Had a look today

Had a look at the motor today and took it apart slightly just to see what I am up against.

Parts are missing and a full strip down is in order to find out what is missing as well as to get at the sludge trap. Plus after taking the sump plate off and discovering some rust covered dirt(?) it's just as well.

Other than being greasy and not taken care of for quite  while, for the most part it doesn't seem to bad except for a few places. There are some parts that are in a box by themselves but seem to be OK, thse being the primary drive and the cam. There's a few other miscellaneous parts but they look to be scrap I think unless they can be saved.

The timing case cover has a small bit missing from the rear at the gearbox area. Another cover has been ordered from eBay to replace it.

 

There'll be more to look at later on, but for now I'm gonna clean the parts up to see what shape their in and after the New Year comes in, I'll order the Caswells tank sealant and possibly the air filter element for the Starfire to get that dealt with, leaving the tires, battery, engine tune-up and registration papers to deal with.

Yes and no....sort of....

First off, I need to make a small, tiny little correction thingy here. In my last entry, I kept referring to the B44 as a Victor Sport whereas it's actually a Victor Special. For some reason thatI can't explain, namely to protect myself from looking like a real wazzick, I had it in my head that it was a Victor Sport instead of a Victor Special.

Now that that's cleared up...the yes and no part is now explained; Yes I got something, but no it wasn't the whole thng at the price I was quoted

The day after seeing the B44VS I went with money in hand to pick this pile of scrap metal up and cart it off home. When I got there I saw the young chappy from the day before and after telling my intentions, he lets me know that he talked to his dad, the owner, about th esale and the price and dad the owner said that he couldn't let it go for the aamount we agreed on, $75.

Said that he's sell the frame for $350 and the motor for $85. I think he could see I was a little peeved by this and sort of sympathized with me a little. But I agreed to buy the motor for the $85. He then said that perhaps the frame could go for $200.

I figured that that might still work out as unless they put the frame on Craig's List or eBay as is, nobody around here would buy it sans engine so I have the advantage there as well as that the motor will go into the Starfire frame so if they did sell the frame minus the motor, I still have that.

So I got the motor along with some parts that were taken off (for whatever reason) and took them home.

On Chrimbo Day, yesterday, I had  look at what I had.

I pulled the head and barrel off to show a dry and slightly grungy conrod, crankshaft and flywheels. The piston was missing along with a few other parts that I can see. The other parts consisted of the primary drive with clutch and some minor parts.

I'll have to take some digital pictures tomorrow to show how things look at the moment before any work starts.

I will have to buy a timing side cover as there is a small chunk missing out of the one on thee now. As it happens, there just happens to be one on eBay. Luckily parts shouldn't be to much of a problem getting.

A new addition

Today, a few days before Merry Chrimbo or Bah Humbug, depending on your view, I stopped by a small, local motorcycle business that I had happened upon a few weeks ago by chance. So, as I was in the area I thought I'd drop in to see what they dealt with and what they did, as in repairs, parts, Japanese/HD or even possibly British.

I went inside and talked to this young guy for a few minutes and casually asked if they had any dirt bikes, British specifically like BSA or whatever. He told me there was a BSA frame in the back and he had an engine inside if I wanted to look. I did.

We went into the office where there was a motor sitting and he said that his dad had pulled it apart so some parts might be missing. I had a look at the area where the maker information is and guess what? Go on have a guess!!!

Can't guess? OK, it said it was a BSA B44 Victor Sport which is the big brother to my wee Starfire. Then he asks if I want to see the frame and of course the ansswer is...Yes!

We go back outside to an area that is tarped over. He pulls the tarp back and exposes a rolling chassis. He then says that he thinks that the motor came from this frame. So we have a quick look at the mounting lug on the left side of the down tube and he reads off B44VS.

I ask him what he'd be asking if he was to sell it and he tells me $75. To make sure I heard right, I said "$75 for the frame and motor, right?" and he confirms it.

After asking if I want to take it right now, I tell him that I'll get it after Christmas.

But I have the money and I'm slightly anxious about going back in a week or two and findng the price has gone up. So I'll swing by there on the way home from work to get the new additon to the shed along with  bill of sale for later on.

This new beastie is in rough shape; the forks need work as they are rusty, needs a seat, exhaust system, headlight, electrical wiring, tires, a tank and a ton of work.

But as it's similar to the Stafire, it shouldn't be too bad and parts are fairly easy to get from various sources. The big thing is whether to re-do it as a Victor Sport or as a Shooting Star

The Victor Sport is the one on the left with the blue tank and the Shooting Star is on the right with the red tank. They both look good, but which one? I'm leaning very heavily towards it's original set-up, the Victor Sport as seen on the left.

More pictures to follow when I pick the bike up and bring it back to Thrash 'em Motorcycles. This is to document it's sorry state for the restoration log and for reference work during the work.

Forums

As a way to get additional info on restoratns as well as a way to relax a little, I use internet forums.  I belong to one that caters strictly to BSAs and two  that are devoted to classic bike ownership.

As far as technical information, all three are good as there is someone, somewhere that has somthing to offer as well as differing opinions on some matters. This is especially true of the BSA forum.

Of the classic bike forums, both are good in that there is varying thoughts on posted queries and an answer is never to far away.

There are good and bad points to te forums; the good being that there is, as I say, someone with an answer, the bad being that it may not be the answer wanted.

One drawback is that as there are varied thoughts and opinions, I've noticed some slagging going on. For the most part moderators keep everything in check, but I've also seen where moderators are culprits as well.

From one of the forums I got the web addy for a blog that while not techincal is very informative. This is the blog of "The Gorgeous Biker Chick" or GBC for short.

GBC chronicles her adventures of classic motorcycling in northern Scotland on a wee Triumph Tiger Cub. The blog covers shows and events, charity dos as well as country life in the wilds of Scotland. As well as some good writing, there's also some good pictures to go along.

One is of a rather large statue of a dog at a port with the wee Cub and a 250 Panther parked up alongside. Both bikes are well used and travelled.

Other pics are of the Scottish scenery, weather, sheep and shed. To find out more, go over and have a look at GBCs blog. You'll be glad you did.   

Originality vs reliability

I just got the latest copy of Classic Bike Guide and one of the columnists did a bit on originality vs reliability and in the article, he talks about people who do restorations on classic bikes and insist on using only original parts instead of upgraded parts that might be better. No matter that the original stuff might be rubbish now as it was then.

I was interested in this as this blog is about the restoration of my Starfire and trying to keep it as original as possible.

But, some of the things he had to say made a lot of sense. As much as I want to keep it original, I can see that there are or will be times that it may not always happen.

One area that I've deviated from is the chainguard; one's for a B25 Starfire are rarer than frog lips so I had to make do with one from a B50. Another is the two bolts that secure the upper portion of the oil tank to the frame I replaced with stainless steel AF type nuts and bolts. This was done as the original CEI or BA threaded bolts snapped while re-installing the tank.

With the chainguard the purist anoraks will be coming out with the infamous "Don't think that chainguards right for that machine there mate." The bolts are hidden by the seat so will never be seen.

In either case, they may not be the right parts, but it doesn't stop the useablity of the bike.

As far as other upgrades, things such as electronic ignition to replace the points, that sounds like a good idea as it improves starting as well as reduces the need for adjustment on the points set-up or other problems with say the coil or condenser.

Depending on how well the headlight illuminates, I may go with a Halogen bulb or LED if there is one to improve the lights. Same for the rear light. Later on it may be agood idea to have the wiring loom replaced with a custom made one in the same colors.

Rubber for the wheels I'm still not sure about. I've always liked Dunlop K81 TT100s front and rear, but as those are from about 20-30 years ago, it may be hard to find them here. More recent Dunlop K82s have the same look and tread and might be available from the local MC breaker. If not, I may have to go with a modern tread and compound if necessary.

On the next restoration, I think upgrades will be in the cards.

Todays weather is.....

cold and windy. Pretty much like it has been for the past week. The beginning of the week it was dampish and it rained for most of the day. Then it's been just cold and windy as I say.

As I've been on vacation all week I've been indoors for the most part instead of the shed. I would've gotten some Caswells tank sealant on order, but an unexpected expense in the form of a replacement water pump for my truck came up.

Even if that hadn't occured and I had the sealant, I don't think that I could've gotten the tank satisfactorily sealed due to the weather right now. I think that it may affect the way curing takes place.

So for right now I'm going to enjoy the weather. It beats 100F temperatures of the summer and I actually prefer this as it reminds of being back in the UK and on the east coast.