My Daily Rider

[Magista]

@ Rex

There is a huge and flourishing Classic japanese scene, restored bikes go for enormous sums of money.

Most went to scrap because there were so many produced in the first place and they were seen as a step towards car ownership.

I bet for every BSA being currently restored, there are 10 Hondas.

Given the extremely high costs of parts (if they're even available) I rather doubt that is true. Top-notch resto's may ask/fetch a lot of money but put the wrong pipes on/paint it an off-shade/fit the wrong clocks or seat and the value is down in the Bantam bracket.
if there was a big demand there'd be more parts dealers than David Silver or CSNL, but there isn't.

In the US the demand for old Japanese bikes has substantially increased along with prices. Parts are relatively cheap (aside from a few bits) and there are several decent suppliers for our old Hondas other than David Silver or CSNL. Then again I'm not a restore guy. I'm a get it running, looking decent, leave the patina, and ride it as intended type guy.

The issue you run into here is someone will buy an old 550F or 750F or what-have-you and decide they are going to turn it into a cafe racer (I'm not against this if done right). More often than not it's a complete hack job and you get some nob trying to sell their garbage work for outrageous sums. Rarely is it done correctly. Unmolested examples are getting harder to find. 

And with that, here I am in 1973 on my dad's 1971 CL350. He used to put me on the tank and we'd ride up to Mt. St. Helens. Ruined me for life!

[Worty]

I don't have a Japanese other bike. My daily riders are BSAs.

I have one BSA A10 GF which I maintain meticulously.  Every time I go out on it, especially for longer journys, I wonder if she'll actually make it through the run.  So, I've just bought the Kwaka W650 as my 'Japanese other bike' as I like the look of it, the reliability is fantastic, and I don't want to waste my summers in the garage.  I guess if I had a lot of engineering expertise, didn't like being on the road so much, had a lot more cash, and a couple of spare Brit bikes, I'd totally be with you BS.

Unfortunately, I'm now looking at the GF's end float and slight lateral movement of the crank and thinking - 'should I sell whilst she's still running well or take my chances'.  How long would she last if I keep running her?  If she blows up, the bike would be worth half its current value??  Trouble is, I go into the garage and fall in love with the beastie all over again.

[groily]

Dunno what to suggest Worty. Keep, fix, sell . . . ??? Dilemmas with sharp horns on all fronts, and questions of 'morality' too if selling with known faults that could be expensive and do affect value.
Think I"d keep for now, on SORN or whatever you guys have, and ponder a lot longer before letting go of something you know you like a lot really . . . More expensive to buy another one if you missed it too much, and if the K got boring. But heck, only one person can decide!
I only have one 22 yr old semi-modern and it does fewer miles than my oldies even though it needs less doing to keep going, because I prefer riding the others.
It's a tough one, no easy answer . .

[Worty]

Thing is Groily, it still goes great with no bits of shim in the gauze!!  It's also a bit annoying as the bike's only done 10k since the engine rebuild by my 'engineer-mate-who-can't-rivet'.  

If I counted all the bits I've had to buy for it, less a few I could sell, the GF owes me about £7k.  Minus all the fun I've had on it and that's a lot less.   Maybe I should just ride it and wait for a more serious problem to develop, then engine strip time and try to find the bits at a price my budget can afford - riding the Kwaka in the meantime??

Anyone out there who wants to tackle an engine rebuild in their spare time??  I've got a few quid.

I've even considered a roller bearing conversion, but there's mixed feelings on those.  Apparently, the old Police A10s did starship mileages on the plain bearing.

[berger]

worty mine ran after it chewed the shims for many months of thrash and i mean thrash.  then i rebuilt it. it just banged loudly on kick up when the the crank shifted then ran perfect.  worty i will pick it up minus primary side and re build it for you . a few black&tans will sort that

[Worty]

Perhaps I should take yours, and Swarfy's, advice and just run until something dramatic happens.

Appreciate your offer Bergs, there may be something in that, where's your neck of the woods?  For some reason I'm thinking Chesterfield, but I may be dreaming that.

As Groily said, need to think rather than acting rashly!!

[berger]

worty yes chesterfield and i have just half built a tuned up A7ss engine for the berger build that is keeping warm in the living room . and as they say on some youtube sites, " watch man with amazing skills build this  " i have workshop and even better my brother has amazing heated workshop and amazing skills and machinery if any problems are come across but i doubt that i got my toys out of the stable a couple of weeks ago because a geezer wanted a photo

[Worty]

Nice going Bergs - and cheers!

Like the bikes, by the way.  Used to have a mate live in Chesterfield, his parents lived just down the road from the football stadium - visited about 40 years ago!

I live near Wakefield, but originally from Stafford.  I remember going to Chesterfield on a Yam YB100 at night in November for the first time taking the most direct route I could find.  Went on this road that was really winding with hills everywhere, going round a corner and discovering snow in the middle of the road.  Turns out that road was Snake Pass!!  When I told my mate, he was shocked I'd used the Pass at night in November, and was surprised it was open at all.  Had no idea at all it had a 'reputation'!

 

[berger]

worty offer is open if you decide before christmas i use a mic and not one you sing at

[berger]

worty snake pass is for summer only

[Worty]

Cheers Bergs, what's a 'mic' by the way.  Love going up the Snake in Summer now, but I used to ride all through the Winter as a kid.

[Black Sheep]

The A10 Flash was bought by my wife in '72 with a chair on to transport our first and then second sons. In time the chair went and the Flash became a solo. It was her everyday transport for 2 uni courses in all weathers as well as all other transport. We rarely had a car. It did suffer a broken crank and has had a pair of new pistons fail 200 miles after a rebore. But that's about it in 100,000 miles. It starts first or second kick and just goes and goes. It has never failed to get home, despite the crank breakage.

My A7 Star Twin was bought in '78 also by my wife. It has had a crank grind and instead of a rebore a set of standard barrels and pistons picked up cheap. In 50,000 miles it has only failed to get me home once after a carbon fibre head gasket failed. Won't use one of them again. This bike has been used daily for long distance commuting, a 60 mile round trip, though at one point Edinburgh - Aberdeen every couple of days.

I think the answer is that both bikes were bog standard and neglected but unmolested when Juliet bought them and have merely been maintained and used pretty constantly. Lack of reliability can often be the result of several rebuilds by previous owners who may not have had the skills to do it properly.

The bikes cost £45 each.
 

[Worty]

I think you're right BS.  Your bikes were bought whilst still quite young, and were unmolested as you say.  I bought mine when it was 52 years old and had had a number of different owners, it was also a donor bike for one of the other POs.  I do think the rebuild by my 'engineer-mate-who-can't-rivet' wasn't as good as it should have been.  I haven't thrashed the bike to death, and change the oil every 800-1200 miles, but I'm sure he cocked-up the endfloat shimming and the bush shouldn't have play in it yet.

I reckon a SRM full rebuild could come in at around £2k.  A Bergler fix could come in at a large Black and Tan session plus parts.  Food for thought, eh!!

[berger]

worty a mic is a micrometer a measuring tool of great accuracy in the hands of an engineer or a burgler 

[Swarfcut]

 Worty.  Could be that the outer race of the drive side bearing has just settled a little further into the crankcase with the heat and use in the low miles since a rebuild. Obvious you have  niggles/doubts as to what level of perfection was used in the build, but the shims are relatively cheap, and for the cost of a few gaskets and berg's expertise you could have an engine that performs as it should without the anxiety of a sudden failure.
 
 I'll stick with my assertion that driven without heroics it will continue to run fine in its present state. The decision to effect a fix is  simply one of sooner or later. Doing it is easy but tedious. Once the cases are opened up all will be revealed....

 Swarfy.