New member...er Hi

[Stephen Arsenal]

Hi there,just bought a scrap BSA Golden Flash from 1959,(although I have no motorbike licence,and am back to basics at night school)loads of work,fingernails are cut to ribbons,I have no mechanical knowledge of motobikes,have never even ridden one,the wife has gone bonkers (I´m more of a Citreon DS freak)all because as a child I saw one in a back garden in a council house in Brighton and feel in love with the shape. Have I made a thumbs up move...thanks-steve

[flashblack]

Hello and welcome,
 I`m sure it`ll be the best thing you`ve ever done, and you`ll soon be living and breathing everything A10!
You`ll also learn everything you need to know here from an extremely knowledgable bunch of people ( i know i have!)
      good luck  Richie

ps i`m sure the wife will come round too in the end....

[tombeau]

I came to cars late in life and can't believe how ridiculously, unnecessarily complicated they are.
People I've known who have done things the other way round (car guys) usually can't believe how simple bikes are.
If you can cope with a DS you will be laughing!
Welcome aboard.
iain

[Stephen Arsenal]

Thanks for the vote,as a youngster I always thought that only chunky blokes on bikes looked the part,like Ray Whinstlow ??whats his name in Quadrophina,and skinny guys looked better on a mofa,(ladies looked cool whatever)now I´m a lot larger,ha ha.Anyway,I was offered this bike plus spare for almost a complete one from a work collegue whose misses
wanted him to leave asp,just as he finished building the house,( he´d just spent the last 8 years building the house from scratch and was always in a bad mood from working too many hours,but thats another story),I offered to hold the bike and if he stayed in germany he could buy it back within 2 years,but he wanted to sell it outright so he could travel light ,if need be.Anyway,to cut to the chase,I stripped it to the frame,but the brake rod(?) wo´nt come out,and we have tried it in an army pressin the barracks,but the frame is too large,someone suggested heating up the metal,and then hitting it with a sledgehammer,or drilling the head off(not too sure about that).Anyway,I´ve left it with a couple of biker mechanics to ponder a solution.The only major question I have is,is there a tenplate to trace the paint spraying of the petrol tank,and is the red thin marking line a transfer or just carefully hand painted.Thanks for your replys,and any advice could save me hours of phoning these guys up and asking,hows it going...?????

[rocket man]

hi steve sounds like you have a lot of work ahead of you
but dont worry BSAs are easy to work on so you shouldn't
have too meny  problems we will help you along the way
welcome to the forum you've chosen a good bike to work on
one of the best a lot of the lines where hand painted on it
looks better that way i had mine hand painted on my tank
he was a coach painter lovely job

dave

[LJ.]

Steve... We need to know your age to determine if this is a Mid life crises your going through.  

Don't worry I came into bikes in the exact same way and to be honest... It is the best thing I have done.

The A10 Gold Flash is a really good choice as parts are easy to get, but becoming expensive. I've just got in (8.45pm) from taking my daughter out to the local fair, nice ride back home in the dark with 6 volts electrics! (Stop laughing you 12volt converts!) The sound of the bike, smell of its castrol R engine oil and looks, was really grand!

Fraid your in now, there is NO turning back. Treat the missus to some nice leathers and boots and you'll have won her over, keep the vibrations as well cus she'll like that too!  

Welcome aboard!  

[Stephen Arsenal]

Thank you LJ,midlife crisis?,no I had mine at the age of 6,is yours the bike that is on you tube,that drives up the road and then back again ?? to example the low throaty sound of the engine ?? if it was,its very impressive(reminded me of one of the french art school short films from the 60s where nothing really much happens,but everyone was so impressed !!).No the missis was dead against it-very family unfriendly , even if it had a side car attatched (would never ever get through german MOT-they are soooo strict )...anyway,I wanted it just to drive around in.At first I wanted it to stay in its original wreck condition,clean it up a tad,the the mechanics working and use it as it was,rust and all but as mentioned,the german TÜV/MOT would of slaughtered it,it has to look halfway good (even if it passed all safety points ) to get through.Evening driving school is something else,30 students in a small room,people not looking at the teacher,texting during lessons,the teacher does not point to anyone and ask that person what the answer to a question is.This is expensive,although I´ve been driving since 86,its going to cost around 1,400 pounds sterling.But like you said,once one starts,one becomes dragged slowly into the BSA quicksand of life and the more you struggle,the more you sink.
After the first week of having everyone around to look,quote,examine and cost (around 40 bikers) I decided I was going to sell it on,it seemed like there was too much work and it was going to cost a bomb.I closed the garage door and started to walk to my house,thinking how am I going to get rid of it,and what a shame,then realising I´d left my drinking water in the garage I went back to get it,opened the door,grabbed the bottle an noticed a rusted bolt that was loose on the bike,so I tightened it up and wondered if the others were the same,ah intresting...................where does that one go into,what does that one do,

[LJ.]

is yours the bike that is on you tube,that drives up the road and then back again ??

Yep! It certainly is, you might have recognised the white gate in the avatar photo. Yes that bike (the Red one) does indeed sound good, this is thanks to the Gold Star silencers it has. My other A10 the blue one, sounds even better with Campbell silencers and are the same shape as the originals that should be fitted. Both are just basic bog standard A10s with Iron heads and are more than satisfactory to my riding style. I really must get the video camera out again to film that one.

it seemed like there was too much work and it was going to cost a bomb.

The danger here can be to listening to modern bike riders as they compare expenses with newer machines which indeed are astronomically expensive but then... dont often go wrong. Although I did mention that parts on the A10 were becoming expensive these parts are usually the parts that don't really need replacing such as the primary covers and mudguards etc. You'll probably find it expensive until you get to know the bike and are covering some miles then things will settle down and you'll have a nice reliable bike that will always attract admiration and respect.

Keep in touch and let us know how it goes.... we'll be expecting some photos soon!  

P.S. Bet I know what football shirt you wear!

[Stephen Arsenal]

as it was 2 weeks ago

[terryk]

Great bike Steve, you'll find the parts you need in time and meet alot of great people in the process. Its the best hobby ever. It can get addictive though and you can end up with a lot of bits and pieces in the shed and half finished projects.  But thats all apart of the fun.
Buy youself a manual and a parts list and BSA Twin Restoration book by Roy Bacon. You'll learn whats goes where and you'll be in the shed till all hours of the night like the rest of us. Go for it enjoy it mate and when its finish and your blasting down the road with the wife on the back you'll wonder why you didnt do this years ago.

[rocket man]

hi steve post us pics as you progress with your project
its all part of the fun we will guide you throue the tricky
bits but most of all have fun your bike looks like a good one
you will easily find all the bits you need for her dont tell the wife that its a she  

[Stephen Arsenal]

Thanks,this picture is as it was last week,now I have stripped everything off.It will be sandblasted on tuesday,and painted the gold bronze later this week.I also became basicallly a spare bike with this one with quite a lot of spare parts which when everything is done I´ll sell.The engine and clutch will be taken apart in the coming months,and I hope by christmas,or new year it will be 50% rebuilt.It must be rebuilt by May because I could be off to South America to adopt a child,after that,I´ll have no time to mess around in the garage for a while.I think I will probably need to go to the german TÜV at least a couple of times.I need my motorbike licensce by Easter.The best bit is ( I already have a couple of WW2 Raf/American Airforce jackets which would go great with the bike-shame I have to wear a safty helmet,I know I know,still....).I found a german guy who works with BSA and Triumph here in Münster,and he was well chuffed when I turned up for some work.He wanted to only work with Brittish bikes,but alas has to do BMW and the like as there is not enough Bit bike customers.Had to weld part of the motorbike stand holes as they were oval and not round due to wear.
Am very anxious about the sandblasting on tuesday.The angels guy aid I do´nt need to wipe the grease off the metal,the sand will take it away.Its going to be done in my garage (a rented one) so could be that the wals will end up being covered with grease ??
Does anyone know the real gold/bronze colour code that I can give the paint company.The nice norweigen BSA guy gave me the code in spray cannister form,but this cannot be transfered to the wholesaler paint firm ??.Any ideas-thanks...I´ll make some pictures of the pieces that have to be sandblasted...just for piece of mind-thank you again chaps-steve

[Stephen Arsenal]

,,,,

[rocket man]

thanks for the pics steve whats the frame and engine numbers
the frame number should be on the left side of the shroud near the steering stem
and the engine number should be on the left hand engine casing

[LJ.]

Brilliant! Your off to a flying start...