Back to the story.....
Poor old BSA was used and abused, taken to more Dragon rallies, ridden in salt etc and it slowly started to look rough again. (You may gather I'm not much of a bike cleaner and polisher!)
Around 1999 the trusty old bike was making a funny squeaking noise from the head when warmed up. I suspected a loose valve guide (I was right) and so I stripped the top end down. The guide was really loose, and the valves and seats pretty worn. Time to get the head done I thought.
I took it to Wimbledon Cylinder head shop and had the works done - gas flowing, new seats, valves guides etc. However, the rest of the bike looked quite bad and the frame in particular was rusting bad... so I stripped the whole thing down ready to rebuild it from the bottom up....
Firstly though, I decided to get my 1967 Suzuki T20 back on the road after a 19 year lay-up. So, I spent all my time and money on this, and left the BSA in bits spread around my garage...
Finished the T20 (see my site -
www.t20suzuki.com) and then decided to do something I'd wanted to do since I was 17 - build a T20 based Classic Race bike to go racing on. I spent the next two years on this project before going racing for the first time in Sept 2002, and won the 250cc twins Championship in 2004! Meanwhile, the BSA stayed in bits spread around my garage....
The t20 needed constant rebuilding, constant money and I slowly developed it into the rocket-ship it is today (TZ350 crank, revs to 12,500rpm, CR125 pistons, nicasil on Ally liners, 60bhp...). Meanwhile, the BSA stayed in bits spread around my garage.... although I did get the frame powder coated and bought a few bits every now and again.
I loved racing, saved up and bought myself a 1980 TZ350 Yamaha. The most awesome bike I've ever ridden. Now though racing cost twice as much and the maintenance time doubled too. Great fun, but costly and time consuming and meanwhile, the BSA stayed in bits spread around my garage....
Finally, 2011 comes around and I'm really missing the old BSA. I keep looking at it and saying to myself "next year I'll do it..." (as I've said for the past 5-6 years) but then a good friend has a go at me and says
"rather than keep saying you'll do it when you can afford the time and money, just assemble it as it is and get the thing going again!" Damned good advice!
I've started working on it quite a bit and finally it has pride of place on my bike workbench and I'm spending as many hours on it as I can. I WILL get it back on the road this summer.
http://www.t20suzuki.com/cz/BSA1.jpg.jpg)
and from the other side...
http://www.t20suzuki.com/cz/BSA2.jpg.jpg)
It won't be the prettiest or best restoration you've seen, but it will be back to being used and loved again. I can't wait.
