What have you done with your bike/s today?

[Worty]

I have a similar, home-made tool for pulling the stanchion up into the taper.  Well, I say home-made but it was, in fact, never returned to Rivet Man who lent it me.  Was probably the most expensive stanchion puller in history

[Swarfcut]

    Handlebar and axle impossible to make parallel is also indicative of a bent fork leg. Also look for uneven gap around headlamp rim and front edge of divers' helmet type cowl. On other models it is harder to spot but should be an early check with any prospective purchase.

 Scrapped top yoke makes a good hanging hook for those safety goggles you can never find when you need them.

 Swarfy.

[greybloke]

Been making good progress with the strip down. Most metal pretty good, although headlamp shell is holed. Petrol tank has some pinholes (2 or 3) that a quick braze should fix. Finding grease and oil (man, 76 year old grease pongs) where they should be and no threads stripped thus far (that'll jinx it). Yet to start on engine, wanna dremmel all exposed threads before going there. Forgot how much fun messing about with bikes is. Might recalibrate the work/life balance...

[greybloke]

I have a similar, home-made tool for pulling the stanchion up into the taper.  Well, I say home-made but it was, in fact, never returned to Rivet Man who lent it me.  Was probably the most expensive stanchion puller in history

Ah, I can empathise with Rivet Man. So many tools that go awol over the years. I kinda like tools so shelled out £45 for 61-3350 equivalent. Also does Norton, Triumph, etc. Assume the BSA one is the 26TPI one. Gonna find out :-)

[Worty]

Sorry mate, you wouldn't know this.

Rivet Man (RM), was a complete prat who pretended to be an expert engine builder but buggered up my rebuild big time (see the thread 'Worty's A10 engine rebuild').  From leaving oilways blocked, to putting the crankshaft oil seal on the wrong way round, to failing to align the clutch chainwheel to the engine sprocket - it was a complete fiasco.  Berger, who you will find very frequently on this Forum, rebuilt the engine for me and discovered a litany of incompetence - it is now excellent thanks to him and his brother (MWAS - Man With Amazing Skills).

My reference is that the tool I retained from the idiot 'Rivet Man' was small compensation for the large amount of beer tokens paid out for a really crappy job.

The term 'Rivet Man' was coined by my good self after his attempted rebuild of my ATD resulted in all the rivets coming loose.  I subsequently learned the rebuild process myself, to half decent effect.

[berger]

i don't know if it's just me but i ram the fork leg up with shear brute force and tighten the pinch bolt on the bottom yoke, then i find i can just get purchase with the top fork nut then slacken the pinch bolt and pull the leg up into the top yoke, talking of top yoke when i came off in the 70's after some prat like rivet man had spoked the rear ally rim with the wrong nipples and the wheel collapsed two up i found out the top yoke had bent in the crash when the bike went up a curb and into a stone wall. i only found this out when rebuilding the bike after the crank snapped, it was still running but sounded poorly . i had already had the yokes and frame stove enamelled and was fed up when i saw the twist on tightening them. so into the coal board workshop and with the help of an apprentice fitter gave it the oxo acet and pulled it back down onto a thick steel plate with 5/8 whit studs welded to the plate poking through the holes, the young lad was shy at getting it too hot so i took torch off him got it cherry and pulled it down onto the plate and left it to cool. job was a good en but stove killed that's why betsy now has red yokes and i can ride her no hands. pic of snapped crank that i know broke on the way back from silverstone 1980

[greybloke]

i don't know if it's just me but i ram the fork leg up with shear brute force and tighten the pinch bolt on the bottom yoke, then i find i can just get purchase with the top fork nut then slacken the pinch bolt and pull the leg up into the top yoke, talking of top yoke when i came off in the 70's after some prat like rivet man had spoked the rear ally rim with the wrong nipples and the wheel collapsed two up i found out the top yoke had bent in the crash when the bike went up a curb and into a stone wall. i only found this out when rebuilding the bike after the crank snapped, it was still running but sounded poorly . i had already had the yokes and frame stove enamelled and was fed up when i saw the twist on tightening them. so into the coal board workshop and with the help of an apprentice fitter gave it the oxo acet and pulled it back down onto a thick steel plate with 5/8 whit studs welded to the plate poking through the holes, the young lad was shy at getting it too hot so i took torch off him got it cherry and pulled it down onto the plate and left it to cool. job was a good en but stove killed that's why betsy now has red yokes and i can ride her no hands. pic of snapped crank that i know broke on the way back from silverstone 1980

A-ha! Yep, that's why I learned to do me own mechanics. Too many dodgy mechanics. And yeah, enough physics (heat and Nm) will often save you.

[Swarfcut]

  The old trick with a broom handle was the way we pulled stanchions up into the top yoke. An old fork nut with the hex flange turned off and a length of threaded bar is a later addition to my kit. That puller  is unashamed LUXURY. If you want tools, Cycle Thread taps and dies, 1/4", 5/16"3/8" will cover most of early dismantling and renovation. Threads into Alloy are originally BSW.

 If GB2 (we already have a GB) has a shopping list, I'd certainly recommend a repro parts book  '49-'53.  This will  cover the cycle parts,  primary transmission and gearbox. The Longstoke engine has major differences in construction from the later motors and does not appear in this parts catalogue. Earlier parts list is available in the Forum Literature section, but includes all BSA models of the year and so is heavy going to find exactly what you want.

 A repro bound copy of BSA Service sheets along with a copy of Roy Bacon's BSA Twins Restoration (published in 1986) are another couple of sound purchases.

  Things I've noticed.  Dynamo terminals are usually at the bottom. The Longstroke engine uses a shorter dynamo drive chain so this may be missing and the dynamo just thrown on.

 Be careful with the front wheel. This is the early 7" hub, very different from the later 8" brake with alloy backplate. Likewise Cylinder Head Fins. It is rare to find a head with all the vertical fins intact. Many lose the ones behind the spark plugs when the spanner slips.

 "Dinner Plate" rear sprocket, looks to be 49 teeth so bike could have been a sidecar  lugger....check for a twisted frame.

 Swarfy

 Additional. I like the idea of an induction heater for stuck nuts, but I'll wait 'til Aldi do one. Can't justify the present price/use level.

[BagONails]

i don't know if it's just me but i ram the fork leg up with shear brute force and tighten the pinch bolt on the bottom yoke, then i find i can just get purchase with the top fork nut then slacken the pinch bolt and pull the leg up into the top yoke

I tried that Bergs but I couldn't get the stanchion to stay pulled up, ie. fork leg fully topped out. Then I saw the BSA service tool and decided it was worth making one. GB2 yes pretty sure it was 26TPI as you'd probably expect. Remember being amazed I had the correct change gears on my old 60's Italian lathe.

Swarfy, don't worry I had the forks all apart and checked the stanchions for straightness. PO had obviously replaced these when he had the off. He was an older gentleman, over 80 I think so lucky he didn't do himself a serious nasty. He claimed on his insurance and bought a lot of bling parts such as the clocks that don't read the correct speed or engine revs, a new old stock fuel tank (best bit on the bike) and the alloy head full of worn out and home made parts that we've just recently rebuilt. Unfortunately he didn't go any deeper and missed the damaged head races, bent lower yokes, bent and cracked upper yoke etc. but I don't think he rode it again much after the crash...as far as I can tell the frame is OK!

[Joolstacho]

greybloke sounds like our kind of bloke eh?

[Greybeard]

i don't know if it's just me but i ram the fork leg up with shear brute force and tighten the pinch bolt on the bottom yoke, then i find i can just get purchase with the top fork nut then slacken the pinch bolt and pull the leg up into the top yoke...

Did I give you my homemade stanchion puller-upper?

[berger]

not seen one of them GB only the club to club things

[trevinoz]

greybloke, don't braze your tank, it will make it brittle and lead to cracking.
Use silver solder.

[greybloke]

greybloke, don't braze your tank, it will make it brittle and lead to cracking.
Use silver solder.

Obliged, trevinoz, and swarfy - my copy of Bacon arrives tomorrow. When I got it in 1974/5, it came in a bunch of boxes including new barrel and pistons. Two rear sprockets were in the boxes, I used the dinner plate as it was in better nick and made for a faster getaway :-)

Cracking on. Er... might need a new spring on the bottom r/h plunger array - along with a bit of chrome, and bushes, and stuff...

Oh, anyone any idea where I can get that rear lens? It was tail only but I fitted a generic stop/tail socket and switch (which the squirrels must have had away while it was under the tarp).

[muskrat]

G'day gb2.
Draganfly has the correct taillight https://draganfly.co.uk/shop/87417/rear-light-assembly-inc-6v-bulb/#480. That's what I have on my 51 A7 plunger (bought from them 40 years ago). I put an extra stop light at the bottom of the # plate.
Also the bottom spring https://draganfly.co.uk/shop/79114/rebound-spring-bottom/#89-4259 but I would replace all 4.
Cheers