Well I thought I would share with you my ride for today. I rebuilt this BSA 650 Thunderbolt over the winter. It is great bit of kit and it was fun to take on the project. It has 6450 original miles on the clock and it runs as sweet as a nut. 1969, 48 years old. I wonder how many of our newer bikes will be looking like this in that time. Well the point of the post really is to say how difficult it is to ride after jumping off the America or any other modern bike. No indicators and mirrors that vibrate so much you can see nothing. Changing gear with the right foot and braking with the left. Very raw throttle response and if truth be known the brakes do not actually work. I think it can go back in the shed now for another day. It is now very collectable and it has been valued at £7000. My kids (44 and 42) asked why I had bought it, I said it was my funeral plan. They did not know what to say to that. It can sit in the shed and be admired over the winter until I decide whether to keep it or not. I have entered it in a classic show on the 19th August so looking forward to that. I might just put a for sale sign on it. Hope you like my little bike. Yes that is one other thing I forgot to add, it is really so small. Ride safe all Ken.
Cheers it is rather nice, It is good to have the old girl in the shed. The other old girl only comes to the shed with coffee and tea now and then. I make people laugh because I text her to bring me the brew. Ride safe buddy Ken.
Bredfield Bowls club. Just off the A12 after Woodbridge. It is a classic vehicle show, not sure how many bikes will be in attendance. But I bowl at the club and have been press ganged. If you have a run out I will treat you to a brew. Ken.
I see I have a LIKE from Rocker, I liked my Rocker days, dancing every weekend at some church village hall, Number 6 fags and 1 beer that was it. Still there at heart, and some times in the head. This pic is from 1968 with my trusty A10 Gold Flash. I am the one with the flashy Cardigan.
When you think - haven't styles and even caravans changed. Beautiful bike - well done on the restoration
Very nice, Ken. As I remember it, that front brake is (should be) quite powerful - certainly mine was pretty good ('69 Bonneville), so maybe the linings need bedding in, if they are new. But it really is a lovely looking piece of kit. Having never owned a BSA I feel somewhat deprived - Triumphs, Norton and Matchless are where I've been in my youth, but never a Beeza. Sigh!!
Lovely looking bike! When I took early retirement I started looking for a 60's Bonneville to restore and spent nearly three years looking at boxes of rusting bits that needed thousands spending on them. I got sick and tired of the owners of those rusting piles of parts telling me that it would be worth £15k easy when it's restored and asking £5k for the bits............ True there are many for sale north of £15k but only if you've spent thousands and put in hundreds of hours. You can buy a rideable 60's Bonnie for £6k - £10k and then spend as much or as little depending on what level of restoration you want. In the end I gave up and bought an 09 Hinkley Bonnie and with hindsight I'm glad I did. I got the chance to ride a 64 Bonneville a few weeks ago and it was tiny, I have to say that I was shocked at how small it was. I've now gone off the idea completely and am moving towards buying a 350-600 Jap bike and customising it, perhaps a cafe racer or something.
I can understand your comments, plenty of decent Jap bikes that will be worth some money in time and worth investing in now. But when you customize a bike from standard if the bike is to be an investment you limit the market for buyers. But you go for it if that is what you desire, nothing like owning something to be proud of and enjoy riding. Ken.
My plan was always a bike to ride and I just fancied an old Brit bike as my ride of choice. Not as any sort of investment, but I didn't fancy lining someone eleses pockets, espcially if they hadn't done anything for the money. My other reason was that being retired time wasn't an issue. I have a three car garage with small workshop attached plus a good sized workshop halfway down the garden. Restoring or modifying a bike would be a fantastic winter project. I could never own a bike and not ride it, and by that I mean regularly. The guy that owns the 64 Bonnie that I rode uses it as his main ride and for the most part it's reliable. However, he did say that he spent a fair amount of time keeping it that way and it still occasionally let him down at inopportune moments. I think you BSA looks fantastic and I wouldn't be able to put it in the garage for high days and holidays, I'd have to be out on it. I'm interested in how much you've done to it and how many hours you've invested in it? Whatever that was it was certainly worth it. What condition was it in?
Oh for me to answer that fully would take a book. Basically it needed a full strip down to the frame. I left the engine in the frame as it had low miles and I hoped when the lid was taken off I could establish if all was good in the bottom end. Which it was. So it was a good decision to leave in. But then the work started Strip, clean and assess all parts, service or replace. I was lucky and have a BSA parts supplier 30 miles from me and it was easy to pop over with a list every now and then. They also made a great brew. Workshop manuals for the BSA are easy to obtain as are the original parts lists. Easier than getting parts for a modern bike. Joining the BSA owners club proved helpful. When stuck, which did happen, a quick post and answers came flooding in. Each bike model has its own specialist and the club provides their contact details. You can spend as much time and money as you like rebuilding it is entirely your choice. But as you can see for my bike, which did not look anything like this when I bought it, every thing you need is available. Doing the research is good fun and buying right is also enjoyable. Anything proven low miles is good. My bike was originally in Denmark and brought back to the UK. Hope this helps, Ken. I might sell you mine for a good amount of cash
Very nice job Ken My first 'proper' bike was a 1970 A50 Royal Star and I loved it! I had the same US small tank version as yours but changed the high bars to lower UK spec. It eventually threw a conrod on the Redditch bypass (usual timing side bearing) and that was that! Wish I still had it though All the best Bonz
Bonzo, good to hear from you. I have now also this week changed the bars to the UK spec. All BSA were to US spec from 1969 it was to try cut down on cost and only have the one production line. We all know the final story. I have been thinking of selling this one and look for another winter job. I fancy a B31 or B32. Ride safe buddy. Ken.
Great thing about the BSAs, parts are still relatively easy to come by as I'm sure you know. Here's a pic of a B32 I had in the late 70s Keep us posted Ken from start to finish.
