How long did it take you to get your bike on the road?

[bl**dydrivers]

Just curious to how long it took for others to get their bikes back on the road.

Here’s my story.

My father purchased the bike in the early 70’s, made it into a cafe racer and has been off the road since 1978. He wanted to restore it back to original. My parents moved around the country (UK), loosing parts in the process, my brother and I was born (1982) and he could never get back into it.

As a child, I kept seeing the frame laid up in the back garden and was always curious.
Finally in 2002, I done my research and found out it was a 1962 BSA A10 Super Rocket, found the parts what were remaining, my father gave it to me and I didn’t start collecting parts until 2008.

I moved to US in 2006, got married, committed to family and work and now finally making progress on getting much needed parts.

Made progress in the last 2 years, I’ve got stainless rims, spokes, allot of stainless parts for chassis, engine and gearbox. Original chrome mudguards (US west coast rear), top and bottom yokes for twin clock configuration, tacho, speedo, original fork shrouds, original headlight bucket, NOS headlight and rim, original HF1234 horn and bracket, all the wiring, fork tubes, fork lower legs, original seat, rear number plate, original side stand, Centre stand, handle bars, original levers, another primary chaincase, original fully enclosed chaincase etc allot of items and too many to list.

My wife and inlaws think I’m crazy but I can’t let my childhood dream go and it’s sentimental values. I pretty much started with a basket case.

I’m committed to getting it back on the road, my father sees my enthusiasm, has since retired, purchased a 1957 BSA A10 Golden Flash from Georgia, shipped it back to UK to restore (2nd picture) and is allot more complete than mine.

Let’s hear your stories, if yours had taken 20, 30 years to build, I wouldn’t feel as bad and welcome pictures.

[KiwiGF]

Well I had to look at my first post to find out, and it took me almost 2 years. The previous owner owned it for over 30 years and did not get it finished.

https://www.a7a10.net/forum/index.php?topic=3775.msg27477#msg27477

My next, B31, project took 4 years and was far more complete to start with, so I cannot explain why it took longer, but maybe there really is no reason to put a time limit on these things but it’s best to do them well before you cark it!

[muskrat]

My 1st resto was a 71 Lightning in the late 70's. Took about a year but I sold it 99% finished. I rescued my 51 A7 from a chook shed where it had been the roost for 15 years in 81, cost me a box of beer and a tank of petrol, took about a year and $3000. The A10 cafe (originally a 57 A7SS)  was brought in from South America in 90 and only took about a year to strip and build into a road racer with moderate success over 8 or so years. In 2009 she was converted to A10 and registered for the road in about 6 months. https://www.a7a10.net/forum/index.php?topic=12405.msg97069#msg97069
Cheers

[RoyC]

Nine months and still going.
Worked on it / her almost every day with parcels coming most days, surprising how many parts were of too poor quality to use, or completely wrong, (although described as A7, A10).
So far got through about £17,000.
I would not be this far into the project without BSA A7 A10 and BSAOC forums.
Roy.

[Black Sheep]

The A10 that was lurking in the back of the shed was returned to the road this year. It was sporting a 2000 tax disc.

[beezermacc]

I think it depends on how fussy, well organised, well informed, and how motivated you are. If you've got the knowledge and experience, if the bike is virtually complete and you know where to get things done you can probably get the job done in about six months. Alternatively, if you're learning as you go along and need pointing in the right direction for specialist help and you've got loads of bits missing or you're unfamiliar with how some of the tricky jobs (timing side bush, swinging arm bushes!) are done you could be 'at it' a couple of years, in which case motivation can become a problem. Working within the trade I come across lots of different types of customers - some are so fussy they will never get their bikes finished as they are insistent upon the unobtainable. I wish I'd got a quid for every time I've been asked, "Is it a genuine part?", answer "No Mate, BSA went bust in 1973, so it's the best there is but it didn't come out of Armoury Road!".
My advice is PLAN! Be clear in what you expect the finished bike to look like. If it's your first restoration don't be too ambitious, go for a middle of the road, rideable bike and don't worry too much about originality (or you'll never get it finished). Ignore the rivet counters! Sort your parts out into piles, i.e painting, mechanical, replace/knackered, and make sure parts are correct and undamaged before sending for painting. Make sure that critical parts such as the bottom end, gearbox, magneto are built by somebody who knows what he's doing as you don't want to have to do this twice. Set yourself step targets, e.g. get the paintwork done by..., get the wheels done by.... get the engine built by... etc. I normally get the paintwork done first so I can build a rolling chassis. I work on the engine and mechanicals whilst waiting for the paintwork to be done. Again, make sure all the mechanical components are sorted before starting and any boring/ grinding is done at the start of the job. I find that once I've started, if I can't make steady progress, I lose motivation. Sometimes you just have to force yourself to go in the shed or garage. I find the best way of doing this by setting a small target to get one small job done. Good luck! I say all this but probably won't achieve any of my projects in 2018. I feel a New Year's Resolution coming on!!

[RogerSB]

Here's a couple of BSAs that I restored.

The C15 was a complete mechanical rebuild but the chrome and paint was very good. My wife used to ride it as at that time I rode a Matchless. I eventually sold the C15 to a museum near Exeter, who when they paid me for it told me they were going to sell the registration number to get all their money back .

The D1 was a non starter and in very poor condition when I bought it to restore. I stripped it down to the last nut and bolt and restored it in about 6 months. I used to commute on it daily, sunshine, rain, ice or snow. Top speed and acceleration was pathetic but it was light, economical and I loved riding it. Eventually sold it to friend (who never rode it but still has it stashed away in his loft). The poser on it is my son, who is now 47 and my 1950 Austin Devon can be seen in the background.

The Matchless G3s paintwork had been resprayed beautifully by the previous owner. I rebuilt the engine, new chains, clutch plates, brakes, etc. as this bike was also used to commute daily.

I've also owned three A10s but never had to restore any of them. My current black 1960 Golden Flash is original and has never been restored. It's been touched up here and there by previous owners and it had Eddie Dow fork dampeners fitted and an SRM belt drive for the dynamo with a V-Reg2 regulator when I bought it. I've made some other internal improvements such as changing to a DVR-2 regulator, LED bulbs, re-wired it, new chains, SRM 4-spring clutch and sump filter kit. I'm not going to do anything to it externally - unless I really have to - as it has a lovely 57 year old patina and my thoughts are that it can be an unrestored Golden Flash only once.

[bikerbob]

My first restoration was the A10 then a C12 then the A65 in each case they took about 12 months from start to on the road. Here are before and after photos. The A10 was 1995/96  the C12 2005/06 the A65 2010/11. The A10 and the C12 have been sold but I still have the A65 and also a1956 A7 which was fully roadworthy when I bought it.

[Greybeard]

So far got through about £17,000.

Not £17k surely! Do you mean £1,700?

[RoyC]

So far got through about £17,000.

Not £17k surely! Do you mean £1,700?

No, £17,000.
£8,000 - sidecar
£6,000 - to buy the bike
and at least £3,000 doing it up.

[Black Sheep]

Oh gosh. Last year I was given an Indian Enfield Bullet, non-running. It needed a carb (£37) and  battery (£22). So putting it on the road gave change from £100, including the MoT. It's actually rather nice to ride too! Ok, it's not a BSA, but to put it into perspective the whole thing was cheaper than a mudguard for my B31.   

[Greybeard]

I bought my current motorcycle, a black 1955 A10 in 1974 (ish). Took the bike, (which was complete and running) plus £60 in exchange for a non running rigid Square Four 4G. I did a quick tidy up on the GF and rode the bike for a year of so. When we moved house in 1976 the bike was taken off the road and languished at the back of various garages for a total of 38 years. At some time during that period I lifted the head to check the bores for rust and poured some oil in. Luckily when I started to do a proper restoration in 2012 I found all the bits I'd taken off. The work this time took 10 months and approaching £4k for parts and services. I'm very happy that I hung onto my old machine; many people offered me money for the bike over the years. I am not in a position since retirement to buy another motorbike, or even spend so much money again. I intend to eak out the life of this classic for as long as I'm able to ride. My Beeza has original engine and frame numbers. I realise I was very lucky to get hold of a complete, running machine, and after all those years with it not being used, a relatively low mileage.

First image is of the bike in about 1974 after a cheap fettle. Second image is in 2013

Video of the rebuild in 2012 here: https://youtu.be/nrOfq1O-gV8

Mind you, if I'd hung on to the Ariel I might have ended up with something like picture No 3!!

[chaterlea25]

Hi All,
My SR bought as a rolling frame and box of crap parts took 12 years, again it was when the kids were young and cash was tight, It sat for a while but If I found a part or parts I bought them as opportunities arose. Its been on the road now for almost 15 years though 
Thirteen years later I am still searching and making bits for the 1925 Chater Lea 

Time for my own projects has disappeared since I work on other peoples projects 
Presently my own projects are the RGS , a Goldie replica, 1924 BSA 350ohv and the CL 

Work projects,
1936 Rudge engine,
A 350 Goldie that needs the cycle parts built (I fitted the rebuilt mechanical parts for the owner 2 years ago but the owner had done very little since)
A 1923 HD model F that is to be run on the 2018 USA Cannon Ball Run needs the engine/ box stripped and rebuilt
and on and on and on

John
 

[Greybeard]

So far got through about £17,000.

Not £17k surely! Do you mean £1,700?

No, £17,000.
£8,000 - sidecar
£6,000 - to buy the bike
and at least £3,000 doing it up.

Ah, yes, I understand now.