Capturing a misspent youth with TLS

[imustbemad47]

What i would have given to have had access to such a mine of information back in 68 when i managed to blow up my first BSA A7SS. Back then it was Pride and Clark of Brixton that was my oraclle! Since then I progressed to an A10 which I converted to a tribsa with a T110 engine. Its maiden voyage was a trip to Biaritz where i had agreed to meet my then girlfriend who had hitched there a week earlier. Without sat nav we met up as agreed on the due date and drove to the basque together, returning home a week later without incident, except it rained all the way from Bordeaux. That girlfriend married me a few years later and we've been together ever since.
However............
I have taken the plunge and recently acquired an A10, which turned out to be a bit of a hybrid with a SR engine (beefed up/converted by SRM back in '91) but with a much earlier half hub set of forks . Interesting! It seemed a good idea to fit a full width 8" hub for a TLS installation as fitted to some later Triumphs; but nothing is that simple. It would appear that the fork sliders will not accomodate a FWH so will probably need replacing. Ive read that the Triumph spindle will need machining to accomodate the bottom bolts and that the BSA 8" hub is designed for 1 1/8" shoes not 1 5/8", which begs the question whether or not new sliders can be used on the old forks anyway without incurring further expense , other than welding /extending the lug to slot into the brake plate. Try as i may i cannot find a thread that allows me access to see what other members have done to achieve the TLS end result from such a suspect foundation.

[Billybream]

Welcome, you have been around BSAs nearly as long as me, somebody here will help, I have TLS set up on my Super Rocket which was made especially by John Tickle

[imustbemad47]

i read with interest your posts on this. Motivated me to believe anything is possible and that what i planned was half sensible. Now i am beginning to wonder whether stopping power gained will be worth all the grief. But i don't give up so easily so will continue to research. thanks

[chaterlea25]

Hi
It would be easier and less hassle to fit a TLS to the 8inch half width hub
This brake is regarded as probably one of the best BSA fitted
Of course there are a couple of different versions of this hub too, the early Flash and "M" steel , then the cast finned Goldie one and the later A65 looks the same but has a deeper drum for wider shoes
Apparently, the SLS brake can be further improved by reversing the lever on the hub to face forwards as on the Daytona race bikes (photo)

Changing the sliders would also probably mean changing the mudguard or its mountings , then the cost of the wheel and Triumph 8in. tls brake plates are not cheap either

Phil Pearson sells a repro "Taylor Dow" tls for the single sided 8in. hub and also for the 190mm full width hub
www.bsagoldstar.co.uk
Not cheap at £635 but it doesn't go far on doctors bills 

John

[a10 gf]

Welcome aboard! But became less of an introduction than a tech topic, moved to correct board.
Post a new introduction :O)

[Kickaha]

It would be easier and less hassle to fit a TLS to the 8inch half width hub

Which is what I planned to do with mine, however upon acquiring a TLS found the shoes too wide for the 1/2 width hub (1956 A10) so can you get narrower shoes or a slightly wider 1/2 width hub ?

[Black Sheep]

The half width 8" brake is BSA's best. I would stick with it. If it doesn't seem up to scratch, get the shoes relined a proper outfit (Saftek or similar).

[chaterlea25]

Hi Kickaha,

so can you get narrower shoes or a slightly wider 1/2 width hub ?

Without photos too see what you have its impossible to say

All I can say is that A65's with the 1/2 width hub had wider shoes / deeper hubs than the Gold star one
The extra depth is inside the spoke flange of the hub
I'm not sure what width were fitted to the 441 singles that look the same in photo's

John

[JulianS]

The up to 1965 season 8 inch half width hub takes 1 3/8 wide shoes.

The 1966 on take 1 5/8 wide shoes.

[Joolstacho]

Best off swapping the whole shebang from sliders down... TLS hub and brake and sliders from the early A65. The mudguard mounts may be an issue, but as the brake won't be original you don't need to stick to original mudguard mounting arrangement. I think one of the A10 sliders will work but a tab needs welding on to the RH slider to slot into the brakeplate stop.
My sliders are the ones with 2 studs welded on the inside of each for mudguard mounts and bolt up caps for the spindle.

[Kickaha]

Apologies to imustbemad47 for the thread hijack, this is what I currently have, the TLS shoes are 1 5/8, I would like to stay 1/2 width if possible even if I have to find another hub

[Joolstacho]

Yeah but maybe explain a bit more fully!

[Joolstacho]

You might be trying to do the impossible. Get the right hub to fit that brakeplate. It's '68 - '70 BSA and Triumph isn't it? Then the sliders to fit that.
IMHO of course 

[imustbemad47]

From what has been said about the half hub forks it would appear that to achieve what I want will involve replacing the fork sliders with the later early sixties A65 ones which appear to be a straight swap provided that i can remove my originals. I have a sneaking suspicion that it is going to be easier said than done having read a number of useful posts about poor quality tools which are hardly fit for purpose so that I will probably have to replace the oil seal holders (which are in poor condition anyway) with SS. Can the 8" BSA FW hub be swapped for the Triumph 8" FW hub?

[Swarfcut]

  Oilseals and fork bushes appear common to A10 and A65, so existing stanchions can be retained.  If you don't already have a seal holder removal tool, invest in your chosen seal holders and make your own tool to fit them, this is to make sure the tool gets a good purchase on the relatively small area where the tool locates on the holder. Plenty of images available to show the official tool.

 A little heat from a hot air gun will help getting the original holders off the sliders. Replacement holders need to be supplied by someone with a good after sales service....problems with poor thread profiles have been reported and a first time fit is not always a cert. Get the correct sliders and matching holders for the chosen front hub/brake assembly, as welding tabs on sliders risks distorting the slider bore, rendering them useless. Draganfly parts diagrams are worth a look.

 Swarfy.