classic motorcycle forum

Welcome to the forum, as regards using an additive I have always used one but if it is needed or not is up to debate. All I will say on the matter is it gives me peace of mind but if you do decide to use one then under no circumstances should you use different makes stick to one make. From what I have read it only affects the exhaust valve seats  and any problems are very slow in occurring.  Your bike like my BSA  A7 twin has a cast iron head and as such will not have valve seats fitted unlike my other bike a BSA A65 with alloy head which for obvious reasons has valve seats. If you are not sure what to do then there is a way of checking to see if your bike will suffer valve seat recession which is what can happen. First of all check and adjust your valve clearances then run the bike for 500 miles  then check again then do another 500 miles then a further 500 miles, if after 1500 miles the valve clearances have not  been reduced then your bike should be okay to run on unleaded without an additive. Also with regard to the alloy hubs my A7 has them and I had an A10 with them which I owned for 16 years and if set correctly they are as good as any BSA bikes of the era. They were used on the BSA in the years 1956-57 I believe that BSA which owned Ariel Motorcycle wished to use up existing stocks before the demise of the big Ariel twins and singles in 1959.

To keep an original reg you also need to have the bike authenticated this is normally done by the owners club they send the information to the DVLA .I do not know of an excelsior club  but you could contact the Vintage Motorcycle Club via their website who should be able to help. Warwickshire according to the list still retains copies of registrations so you may be lucky a number of other authorities  destroyed theirs when records went to Swansea.

The first thing to do is find out which cylinder is running and which is not this can be done by starting the engine and pulling off one of the plug leads, if the engine still runs then that is the cylinder that is dodgy then swap over the plug leads  then restart the engine and pull off the same side lead if the engine stops then you have a dodgy lead or plug cap. If it continues to run then both leads are OK and you can go on from there. You do not say if you have standard points ignition or electronic ignition as this will make a difference as to what you should do next you could try fitting a new set of plugs I have a similar bike an A65 and have found that plugs can spark OK out of the bike but fail when running even  nearly new plugs can fail.

For 1962 the mudguards would have been painted a metallic green with a 4 gallon tank same colour with chrome panels  pear shaped badges and a black frame, only the rear guard would be deep valanced. Try putting into google 1962 BSA A50 images and you should get some images showing what the bike should look like.

Try this supplier I have used their products before.  www.tankcareproducts.co.uk

I don't know about Triumph's but I have a BSA A65 with a Pazon system fitted which is similar to the Sparx unit and I had a similar problem and it turned out to be a dodgy coil replaced coil and everything OK. I was put off thinking it was the coil because firstly both coils were only 15months old and secondly both plugs were not sparking but having tested both coils one was faulty. Do not make the same mistake that I did in assuming that the ignition  module is at fault without testing everything else first. One of the best things that I bought was a quite cheap multimeter which enabled me to check both of the coils and also the trigger unit. It does not allow you to check the ignition unit however, I contacted Pazon and they informed me that this could only be done by them. You could try to contact Sparx and see if they provide a fault diagnosis sheet I know Pazon do and It is very helpful for locating possible problems.

What we do with our own bikes is down to each individual  it is their decision  to restore or not. If the owner of the Norton want's to ride it as it  is well that's okay by me but if on the other hand he wanted to give it a full blown restoration I would not think any less of him or the bike. If that bike was mine I would be giving it a cosmetic restoration mainly the chrome and that rear brake lever would have to go. I like my bikes to be as near as possible to when they left the factory without going to extremes and then I would add things for personal taste such as my present 1962 A65 has Craven Panniers fitted also an Avon handlebar fairing a Britax crashbar and for safety indicators. It is all down to personal taste.