needed to replace the splines on the drum
- Rear plunger carriers for the wheel were twisted which I didn’t spot so when the units were assembled in the frame. This made the wheels were out of line and the rear wheel lie at a slight angle. Again some more head scratching until I figured out the problem and replace them with good and true versions
What was pleasing?
- The support from this forum. Take a bow all of you for direct help, indirect inspiration. As you may gather it would be easy to walk away from building a bike from scratch like this but reading the various posts over the years virtually every day has played a big part in keeping me at it. Advice freely given by some of the members was a God send. You know who you are…thank you.
- Finishing the damn thing
- And hopefully many miles of riding it!!!!
The straight throughs are TOO loud so need to figure a way to damp the noise down a bit and I'll need to register it for the road.
