My Dad was one of those AMA "privateers". He raced BSAs and Triumphs all over New England and Canada in the late 50's and 60s. I have a picture of him from 61 or 62 with a BSA Scrambler that the factory sent him.
Love BSAs! Super cool, and in many ways over the top styling but simple and compact design. You can tell a lot of thought went into them. A timeless classic and the sound is pretty awesome!
The bike in my profile pic is a 1967 Thunderbolt taken about 1972. Ex police bike, it blew up in the Australian bush. Piston broke :( Rebuilt with Triumph pistons. Higher compression, ported the head, Norton Commando pipes . It went very well. Just wish I’d kept it. Now I do love my Triumph Speed Twin 1200, but I’d love to jump on and old Beesa again one day!
I had the 650 thunderbolt, 1969 by far probably one of the best twins…. it ran so sweetly until the beginning the oil crank, bearing started to disintegrate…. So at a time there was a company called Davimead who used to make a conversion for the bronze oil bearing so it was converted into needle roller crank, bearing with oil end feed into the crank, I also fitted the it cylinders…. this was an incredible change for the bike because it ran so much smoother and was built proof…. I did a lot of miles on that bike and it never let me down. I went on to buy an early 800 BMW their first 800 which was an R80/7…. When I got divorced, I had to sell A65 to pay for the lawyers, which I regretted….. it went to Copenhagen, never heard about its progress since.
I have a red/chrome 1964 A65 BSA Star, which has the unit construction engine. It is certainly not the best looking BSA, I don't really like the fenders (they look a lot like Royal Enfield Bullet fenders to me) or side covers, but compared to a modern flat black bike it is beautiful. I have to admit I prefer long stroke motors better. I like the torque, but also the sound and feel. Pushrod motors ARE the good stuff. OHC motors have no character and no soul.
they went well when they weren't falling apart, vibration was a killer , the prettiest bike ever made imho, you can upgrade them, upgrade steel rods & end fed 270 deg crank & you can get nickasil alloy barrels , they are quite good apparently , I am thinking about revisiting the A65
This model suffered from poor assembly practices at the factory-rumor has it BSA went cheap on labor and it showed. The plain bush main bearing isn't inherently bad, but must have proper setup and clean oil- without these you get big end failures. The end-feed conversion gets around this. Like most Brit bikes and AMF Harleys, there are good ones and ridiculous lemons, but all can be made reliable with a knowledgeable rebuild. And yes you can build a very quick one with a 750 kit and rephased crank!
Someone had fun painting flowers on that bike. : ) Maybe I misunderstood what you said, but I'm pretty sure the first 4 years of the Bonneville (1959 - 62) had separate engine and transmission. In 1963 they switched to the Unit construction on the Bonneville and TR6. Seems like you're a Norton guy. : ) When it comes to the British twins go, is there one brand you prefer working on over another? I currently have 1964 Triumph TR6, which I love. It's my first vintage British bike, so I don't have much to compare it to. You're right about those pushrod tubes though...they tend to weep a little.
You are correct, the triumph 650's first year as unit construction was 63. The 500 and 350 triumphs went to unit construction in the late 50's. Each Brit bike has their pluses and minuses for working on them. I definitely like the enclosed pushrod tubes of the BSA and Norton, but the drawback is the longer pushrods which is a performance limiting aspect. Gotta say I love the Norton primary cover with just one bolt holding it on!
@@sayreanthony8534 Royal Endfield 750 Inteceptor 1 bolt primary also ! First 750 from England [62 or 63] 1966 cycle world road test quickest and fastest 1/4 mile 13.66, cycle world mag. refered to it as KING KONG ! SERIES 1 my personal favorite, liked it much more than series 2, which was introduced in 69 I believe. Later on Norton Commando in 69 would be nearly 1 full second quicker thru 1/4 mile, but only with the so called " combat " verson which was more compression and highly tuned verson than the more reliable " standard " version, with less compression, less stress on the long strokes motor; the the " combat " version was prone to engine failure if revved to high! 89 mm stroke. [ old school English tech. compared to the A-65 BSA UNIT CONSTRUCTION, which came out in 63, along with Triumph new unit construction, but triumph's new 650 was still old school tech. by being undersquare [ 71 mm bore× 82 mm stroke ] but BSA's new unit 650 was slightly OVERSQUARE [ 75 mm bore×74mm stroke ] which was new tech. for English vertical twins !! Made for a quicker reving,less stressed motor. More balanced less vibration,better running! < only English cycle maker to ever do so> All modern motors in both auto and motor cycles are OVERSQUARE bore+stroke, undersquare bore×stroke old school tech.. All the " big English twins " were beautiful motor cycles, the 750's [ Royal Endfield Inteceptor < series 1, especially the pre 69 modles>, Norton N-15 cs(64-68) P-11+ RANGER,A street version of the P-11 with LIGHTS and down pipes, both having that cool gas tank like the N-15 c.s. Street version, unlike the ugly/ porky looking Norton 750 Atlas model. Norton 750 " S " model with the upswept pipes to one side was my favorite commando model. Had a red 69 with a Dunstall 810 cc barrels on it, also a 71 blue Commando down pipe model. But prefer the look of a straight up, solid mounted motor, not slanted at an angle like the Commandos. The triumph 650 Bonneville, the TR 6 and the TT special were beautiful bikes, as was the later 750's. Owned them all, the 650 unit BSA's were awesome also.the most powerful model for the street was called the SPITFIRE, and the Hornet, both up pipe and down pipe" tt pipes " Were COMPETITION dirt riding specials, but some so inclined could make them street legal if they wanted to < lights+ mufflers> The BSA's were bitchen/beautiful machines even more appealing to me than the triumph's, especially that orange Hornet with the down tt pipes and those cool gas tanks they had. Loved them,still do! Also unit const. BSA's finally saw the light so to speak, and made it OVERSQUARE BORE+STROKE, higher reving,less stress+more balanced motor, " more grunt, only British co. to do so! But my personal favorite, the one British vertical twin I consider " head + shoulders above all the rest has to be my 66 ROYAL ENDFIELD INTERCEPTOR 750 SERIES 1. To me none of the others come close, the power, the awesome appearance, especially the Big right side timing side chest cover with those sideways big chrome nuts at the rear of the cover, and the cool looking oil spout sticking out at a 45 degree angle behind that big beautiful timing cover; to me the coolest example of English traditional craftsmanship, just TOTIALLY AWSOME!!!👍👌🎯 THE SIZE OF THAT MOTOR
My Dad was one of those AMA "privateers". He raced BSAs and Triumphs all over New England and Canada in the late 50's and 60s. I have a picture of him from 61 or 62 with a BSA Scrambler that the factory sent him.
@@TheFlowNetwork Awesome!
Great video, this chap was quite informative about the history surrounding this motorcycle.
Had a 68 BSA A65 back in the day love it
Love BSAs! Super cool, and in many ways over the top styling but simple and compact design. You can tell a lot of thought went into them. A timeless classic and the sound is pretty awesome!
The bike in my profile pic is a 1967 Thunderbolt taken about 1972. Ex police bike, it blew up in the Australian bush. Piston broke :( Rebuilt with Triumph pistons. Higher compression, ported the head, Norton Commando pipes . It went very well. Just wish I’d kept it. Now I do love my Triumph Speed Twin 1200, but I’d love to jump on and old Beesa again one day!
I had the 650 thunderbolt, 1969 by far probably one of the best twins…. it ran so sweetly until the beginning the oil crank, bearing started to disintegrate…. So at a time there was a company called Davimead who used to make a conversion for the bronze oil bearing so it was converted into needle roller crank, bearing with oil end feed into the crank, I also fitted the it cylinders…. this was an incredible change for the bike because it ran so much smoother and was built proof…. I did a lot of miles on that bike and it never let me down. I went on to buy an early 800 BMW their first 800 which was an R80/7…. When I got divorced, I had to sell A65 to pay for the lawyers, which I regretted….. it went to Copenhagen, never heard about its progress since.
The bearing conversion is an excellent option-and is still available today from SRM. Sorry that you had to let your A65 go.
Nice video, interesting and well shot - thanks.
I have a red/chrome 1964 A65 BSA Star, which has the unit construction engine. It is certainly not the best looking BSA, I don't really like the fenders (they look a lot like Royal Enfield Bullet fenders to me) or side covers, but compared to a modern flat black bike it is beautiful. I have to admit I prefer long stroke motors better. I like the torque, but also the sound and feel. Pushrod motors ARE the good stuff. OHC motors have no character and no soul.
I had a 1970 Lightning and wish I still had it. Nice looking bike but like the looks of my 1970 Bonneville better!
Amazing....I have the same bike.yust great 😊
they went well when they weren't falling apart, vibration was a killer , the prettiest bike ever made imho, you can upgrade them, upgrade steel rods & end fed 270 deg crank & you can get nickasil alloy barrels , they are quite good apparently , I am thinking about revisiting the A65
This model suffered from poor assembly practices at the factory-rumor has it BSA went cheap on labor and it showed. The plain bush main bearing isn't inherently bad, but must have proper setup and clean oil- without these you get big end failures. The end-feed conversion gets around this. Like most Brit bikes and AMF Harleys, there are good ones and ridiculous lemons, but all can be made reliable with a knowledgeable rebuild. And yes you can build a very quick one with a 750 kit and rephased crank!
Thanks that's real useful information ℹ️ I now own a 1967 BSA A65L, please the name of the book!? 🍻
Someone had fun painting flowers on that bike. : ) Maybe I misunderstood what you said, but I'm pretty sure the first 4 years of the Bonneville (1959 - 62) had separate engine and transmission. In 1963 they switched to the Unit construction on the Bonneville and TR6. Seems like you're a Norton guy. : ) When it comes to the British twins go, is there one brand you prefer working on over another? I currently have 1964 Triumph TR6, which I love. It's my first vintage British bike, so I don't have much to compare it to. You're right about those pushrod tubes though...they tend to weep a little.
You are correct, the triumph 650's first year as unit construction was 63. The 500 and 350 triumphs went to unit construction in the late 50's. Each Brit bike has their pluses and minuses for working on them. I definitely like the enclosed pushrod tubes of the BSA and Norton, but the drawback is the longer pushrods which is a performance limiting aspect. Gotta say I love the Norton primary cover with just one bolt holding it on!
@@sayreanthony8534 Royal Endfield 750 Inteceptor 1 bolt primary also ! First 750 from England [62 or 63] 1966 cycle world road test quickest and fastest 1/4 mile 13.66, cycle world mag. refered to it as KING KONG ! SERIES 1 my personal favorite, liked it much more than series 2, which was introduced in 69 I believe. Later on Norton Commando in 69 would be nearly 1 full second quicker thru 1/4 mile, but only with the so called
" combat " verson which was more compression and highly tuned verson than the more reliable " standard " version, with
less compression, less stress on the long strokes motor; the
the " combat " version was prone to engine failure if revved to high! 89 mm stroke. [ old school English tech. compared to the A-65 BSA UNIT CONSTRUCTION,
which came out in 63, along with Triumph new unit construction,
but triumph's new 650 was still old school tech. by being undersquare [ 71 mm bore× 82 mm stroke ] but BSA's new unit 650 was slightly OVERSQUARE
[ 75 mm bore×74mm stroke ]
which was new tech. for English vertical twins !! Made for a quicker reving,less stressed motor. More balanced less vibration,better running!
< only English cycle maker to ever do so> All modern motors in both auto and motor cycles are OVERSQUARE bore+stroke, undersquare bore×stroke old school tech..
All the " big English twins " were beautiful motor cycles, the 750's
[ Royal Endfield Inteceptor < series 1, especially the pre 69 modles>, Norton N-15 cs(64-68)
P-11+ RANGER,A street version of the P-11 with LIGHTS and down pipes, both having that cool gas tank like the N-15 c.s.
Street version, unlike the ugly/
porky looking Norton 750 Atlas model. Norton 750 " S " model with the upswept pipes to one side was my favorite commando model. Had a red 69 with a Dunstall 810 cc barrels on it,
also a 71 blue Commando down pipe model.
But prefer the look of a straight up, solid mounted motor, not slanted at an angle like the Commandos.
The triumph 650 Bonneville, the TR 6 and the TT special were beautiful bikes, as was the later 750's. Owned them all, the 650 unit BSA's were awesome also.the most powerful model for the street was called the SPITFIRE, and the Hornet, both up pipe and down pipe" tt pipes "
Were COMPETITION dirt riding specials, but some so inclined could make them street legal
if they wanted to < lights+ mufflers> The BSA's were bitchen/beautiful machines
even more appealing to me than the triumph's, especially that orange Hornet with the down tt pipes and those cool gas tanks they had. Loved them,still do!
Also unit const. BSA's finally saw the light so to speak, and made it OVERSQUARE BORE+STROKE, higher reving,less stress+more balanced motor, " more grunt, only British co. to do so!
But my personal favorite, the one British vertical twin I consider " head + shoulders above all the rest has to be my 66 ROYAL ENDFIELD INTERCEPTOR 750 SERIES 1.
To me none of the others come close, the power, the awesome appearance, especially the Big right side timing side chest cover
with those sideways big chrome nuts at the rear of the cover, and the cool looking oil spout sticking out at a 45 degree angle behind that big beautiful timing cover; to me the coolest example of English traditional craftsmanship, just TOTIALLY AWSOME!!!👍👌🎯 THE SIZE OF THAT MOTOR
I have a 1967 BSA A65 THUNDERBOLT with ELECTRONIC IGNITION. Which is the best BATTERY Type that fits? Is it 9AH or 12AH?
How much compression must have a 1967 bsa thunderbolt 650 cc?
A fresh, broken in rebuild should have 140-150 psi on the lower compression pistons. An older motor should have at least 120.
Thank you very much for your replay on the compression of my bsa thunderbolt ,really helpful sir!
Where'd you go?
Nice but not very reliable engins
Really?