Motorcycle Restoration

[WolfieParticipant @wolfie]

[WolfieParticipant @wolfie]

 

Evening all, Wolfie's back.After what can only be described as an annus horribilis (lost the wife and moved house) I'm picking up the pieces. I do however finally have my workshop at my house instead of across town. So in celebration I bought me a BSA C15 restoration project. This is clearly going to require me to ask yet more questions. And the BSA owners club forum is so far deader than a herd of brontosauruses sweeping majestically across the plain! Anyway, watch this space. Talking of spacing, sorry about the lack of spacing, but I'm parked up on an industrial estate in Tewkesbury which I suspect is further south than France and my tablet doesn't appear to have a space bar key here!

 

 

Edited By Wolfie on 29/10/2015 22:46:41

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Does it have a space bar key when you are in France ?

[James AlfordParticipant @jamesalford67616]

I rebuilt one of those a few years back: currently sat in the garage pending a new MOT.

Regards,

James.

[Marcus BowmanParticipant @marcusbowman28936]

I have had a few of those. I had one I used daily for a few years, then had to sell it. I still miss it.

Which model (250 Star; C15SS; C15T; or C15S – S was scrambles and T was trial version, so most were plain C15 – the 250 Star, although most folks didn't call it that – or the very nice C15SS Sport Star).

Marcus

[WolfieParticipant @wolfie]

 

It's a 1959 Star, older than me haaa

Edited By Wolfie on 29/10/2015 23:14:28

[steveteeParticipant @stevetee]

Please , please, convert the electrics to 12 volt, join the green and yellow and the green and black together on one side of the rectifier and the green and white on the other. the 6 volt systems were terrible…………. ( why otherwise have an emergency start position?)

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

Welcome back Wolfie, been a long time, wondered where you went. Sorry about the missus

GL on the project and don't be a stranger

[john fletcher 1Participant @johnfletcher1]

To stevetee. My son has recently bought a BSA 350 to restore. Do you know if the same wiring mod is applicable to it as well. No doubt some one will know. Also I think fitting a solid state rectifier in place of the Selenium with improve charging as well, but I suppose the purists will say that's not restoration, but modification.John

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Sorry to hear about your trials and tribulations, Wolfie – but good to have you back.

I remember the BSA Owners club from when I was a teenager. It was about three feet long and made of oak with a big nail through the end..

Neil

[Paul NarramoreParticipant @paulnarramore61033]

I have a few bikes too – a Honda GL1000, a BMW R100GS-Paris Dakar, a BMW R100/7, and about three MZs. The GS passed her MoT on Wednesday and I ride regularly, The GoldWing I bought as a restoration project and she's almost done now. The R100/7 and the MZs are in storage. If you find the BSAOC website too quiet, why not try the Real Classics Facebook page; lots of friendly advice on there and a really enjoyable magazine too (subscription).

Oh and I have a Lomax 223 being restored.

Edited By Paul Narramore on 30/10/2015 09:19:51

[JimmieSParticipant @jimmies]

Hi Wofie. Sorry to learn of your sad news.

Not quite what you are looking for but Charlie's site http://www.bsaotter.com is worth a visit, also a search for some old Motorcycle Mechanics with C15 content on our favourite internet auction site might be usefull. Haynes do a manual for BSA Unit singles.

A quick google will turn up some useful utube and other sites.

Remember the 'twice' rule will come into play -expense, time, headaches etc x 2 as you thought. And twice the fun when it is one the road. Now if it was Rudge you would have fun x 4!

With many of out 'readers' having an interest in motorcycles, could Neil W or John S start a thread for usones?

[James AlfordParticipant @jamesalford67616]

I converted my C15 to 12v by pairing the wires as suggested, fitted a solid state regulator and a gel burglar alarm battery. It works perfectly, never goes flat and runs indicators and a bright halogen headlamp. Externally, it looks standard, apart from the tiny bullet indicators.

James.

[WolfieParticipant @wolfie]

Cheers all I note the option to convert to 12v. I already have the Haynes manual but I suspect that the wiring diagram isn't complete.

Yes a Vehicle Restoration thread, I can do that

[WolfieParticipant @wolfie]

Done, see bottom of this section!

I'll add my queries on the C15 electrics there

Edited By Wolfie on 30/10/2015 19:06:45

[kevin largeParticipant @kevinlarge76611]

Try the Brit bike forum

[James AlfordParticipant @jamesalford67616]

Posted by kevin large on 03/11/2015 22:22:12:

Try the Brit bike forum

I can second the Brit Bike forum. I found the the b50.org forum to be excellent as well, despite only having the C15.

Regards,

JAmes.

[steveteeParticipant @stevetee]

John , I made some comments about this somewhere, I think there is now a 12volt conversion thread , but yes, Triumph BSA and others all fitted Lucas altenators and so the comments I made about 100w 3 wire and 150 w 2 wire altenators probably apply from Triumph T birds, Ceefers in about 1958/9 250/350/500/650 etc onwards all used identical components. I would always use a silicon rectifier , they cost next to nothing and are 100% reliable. The selenium ones fail when the paint cracks off if I remember. Whilst I love old bikes I have little time for this " Well it's a very nice restoration, but I can't help noticing that the speedometer cable is the wrong colour for the year" type mentality. The first thing people did when they bought a new bike was to take off the bath tub and fit clip ons and rear sets ( and later on maybe apehangers and banana seats), but the idea was to personalise your bike. Show room restorations are great ( if often over done nowadays) , but don't reflect what I saw in our works bike shed………………….

[John OlsenParticipant @johnolsen79199]

What usually kills selenium rectifiers is any movement in the bolt through the middle. So take care when taking them off. They also don't have a very high maximum reverse rating, so running the engine with the rectifier disconnected from the battery or a zener will often do them in.

I have seen, back in the seventies, a rectifier that looked just like the selenium ones, but actually had silicon diodes mounted on the cooling fins. Something like that could be made by anyone fussy enough to want to look original.

John

[Tim StevensParticipant @timstevens64731]

The Lucas rectifier that replaced selenium was made with each diode on its own fin, so that may be what you are remembering, John. No-way should anyone be relying on a selenium version now, as their life is limited even in a dry shed. Not for nothing were they known as rectum-fryers, as the mounting was often just under the seat (with a plywood base, of course).

If you do convert to 12v you can abandon the complex and expensive switch which brings in more windings when you turn the lights on. Just use a 12v zener diode on a heat sink to use up any spare output. And while you are at it, electronic ignition is readily available in 12v (but not in 6v) and should give you steady timing rather than 'somewhere about right' which was the best the auto-advance would manage. And then your bearings will last longer.

Hope this helps – I worked at Small Heath just before the end, but I realised this about a fortnight before they did.

Cheers, Tim

[JimmieSParticipant @jimmies]

A friend is restoring a classic Matisse scrambler to go racing. The frame, of Reynolds 531 tubing, is nickel plated and he is considering having it redone. Somewhere I think I read that this could cause hydrogen embitterment and thus weaken the unit.

Any advice would be welcomed.

Jim

[Chris Evans 6Participant @chrisevans6]

For BSA unit singles Rupert Ratio's books are highly recommended. They give what it should/should not have and all the fixes to make them reliable.

[Tim StevensParticipant @timstevens64731]

The need for de-embrittlement after plating is well known in the trade, but I would ask for it just to be sure. Not expensive, just needs an hour at domestic oven temperatures.

Why does the spell checker not recognise a common word like de-embrittlement?

Cheers, Tim

[“Bill Hancox”Participant @billhancox]

Posted by Tim Stevens on 29/11/2015 22:37:18:

Why does the spell checker not recognise a common word like de-embrittlement?

Cheers, Tim

Tim

Probably because it is not in de- ictionary. Sounds like a French surname to me.

Cheers

Bill

[JimmieSParticipant @jimmies]

Thanks Tim

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