Keeping them going
Discussion
I've Decided to document my various efforts of keeping my old bikes working as nicely as I can.
Hopefully it will help or entertain at least a few people on here.
No idea where to start, it's not going to be in any order so I will begin with what I've done this week and digress from there.
Earlier this week, I lifted the engine back into this.
The frame is a BSA B31, of 1958 vintage, the engine is a Triumph T100 (500cc originally). This is mated to a BSA gearbox, built up with various bits, including factory trials gear ratios and a Gold Star pulley.
This was built up for one purpose, sidecar trials, and that's how it's been for 30+ years, my dad and I campaigning it in various pre 65 events over the years. If you have ever experienced sidecar trials, you will understand the amount of abuse these machines get.
We rebuilt the engine around 25 years ago chasing a little more power and torque, after a strip down and checkup, everything is still well within tolerance, so it was a case of clean and rebuild, we did run it on castor oil which makes a lovely smell, but also leaves quite a mess, so after this strip we will be going to mineral oil. We also rebuilt the gearbox and magneto, rebuilt the wheels with new rims, cut out and replaced a damaged frame tube, a reasonably comprehensive freshen up I'd say.
Lots of other bits and bobs have been sorted too, as the old sidecar has been removed, we had to fabricate new foot pegs and mounts in place of having a foot in a bit of sidecar frame, the rear brake linkage needed rerouting too, this is all stuff that while sounding simple, takes quite a long time. It won't be long before the engine is running, a few other bits to do, new brackets made for the new seat, same again for the Gold Star competition fuel tank we have treated it too, also had to repair the oil tank. Once the bike itself is finished, the next job is to build a new sidecar, more on that another day.
Hopefully it will help or entertain at least a few people on here.
No idea where to start, it's not going to be in any order so I will begin with what I've done this week and digress from there.
Earlier this week, I lifted the engine back into this.
The frame is a BSA B31, of 1958 vintage, the engine is a Triumph T100 (500cc originally). This is mated to a BSA gearbox, built up with various bits, including factory trials gear ratios and a Gold Star pulley.
This was built up for one purpose, sidecar trials, and that's how it's been for 30+ years, my dad and I campaigning it in various pre 65 events over the years. If you have ever experienced sidecar trials, you will understand the amount of abuse these machines get.
We rebuilt the engine around 25 years ago chasing a little more power and torque, after a strip down and checkup, everything is still well within tolerance, so it was a case of clean and rebuild, we did run it on castor oil which makes a lovely smell, but also leaves quite a mess, so after this strip we will be going to mineral oil. We also rebuilt the gearbox and magneto, rebuilt the wheels with new rims, cut out and replaced a damaged frame tube, a reasonably comprehensive freshen up I'd say.
Lots of other bits and bobs have been sorted too, as the old sidecar has been removed, we had to fabricate new foot pegs and mounts in place of having a foot in a bit of sidecar frame, the rear brake linkage needed rerouting too, this is all stuff that while sounding simple, takes quite a long time. It won't be long before the engine is running, a few other bits to do, new brackets made for the new seat, same again for the Gold Star competition fuel tank we have treated it too, also had to repair the oil tank. Once the bike itself is finished, the next job is to build a new sidecar, more on that another day.
In one of the photos you can see the oil tank has a patch welded on amongst various repairs, the reason being we moved intake and outlets and the filler, because we have moved the tank back quite a long way to make air filter access much easier, the filler was located to one side and always got in the way of the riders leg, so now it's under the seat, so a flip up mount was made to suit the new seat. Also we are changing the petrol tank, and we had to accommodate this in the packaging.
The footrest and bracket has been made, as the riders left foot used to be on a part that went with the sidecar, that meant a new brake lever needed to be made to suit this position, and a linkage that was tucked away a bit neater.
The plan has changed a bit, it was going to become a solo trials machine when the old sidecar was removed, but it's such a heavy/slow steering old thing that is admittedly not its fault, that's how we built it. As we have much more suitable options for solo trials, the plan is to build a new sidecar, but in a very old school way, like a 60s trials outfit, rather than the almost modern one that preceded it. This will be better for more general use such as greenlaning as we are not going to be competing in sidecar trials. The plan will now be that I drive, and my dad will be in the sidecar for leisure outings, also I might give him a bit of payback for all my years in the chair.
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