BSA motorcycles

conty1 · Post by **conty1** » Wed Jun 20, 2012 6:26 pm

My Suzuki Bandit 1200!! Wish Chicago weather would allow more 'riding' days!!

dr.jayakumar · Post by **dr.jayakumar** » Wed Jun 20, 2012 7:31 pm

xl_target wrote:I have four but I'm afraid my tastes run to a bygone era. From the age of the "sit-up-straight" UJM (Universal Japanese Motorcycle) my tastes haven't progressed to more modern crotch rockets.

Well, only three of them are classified as motorcycles. One is a Moped; the Honda PA50 pedal moped.

One of them is a Honda Cub (70 cc - actually just a glorified moped too)
[ Image ]
I will be getting rid of the above two in the near future as they are just gathering dust in my garage.

Of my other two, one is a 1982 Honda CM450A (automatic transmission) which is rather rare. I bought it from a little old lady who hardly ever rode it. It has less than 9000 miles on it.
[ Image ]

The last one is a 1981 Yamaha XS1100. It is the last of the air cooled super bikes. This was "the Bike to have" when I was in college. When it came out, it was the world's most powerful production bike. I told myself that I would have one, one day. Rather dated now, it is still a powerful, stable, smooth ride and actually handles very well with the addition of a fork stabilizer. From zero to about 55mph, it will walk away from a lot of today's bikes as the inline four cylinder puts out a huge amount of torque. Unfortunately, it was made in an age when gas was cheap and my six cylinder car gets better gas mileage than it.
It also might be that it is so tempting to crack the throttle open on this bike that it will never get a chance to show any kind of gas economy .
[ Image ]

[ Image ]
The Yamaha images are from here

I just wish that I had time to ride more.

xl target,
that is one hell of a bike you got there.i remember reading about this beast during early eighties in some bike mag's.i used to dream riding one(can only dream)
regards
dr.jk

Post by **xl_target** » Wed Jun 20, 2012 9:41 pm

Pritu79, What a great restoration.
Incredible job!
I don't know about that lack of power. For most in-city driving, the 250 would have plenty of power.

Conty,
Nice SuziQ!

Dr. JK, like you, I also read and was influenced by those magazines. It is a great ride but there are issues when your bike gets more than a few years old. Still, every time I crack the throttle on it, the roar brings a smile to my face. No need to downshift to pass, just crack the throttle.

The biggest problem is parts availability now and getting all four carbs to sync. As it is, one of the carbs has some broken parts in it. The vacuum operated petcocks are a pain also, they leak the moment you take your eyes off them. I don't think I will buy another motorcycle unless it has fuel injection and manual petcocks. When the petcocks leak, fuel runs into the air-box, into the carbs and into the cylinders. From the cylinders, it runs into the crankcase. I also had to completely rebuild the fuse box and replace the ancient fuses and fuse holders with more modern ones. Another issue is that there is no kick starter. If you have a bad battery day, you aren't going anywhere, unless you can find a hill to push start it.

surajshuresh · Post by **surajshuresh** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 3:37 am

Hi guys i am a big fan of vintage bikes too.. I have a yamaha rx 135 fully modified spent 3 times more than its worth on this is bike...lol...hahaha... I love the rd350 but its hard to come by it and the parts are hard to get also...

Pritu79 · Post by **Pritu79** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 8:30 am

Thankyou xl, the 250 makes around 28bhp of power but lacks lowerend which is enough, though you cannot expect a lot out of it ...the best part is it handle's really well and is excelent around corners which makes you ignore the rest, but nothing as good as a inline four. A CB750F of the 80's was on my mind for quiet some time but could'nt come across one which was legal and in decent condition. yes parts availability is a problem and if available they are at a premium, i spent a bom on my engine rebuild i sourced all the parts from davidsilverspares.com, cmsnl.com and some from wemoto...i guess they stock Yamaha parts too...need to check.
felt great to see bike enthusiasts.

miroflex · Post by **miroflex** » Sat Jul 28, 2012 7:01 pm

PRITAM PATEL wrote:good one.........

I m also nut about motorcycles , particularly old British made,

when i was in college i dream about almost every night, sad that time I could not afford any of them,

now I have settled down with 1958 British made bullet 350( will post pics. soon), got it restored with little modification....
ridding once a while on Sunday evening with my kids.....they feels proud sitting on fuel tank

regards

pritam

Hi Pritam,

Nice of you to post in. Does your Bullet have a battery and coil ignition system or magneto ignition?

Happy motorcycling!

Bespoke · Post by **Bespoke** » Sun Jul 29, 2012 9:09 am

We do have couple of BSA's,Triumph tiger and and a early Douglas with carbide lamp all in run down condition for years.If your interested can get models for you and the pictures next time i am there.

miroflex · Post by **miroflex** » Sun Jul 29, 2012 9:55 am

Bespoke wrote:We do have couple of BSA's,Triumph tiger and and a early Douglas with carbide lamp all in run down condition for years.If your interested can get models for you and the pictures next time i am there.

I would love to see pictures of these bikes.

Regards.

ckkalyan · Post by **ckkalyan** » Mon Jul 30, 2012 3:04 am

Harley 1200 Sportster (1).JPG

Harley 1200 Sportster (6).JPG

Nice bikes - here is my latest 'nirvana' experience riding a Harley Davidson

Baljit · Post by **Baljit** » Mon Jul 30, 2012 3:53 am

Hello guy's i don't know how i miss this beautifull thread anyway i like to share with you guy's mine Enfield.
Here is my Enfield 350 , i still have in India and can't wait till Jan.so i can ride this again.

Very nice bikes there guy's thanks for sharing XL,CK, pritu79, Vikram, Mark

Baljit

herb · Post by **herb** » Mon Jul 30, 2012 4:02 am

Nice bikes. Thanks for sharing. I love those Enfields. They have a 500cc version too.

ckkalyan · Post by **ckkalyan** » Mon Jul 30, 2012 4:35 am

Balle, balle Baljit - very nice! Beautiful condition and detailing (gold lines - these are still done by hand with a fine paint brush at the factory) on the machine!

Right Herb - the 500cc cooker was introduced fairly recently....however a Royal Enfield Bullet is still just that! Bullet Meri Jaan - right?!

Post by **xl_target** » Mon Jul 30, 2012 5:25 am

Kalyan sahib,
Looking good on the HOG!
I'll bet that was a lot of fun.

Baljit, that 350 looks like it is in excellent shape.
Nice Bike!

ckkalyan · Post by **ckkalyan** » Mon Jul 30, 2012 5:58 am

Thank you xl_target - Ji! My first experience with the Hog was absolutely HUGE, mixed feelings, getting used to the sheer weight, handling, feel, small dings on my knees and legs from the keel-over factor AND.... delightful overall, of course!

What an experience!

But I must say, that if I were to write a ride-review, I would still agree with the journalist from long ago who said (roughly) that "Harleys are over-priced, under-powered lifestyle icons" So, where is all this hype coming from???

BTW - I was just talking to Baljit on the phone and we sort of got into a rawhide plan to visit exhilarating, Las Vegas and then he said "hey that would be a great place to explore with XL, if he is willing". What do you say?

Baljit · Post by **Baljit** » Mon Jul 30, 2012 8:15 am

Thank's guy's, i love my bullet and of course it is going to be a very wonderfull if XL join us in Las Vegas next year, i mean some time in 2013, what do you have to say about this XL ?

Baljit

Indians For Guns

Indians For Guns

BSA motorcycles

Re: BSA motorcycles

Re: BSA motorcycles

Re: BSA motorcycles

Re: BSA motorcycles

Re: BSA motorcycles

Re: BSA motorcycles

Re: BSA motorcycles

Re: BSA motorcycles

Re: BSA motorcycles

Re: BSA motorcycles

Re: BSA motorcycles

Re: BSA motorcycles

Re: BSA motorcycles

Re: BSA motorcycles

Re: BSA motorcycles