for sale a7 rigid engine in bits and gear box 1949 so i am told

[shaun1]

i got this in a job lot . a7 rigid engine in bits my number 07879332447

[andy2565]

are you selling the frame cheers andy

[shaun1]

are you selling the frame cheers andy

no mate just the engine . the frame is mint .so will build a bobber on it

[LJ.]

You might find the engine & frame worth are more money together if they are matching numbers, would be a shame to part them if they are.

[bikerjohndavies]

I agree with LJ.  These rigid A7's are getting harder to find and even though the engine and frame numbers did not match in the late 40's it would be a shame, if they were put together by the factory, to split them. This info can be found out from either the BSA owners club or VMCC copies of the factory dispatch records. Even more of a shame would be if by turning the frame into a bobber the frame was stretched or raked.

[Rich]

here's my two pennies worth,
The number of persons due to age wanting a rigid A7 is getting very few, and there are quite a few restored models out there already, in our youth we chopped many a BSA or made Tribsa's and the like, I can see a time when most of the old classic british bikes will be represented in museums and there will be a glut of bikes not wanted by the younger population and the prices will plummet.
So if this frame is going to be used for a project that will appeal to a younger age bracket then great, at least registered it will still  be a BSA frame
I look forward to seeing the finished project on the road
Richard

[trickytree]

Well said Rich!  Theres an amusing thread on BritBike at the mo regarding This Bike Anyone would think the builder had found a breading pair of Unicorns and chopped his b**ls off.

[shaun1]

if i can get the parts i will build as it is .and leave the frame as it was ment to be . thanks for all your comments

[olev]

I agree, Richard
I'm a member of the Queensland Historical Motor Cycle Club of Queensland (HMCCQ).
We have about 900 members and the average age is approx 75 years.
Club members have thousands of classic, vintage and veteran bikes tucked away.
The club doesn't seem to attract the younger generation.
I reckon you are spot on about a glut in 10 years or so.
Gloomy thought.

[RichardL]

I guess I'm a little confused by the terminology. Does "bobber" automatically imply radical "chopper", in the American sense, or, might it just mean it's a less-than-original bike of mostly original, or original-looking, parts. I think "bitsa", is the popular term. If it's a "chopper", and you (Shaun) are dumping the engine, do you intened to replace it with another A7 or A10 engine that is in better shape, or are you going off the reservation, say, with a Chevy 427 big block? With regard to bringing it back to near stock condition (likely as a "bitsa") I don't see the need to make it a museum piece, so Rich's fear of being unuseful as a rider may not apply. I would disagree that younger bikers would shun an A7 bitsa over a chopper of unclear breeding. Just look at eBay and you will see that BSA-born choppers do not do that well.

OK, shoot!

Richard L.

[Rich]

Choppers are old hat now, bobber's are the in thing and are different to a chopper, what I meant in my previous post was that there are many old original bikes out there so if some one wishes to cut and shunt and make a bike more personell to him or her then it should be encorouged, 10 to 20 years the end is nigh,  well the prices may well plummett and there will be plenty of bikes going spare that the purist, (there is nothing wrong with them either) can obtain
I have no idea what my B40/B44/c15 is going to look like when I finally get it on the road as I make it up as I go along, you know what petrol tank shall I use A10 export, B25 fibre glass or alloy?will I fit an alloy oil tank or the chrome a10 plunger tank the c15 one or the b25 one/ and so on even the exhaust has not been decided yet, but it will be another individual bike on the road
All to their own
Richard

[Brian]

Now this might put the cat among the pidgeons so to speak, meaning some of you wont like this.

"The end is nigh" what a load of crap. Yes there are lots of bikes hidden away in sheds etc but there are also a very great many that are ridden and provide much enjoyment for their owners. 60 or 80 years ago these bikes we now cherish were being thrown in the dump, for about the last 50 years we have been salvaging them and I am certain this will continue.

To say the market for old bikes is going to die is implying that the younger generation will not be interested in old machines, this is simply not the case. We have several younger members on this forum who I am sure are just as passionate as the rest of us middle aged to older members. Go to any old bike gathering and yes there will be lots of oldies but also a lot of younger people. If someone thinks that our fifties and sixties machines are going to be worthless in ten to twenty years then why are veteran machines worth a fortune, surely they should have been all disgarded by now.

I wont start on the "chopper" subject, I might get banned from the forum....................................

[groily]

I think Brian is quite right. The end is far from nigh. There is an issue at the moment maybe, as there are too many bikes in too few hands (and yes, too few of them do any decent mileage for all sorts of reasons, some good, some bad). See Olev's earlier point.
But this is an owners' age / baby boomer / affluent generation thing. The cycle will change as we thin out, and younger people will no doubt gradually acquire one then two then more bikes and the pattern will repeat.  Not in exactly the same shape probably, because we slaver over the machines we had when we were young - which can't apply to twenty-somethings today. Nevertheless, any classic machine in one bit today can be presumed to be a heritage asset that will be with us for ever. That is starting to include all sorts of things we derided in our youth, some of which are actually really very good. I think it's nice to see a good early Honda 4, or Kawa triple, or any of the other iconic machines that took over from the broken UK industry.
All toys find owners, so I don't think there'll be a problem at all - there'll just be this cyclical bunching, then post-mortem redistributions, then the same again as the next lot takes over. Prices will fluctuate naturally according to the rules of supply and demand, but basic value will be retained. The overall trend will be upwards, I'll bet. We're all addicts, and the next lot will be - are indeed - the same. I have a daughter with the same disease, it's just less advanced!

[LJ.]

Those younger ones today will be the older ones of tomorrow! Yes maybe at present they are into the far Eastern fast bikes but they will eventually come to senses and mellow. It's not just the riding or owning a classic bike, I believe the attraction will be in the ability to be able to take apart and fix a bike something you cannot easily do with modern machinery, there is a lot of satisfaction in maintaining them. All my kids like my bikes (all under 20) and have told me firmly I must not sell any of them!

[shaun1]

thanks all for your posts .if you have sent me a pm . i cant read the pms as it wont let me go in there .its coming up with a error ...????????/