Greetings!

[kylohere]

A big hello to all the gentlemen and ladies in this forum.

My name is Kyle Pereira and I am from Bombay, India. I currently live in beautiful New Zealand but will be going back home by the end of this year.

All my bikes are back in India and all I can do is sigh when the motorcycles whizz by when I am stuck in my car in the great Auckland traffic snarl.

My A7 is currently just an engine with half of the engine number ground off. But I intend to get her back on the road in original spec if I can, and as a mongrel if I can't .

Any Auckland based Kiwi members here?

[Rocket Racer]

Kyle,
welcome to the forum, is the A7 a swingarm , plunger or early longstroke type?
Quite a pile of early A7 longstroke parts on trademe down in Hamilton at the moment.
The local BSAOC meets every second wednesday of the month (this week) at the Northcote Tavern (harbour bridge end of the bar) from 6:30pm: just look for the anoraks   , just kidding, we're a friendly bunch 
Certainly several Auckland or near Auckland members on the forum and active BSAOC and classic clubs including classic racing. 
Tim

[Greybeard]

 

[muskrat]

G'day Kyle,  .
Once home in India I'd say you'd want to pack up all the bikes and head back to NZ for good!
Cheers

[bsa-bill]

welcome  kylohere

and looking forward to your progress wit the A7

[a10 gf]

Welcome, thanks for intro post. Some pictures and bike story? btw I've been to Bombay, long time ago.
Hoping the forum can help getting the bike running.

And not too many ladies members here... there must be some out there riding A's?

[RichardL]

Kyle,

Welcome to the forum. Have you been gone from India since before 1995 or is "Bombay" still in popular use as the name of your home?

I think our only other member from India is Anjimehra, though I might have forgotten someone. Anji runs a motorcycle adventures tour business out of Pune. Here is the link: www.ventureonwheels.in . I was surprised to see that Pune was only 148km from Mumbai. I suppose that is considered quite close by Indian terms, considering the extensive rail system that I know precious little about. Anji has a lot of experience keeping A10s going and might be a helpful source of India-specific parts suppliers, et cetera.

Richard L, 

[kylohere]

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!

Bombay was, is, and always will be Bombay to anyone who has lived in the city long enough. In fact, most of the older cabbies are still more familiar with the old road names as opposed to the new ones.

I do know Mr. Anji Mehra from Pune. He's regarded as a stalwart in the Indian classic and vintage motorcycle circles. His garage houses some really fine machines, some of which are not very common in India. And he's a really person; which is something that is even harder to come by these days!

With regard to my A7 project, I honestly just want the motor to propel itself down the road. I couldn't be bothered about originality at this point because there is no way that I can correctly ascertain its complete engine number and even if I did somehow manage to do that, finding the matching frame would be impossible.

I have been toying with the idea of plonking the motor into a plunger B31 frame but I haven't seen or heard of someone managing to do it successfully. Would it be possible to do so without the need for cutting or altering the B31 frame in any way?

This might upset a lot of purists but I feel that it's better to have a bike of mixed heritage blat down the road than have its motor sit under a bench collecting dust.

[RichardL]

Kyle,

I'd venture to say that we all agree with your take on the need for originality or, in your case, lack thereof. On the other hand, Anji is an original who we all like and respect. (Anji, yes, that's true.)  I sooo want to take one of his tours but I'm not really holding out hope. He sent me (or posted, I forget) a family green curry recipe that I made and pictured here on the forum. It was, indeed, delicious. Everyone here thought the color and plate presentation were fantastic (well, that may be just a teeeeny exaggeration).

Can't offer anything regarding the A7 engine in the B31 frame.

Richard L.

[kylohere]

Grown men who ride big British kickstart-only motorcycles and who love to cook too? Wow, this really is an awesome forum!

[muskrat]

G'day Kyle.
I'd say it's possible to put an A7/10 motor/gearbox into a B31/33 frame. I think the only difference is the kink in the B frame to clear it's oil pump.
Cheers

[duTch]

 G'day Kyle , fairly sure the 'B' plunger frames are different, in that the downtube from the seat runs between the engine and gearbox, ie; the box doesn't bolt on like an 'A'

                            duTch

[muskrat]

Bugga, your right duTch. I was thinking of the s/a.
Cheers

[Rocket Racer]

If its a plunger A7 motor a plunger B31 frames front triangle frame section isnt going to work and a nice option might be an A65 frame which should take the semi unit motor and quite common.
A swing arm motor with a separate gearbox might well be able to go into a plunger B series frame, although (and speaking as an owner of one) as the plunger B frame relies on the engine as a stressed member, is weaker than the equivelent duplex plunger A series frame.
If you have a pre unit A7 motor an interesting option would be to graft it into a WM20 frame, girders and all. The M series frames are tough as old boots as they are a full cradle.
Sounds like you need to advertise in the local BSAOC magazine.
Try and get along to the Northcote Tavern tonight (anytime after 6), the foods good and its a diverse bunch of people. I'll be there
Tim

[kylohere]

Hi Tim!

I just saw your post and its 7pm already. Damn, will have to meet you guys for the next meet.

The A7 motor on the M20 frame does sound tempting. And like you said, M20s are built tough. Although most Norton fans might disagree, I feel that the M20 seems more robust and reliable than the 16H or the Big 4 for that matter.

You reckon all it should take is the fabrication of suitable mounting plates for the A7 to get comfortable within the M20 frame?