"One in four is a BSA" or so the slogan went Picked this up today from my Father, a 1956 BSA A10 on extended "loan" Already been for a 20-25 mile ride and was pleasantly suprised although it now needs a new friction damper knob as that fell off somewhere, the front brakes are crappier than a really crappy thing and the clutch needs work but a very bike to ride anyway I can see myself knocking up a few miles on this with a little bit of work in the interest of reliabilty and making it a touch tidier
nice....what is it....A10 ( pretends to know about BSA's)....I had an A65 once the motor looks similar....be careful old bikes are addictive....unlike modern digital plastic crap. Brake looks to be a 1/2 width one... probably respond to sizing some new shoes on the drum and new cable. More pics please.
That's the famous 8'' BSA front brake - it was good enough for Goldstar's, should pull up an A10, although they are heavier. But the clutch is crappier than a crappy thing. You will get a look at it if you fix that primary case leak. Best way not to get primary oil leaks is not to run oil in there.....
The 8" was pretty good. Good enough to stop an A10 plus Busmah DA sidecar. The clutch may well be the original cork insert version. In which case you definitely dont want to run out of chain case oil. Repairs will require purchasing a large number of wine bottle corks (or a large number of bottles of wine followed by a monumental pissup) and making a template to cut out dozens of inserts. Such fun. Only took me about a week to cut them all out and soak them. Assuming your clutch centre bearing isn't rooted which it almost certainly is.
I think that's the thin flange barrel. What do you reckon Mr Motu. If it is either it's been ridden very gently or been very lucky ?
Probably more of a medium flange - the old plunger A10 were really thin, then as the compression ratio's increased they had to thicken the barrel flange to stop them ripping off....last of the A10 they were pretty thick. So, standard compression on a BSA twin at all times. The BSA clutch was a ghastly pressed steel thing, although they did seem to work. Last of them used the Triumph clutch, and the centre to convert was a very rare find - but I bet they are everywhere these days. Nice to see one in nice original condition - it obviously hasn't been anywhere near me.
Reading the A10 forum the front brake is a regular item of conversation, and a TLS out of a Triumph is a popular conversion so I may be after one of those if I can't sort it as something is very wrong with this one as it wont even stop the bike at walking pace Apparently this already has the "Triumph" clutch in it, but it drags like a bastard and lever and case adjustment is a bit suspect Assuming your clutch centre bearing isn't rooted which it almost certainly is It shouldn't be, Dad paid a fortune for a lot of work on this bike although I think he got tucked as it is nowhere near as good as it should be for the money spent All I really want to do is sort the brakes and clutch, fix an oil leak or two and do a bit of riding, already ordered a fastener kit and some gaskets and have a few BSA shops bookmarked nice....what is it....A10 ( pretends to know about BSA's)....I had an A65 once the motor looks similar....be careful old bikes are addictive Yeah it's an A10 that's why it says 1956 BSA A10 under the photo As for being addictive I was alreadythinking about what kind of goodies I could afford for it if I sold the Ducati Oh yeah Motu as for original spec I was thinking more "Road Rocket" trim would suit me better
How our thinking has changed - before the TLS the 8'' BSA brake was one of the best. Go to a classic meeting and all the BSA's will be running that brake. Mind you, back in the day we used deadly asbestos brake linings, the new PC brake material may not be up to it.
Makes me wish I hadn't given away the two GT550J doubleside TLS hubs I had a few years back, holy crap just checked Ebay for one and they want $436USD for one although that's better than the Yamaha TD1 front brake/rim at $2000, anyway I'll take it apart and check to see why it is so shit and in the meantime I've bid on a Triumph TLS out of a sixties Bonneville just in case
More pics please Ok here's some more Fuel lines need to be changed around to enable the airfilter to fit Brake lever angle isn't right and adjuster at wheel and lever are wound fully out Needs an oil leak fixed And I need to find a right hand tank badge (bidding on one on ebay) It looks tidier in the photos than it does in real life, there's a bit of rust on the rims and pipes and the headers need replacing but are usuable, I quite like the BSA 2-1 exhaust so it may end up with one of those and I would like to find a period luggage rack/saddle bags
Yeah, that lever is at totally the wrong angle - that's most of your problem there....and the reason why it's like that is the rest of the story.
After having a good look at it I think the brake cable is wrong, if I remove the cable and alter the lever position on the spline to where it shows in pictures I have looked at on other bikes then the cable isn't long enough, if I move it around by one spline and hook the cable up and adjust to where it engages it sits where it is now
