A7 New owner/new member

[Jowan]

Hi, I bought an 1955 A7 Shooting Star a couple of weeks ago from Andy Tiernan in Suffolk, I live in Cornwall; 860 mile round-trip; worth every mile though. It's my first bike & I was really glad to come across this forum. As you can see it's not for the purist but it's desert sled trim is just what I was looking for & it is a matching numbers bike. No lights at all & of course mot exempt. It seems a grey area over the need for a brake light though?
Anyway I look forward to no doubt seeking much advice & I'd be interested to know if there are any members west of the Tamar?

[Bedfordbeeza]

Hi,

Pretty new here myself, you're in good company and will make plenty of contacts.  Nice bike too, my current a7 build wont excite the purists either but that makes a good case to buy another bike in standard trim, that's what I'm telling the wifeee anyway

Ps: wish I did live in Cornwall, beautiful scenery and my favourite holiday destination!!

[Greybeard]

  Hi. I think I'd want a brake light these days when there are so many f'wits on the road! A dry cell powering an LED array type would seem to be doable.

[Bedfordbeeza]

That's a good idea regarding dry cell/led setup, I'm not having lights either but was thinking of a small rear stop light, and maybe an inconspicuous running light up front.  Ive ditched the dynamo, but want to turn a receptacle on the lathe that resembles a dynamo, housing a cell with an external recharging point.  I even considered stripping the internals of the Lucas e3l but as I want to make custom engine mounts, I felt the body was a little too long.

[chaterlea25]

Hi and Welcome
Nice looking steed, a brake light is something I now consider essential
I looked on Andy's site and found some more photos
http://www.andybuysbikes.com/archivehtml/6521bsa.html#

Cheers
John

[BrianS]

Hi from across the border in Exeter!

Lovely looking bike.

I will be very interested on your solution to the brake light as I am guessing you will go with a low power consumption LED. I am looking at that possibility to leave a bit more juice in the system to go to the "wee willie winky" headlight 

However, check out this video before ordering your LED stop/tail - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKkT22UAhq8

Brian

[Bsareg]

Hi from Helston. Great choice for a first classic bike. You will find many BSAs running around in Cornwall. Club meets twice a month in St Austell.

[a10 gf]

Great looking. Welcome aboard.

[Greybeard]

...check out this video before ordering your LED stop/tail - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKkT22UAhq8

I actually thought the difference was noticeable. Anyway, Jowan will not be running a tail light will he? He just needs a stopper.

[greenbuilder]

Hi Jowan
I'm also a recent member of the forum, based in Calstock, Cornwall; currently rebuilding an A10 Super Rocket.
there's also a meet up of old bikes at Louis Tea Rooms, Kit Hill on Sunday mornings
Tony

[mikeb]

nice bike Jowan
i'm a big fan of LED bulbs and believe lights and all directions (brake, tail, head, blinkers) make us live longer on modern roads, mot exempt or not. I also like e3l dynamos with modern regulators (DVR2...)....
don't get one of those stupid cheap cob led bulbs in that video. get a tail light LED board from classicdynamoregulators or matchlessclueless, or similar. will cost much more, work much better, draw much less power than a filament bulb (so help your battery / total loss system) and may even save your bike's life 

[Jowan]

Thanks to everyone for there replies I've since found out the crap who owned my bike before me restored it to match a Catalina Scrambler, so after googling I found my bike...or the inspiration anyway. Would love to know if anyone has an original or has come across one?

[Greybeard]

The crap who owned my bike...

Was that insult intentional?

[Jowan]

Oh dear that was supposed to be chap!

[Greybeard]

Oh dear that was supposed to be chap!

You could go back and edit your post but it's more fun as it is!