Advice on a 1964 BSA

[Colossal]

Hello everyone,

I am new to the forum but looking through the site I am extremely impressed and excited to see what you guys have to say.

I recently came across a 1964 BSA B40 350cc Sportsman (pretty sure) in a barn.  It is in many pieces but it seems to be all there (minus the chain and chain guard) and actually stored very well.  The guy who owns it said the cylinder was bored out and it has the Victor 441 piston.  I have been looking around and it seems that there arent many of these restored around.  I am wondering why this is?

I have some knowledge working on Japanese bikes but this would be my first English bike.  The guy whos barn the bike in is older and has offered to assist in the restoration of the bike as much as he can.  He has offered his whitworth wrenches, the shop manual and any knowledge he has.  I am wondering if there are any wise words, tricks of the trade, or sources of knowledge and or parts that I should know about before diving in head first.

I will post picks soon.

A few of the sprockets are going to have to be replaced, the rear sprocket

[Rex]

Best advice would be to get the Rupert Ratio book on BSA singles. It's the Bible for these bikes. You could use the BSA Service Sheets and a parts book too while you're ordering....
My advice would be to get it running to see if you like it before chucking money at restoring it. I had a B40 Star, and didn't really like it although it handled well.
Not a popular or sought-after bike, it must be said.

[Goldy]

It depends what you looking for. If you want a special, rare or highly valuable bike then this is not the one. However you will find the B40 or the smaller C15 very easy to restore. The parts are readily available and I would say it makes a good first retoration project. Fully restored worth about £1500 and you end up with what was a popular go to work bike of the 60,s. The most difficult parts of the restoration are the swinging arm pin, which is a tight fit and difficult to remove. The flywheel assembly can be difficult to work on as the flywheels press on to the big end and it is difficult to obtain the correct tolerances. You will find all the service sheets on this site.  http://www.classicrider.dk/english/technic/ServiceSheets.php    All the best.

[VintageBike]

Hi Colossal
welcome to the forum.  If you are looking for parts or advice on this bike, drop me an email.  I've restored several of these and have a "reasonable" knowledge of them.  As Rex has said, the best source of info is the Rupert Ratio book.  It is by far the best book on these bikes -and of course you can buy it in the Books section of the Store on this very site!   .

They are nice bikes - although you're not going to set the world on fire with one.  But they are very good bikes to restore as they are simple, and parts are pretty easy to come by.  I'm sure you'll have fun...  Here's a pic of my latest restoration..

Cheers

Nigel

[Colossal]

Thanks guys,  This is going to be a fun project for me and its hard to think about anything else.  I will keep you posted on the progress and most likely ask for a lot of help.

Thanks again!

[Colossal]

Hey guys,  Thanks again for the advice.  I have begun to dive into the BSA.


After getting some of the dirt off I noticed a pinch in the frame.  Is this something that I can ride with or is it going to need repair?  Let me know what you think.  Sorry the photo is a little out of focus.

[Goldy]

No you cannot leave the frame like that, the damaged section will have to be replaced. I had a similar thing with my BSA A10 as someone had previously fitted a Gold Star engine to it and had kinked one bottom tube to get the Goldie engine in. Imperial size tube is still available, I got a piece from Mallard Metals ( Don,t know if your in the UK )  http://www.mallardmetals.co.uk/  I then made a template out of cardboard for the correct radius and took it to a tube bender ( Protopipe in Coventry) and they formed it to the correct radius. I then cut out the damaged section and "fitted" in the new piece and got a professional welder to MIG weld it. It was all a bit long winded, but it can be done. The other thing is to take the frame to a frame restorer and have them repair it and they of course could also check it for alignment. All the best

[Rex]

This new piece you fitted, did the welder just butt-weld it or did you slug it first?
It if was only butt-welded I think I would have preferred the flattened original for strength.

Anyhoo, as regards the B40 it really depends on your finances and the use you're going to put the bike to. Just for putting around and/or your not loaded with spare cash...keep it as is.
Competition work/concours resto/you've got too much cash...repair it.
Personally, as the tube isn't flattened, I'd leave it, but that's me.
Patina'd resto's are all the fashion now....

[rogerwilko]

Just fill it with bog!

[Revband]

It's difficult to see how the damage to the frame occurred, but in this area the frame has additional support from the engine and should not cause any real problem provided no cracking is present, but if the bike is subject to an MOT test or similar it could well fail.

The B31/32/33/34 models all had a kink in the frame on the right side but lower down put in by the makers this to my knowledge has never given any problem.

As Rex says any repairs should be carried out by inserting  a sleeve to add strength a butt weld will be weaker than the damage.

[Goldy]

Yes Rex I sleeved my A10 repair with an internal sleeve one end and an external sleeve the other. I am happy that I have a well engineered repair and the small sleeve is barely seen beneath the engine. It,s all a matter of choice (someone says use filler) but the choices should be Engineering based.

[Rex]

No offence intended, but you didn't mention that in the original post, and having seen various attempts at frame tube welding over the years (normally as the result of attempting to build some shite chop) it was best to check.
What some see as adequate or well-engineered are death-traps to others, and you just never know on t'Interwebby....

[Colossal]

Hey, thanks for all the info.

I am planning on doing the restoration in 2 phases so I can learn as much as possible. First just get it running and back together and second phase will be a more complete restoration.  I live in Minnesota and our riding season is short.  I think the frame will stay as is for now and then I will address it when I start really diving into the restoration.

Does anyone have a source for parts in the US?  As of right now, I am going to need a chain, rear sprocket, front sprocket, and a bracket for the front fender.

Thanks again