Dave, Thank you so much for doing these videos. They have helped me tremendously! I have just purchased a 1970 Bsa a50 that had been sitting indoors in boxes completely disassembled for over 40 years. I am grateful to the previous owner who disassembled it because he zip locked and labeled everything! Thanks to your helpful videos and manner of teaching I have just completed the rebuild of the engine and I look forward to re-watching your videos for the rest of my build. Thanks again! Justin
By the way, I really enjoyed watching you kick kick kick the bike with no result. I have that about three months in the future, but it's always fun to watch someone else do it 😁
Have always loved British bikes, the looks the sound the smell. Beautiful engineering ! I bought a 1971 BSA 650 Lighting several years back at a Classic British motorcycle show in Cincinnati Ohio. It was a non-runner but was a complete and all there bike and also came with a near complete parts bike in bits and peices, the only thing the parts bike is missing was side covers and tank. I The bike has sat in the shed for several years waiting on the time to get started on restoration and I am finally ready to begin on it. I have no experiance with restoring / refurbishing a British motorcycle. I started riding when I was 10 on a new 1968 Yamaha 125 Enduro 2 stroke ( got to love those old 2-strokes ) and have had motorcycles in my garage ( most of the time 3 or 4 ) my whole life. My favorite 2 stroke bike is the Suzuki PE 250 Endouro, still have two of them. These were quite popular across the Pond back in the day. Like I said no Brit bike experiance but not unskilled either, 44 years as a maintenance mechanic/electrican in a steel mill, built an raced street cars and off road Jeeps and turned wrenches on dozens of Suzuki/Kawasaki/Yamaha bikes over the years. I do want to say your series on rfurbishing the 650 Thunderbolt was the most comprehensive easy to follow and knowledgeable video i have ever seen on TH-cam ! You sir have done an fantastic job and you have gained a subscriber here. I have watched the video over and over and feel very comfortable now with delving into an unfamiliar bike . Thank you for all the effort you have put in to help us out with our projects . Bob Smith
I have thoroughly enjoyed watching this project develop Dave and it’s been a real joy in seeing how much you care about what you do. The information and tips that you give are priceless and it’s reassuring and heartwarming to know that you are doing a sterling job in keeping these bikes in service. Keep up the great work 👍
With regards to your comments on Torque Wrenches a few years ago I had a Trainee tightening the Head Bolts on an Antique Marine Engine when his Father walked by the Lad said to him 'I have been instructed to tighten the Bolts down in 4 stages, what I want to know is what did they do before Torque wrenches were invented?' His Father's answer was "they did a five Year Apprenticeship Son"
Norton Commandos have valve guide seals, at least on the inlet. I built a pre unit 6T and used Ampco 45 guides and Kibblewhite black diamond valves and installed seals. Works great. My understanding is that fuel lubricates the valve stem, not oil. Leaded fuel especially. There are lead substitutes in the fuel now, but you can always get a fuel additive if you're concerned. No seals is one of the reasons these old bikes consume a bit of oil, even when new.
Good series i haven’t worked on a British bike since the 70’s(only triumphs)and after a couple of episodes i started to anticipate your next moves (must’ve been in the back of the brain there somewhere)amazing🇦🇺
Great advice as per usual. As said before. Length of spanner should determine torque. That's why a lot of over tightening occurs with socket tools. One length to accommodate many sizes. Lots of good tips. 👍
What a fine project! And really nice words and thoughts... One question; To avoid glazed bores and later poor performance, you are adviced to put attention on several points; The grit of the honer, the API grade of oil when running-in and the first startup, where you are adviced to let the bike work briskly but shortly for the first number of runs. Advice come from John Healy, Triumph dealer and mechanic in the US for decades... Have you heard this before? Cheers John in Denmark.
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us Sir. I appreciate the conversational style also. It reminds me of a couple of bikey mates of mine. I found myself picking their brains for this type of info when ever we catch up, nothing is more entertaining than when they disagree with each other. Cheers
Last year I bought my first big torquewrench. Never stripped a thread yet, even without one. I hardly use it, only for very specific moments. For my pushbikes I use one because of the tiny allenbolts, so a tiny torquewrench. Otherwhise built into my arm, I know what you mean. Thumbs up for your very educational video's. Greetings from The Netherlands.
Been watching your fantastic videos and thought I better subscribe. Thank you for taking the time to show us about these wonderful motorcycles! You have a great way of explaining the process of working on them, a lot of detail. I have owned BMW Airheads and have always done my own maintenance and repairs on them. Sure would like to pick up an older Triumph some day. My first big bike was a brand new 1973 750 Tiger. Loved that bike. Rode it all over the place including all around Canada. Thanks again!
Absolutely brilliant enjoyed this. Between yourself and lunmad I can set about fixing my yet to be pursued late 70's or very early 80's Triumph Bonneville with complete conference. Thinks very much all the best from NZ
Here in the desert we have slightly different "winterizing" tips. Our winter in the ungodly hot summers. My process is make sure they are out of the sun. If possible I try to bring my seats and batteries inside, as the sun/heat just destroys them. Tires go quick too but they are harder to bring inside :)
Agree. Im in Australia and summer is the worst season for riding here, in fact most summer days are high on torture on yourself in hot leathers and helmet and the bike, especially an older air cooled bike, then there's the afternoon storms. Summer sux. Winter by far is the best riding season here. Beautiful dry sunny winter days are the pick because most winter is like that here and around 15-18c makes it ideal riding weather.
Excellent series, I really enjoyed watching the whole project come to life. Thank you for taking the time to make these videos, and for detailing all the little nuances about these bikes.
Fantastic series. Fountain of knowledge and a humble chap. Would love to live near you and I'd have myself one of those classics! Keep up the excellent work in 2023. Happy Christmas and New year to you.
Great watching your videos, i do like the old bikes which i used to ride when i was younger but now on newer triumphs these days, i would have another one but they are too much money now for me, really enjoy your vids thanks
Excellent advice. I learned a lot. In case of using the vernier, I have already measured my motorcycle in the same way. Due to the wear of the tensioners (iron sheets of poor quality) in a non-identical way, the adjustment never worked. When he released his hands from the moving handlebars, he always pulled to the unaligned side. When placed on the marks made by the factory, regulated by laser light, when releasing the handlebars, it is always aligned without pulling to either side.
Excellent series, great to see you sharing your skill and knowledge. A great source of information and very inspiring. Now looking for a suitable bike fir restoration after many years away from them. Subscribed, please keep up the good work, thank you.
Great very informative video from a man who works on bikes for a living. You can't beat experience. Just one thought though. You mentioned using Copperslip on bolts. In my manual for my BMW it says torque up bolts 'Dry' I have read that using copperslip or similar can basically mean that you can over rotate the bolt (At the correct torque setting) owing to the slipping effect of the copper slip on the mating surfaces. This could potentially damage the tread(s) Any thoughts? Keep up the good work as this is the GoTo channel for sound practical advice.
Thanks for this channel, I am determined to get my British twin to sit along side my w650 scrambler one of build,all I need to do now is sell my 300 gts vespa ,low mileage ,anyone no ,hardly used got it when smashed up in military and could not ride only on automatic ,no ,a well ha ha cheers and thanks again for the excellent film
Brilliant series. Thanks for publishing it. I’d be really grateful to know where you got your engine workshop stand from - it looked really useful. Thanks.
A10 was more expensive to produce? I'd have to disagree , they already had the tooling ! Did you read hopwoods book? Don't you think the a50 was a much sweeter machine than the a65 , obviously slower but less vibration , good videos .
What's the best way to rescue and refurbish rusty old bike wheels and OIF frames? I have a 1955 BSA A7SS and 1976 T140v Bonneville given to me by my Grandfather and Father, both in pretty poor condition from poor storage. I'm missing quite a few major parts for the BSA, but the Triumph is pretty much complete, so I'm going to start tearing the Triumph down to get the frame stripped and hopefully powder coated, but I've read a lot of negative reports surrounding powder coating OIF frames, with no real solutions offered. What would you recommend?
love the content and the methodical approach to mechanical work. couple of querries (sounds like the Rocky hoor) 1. copperslip, not a persnal choice of mine.purely because of aesthetics I favour nikaslip.Seems to work well so far. Any thoughts on the product? other question pertains to your blast cabinet. Do you find it big enough and what size compressor runs it many thanks drew
Is there a lubricant or anti-seize I can use on my spark plugs when putting them back in place? The spark plugs tend to squeak a little on my new 1964 Triumph TR6...when I screw them back in.
Excellent advice delivered in calm professional manner. Thanks again for sharing your years of experience with us. As far as I am concerned, you should have your own show on Discovery. By the way, just in case you think Beverley is into bike mechanics, I’m using my wife’s computer....I’m not allowed my own in case I look at Norton porn!!!!
Hey BR, yeah, we all assumed you weren't BR. Good that you can take control of your life in that way. Thanks for watching the videos and your nice comments :)
Is wellseal the same as aviation number 3? Looks similar but aviation 3 came in a bottle with a brush on the lid of a bottle the other 1 was dow corning silicone smells like viniger thats what i grew up with loctite 515 is better than avo 3 same thing wont set hard
Dave,
Thank you so much for doing these videos. They have helped me tremendously! I have just purchased a 1970 Bsa a50 that had been sitting indoors in boxes completely disassembled for over 40 years.
I am grateful to the previous owner who disassembled it because he zip locked and labeled everything!
Thanks to your helpful videos and manner of teaching I have just completed the rebuild of the engine and I look forward to re-watching your videos for the rest of my build.
Thanks again! Justin
Thank you very much for this series. I am restoring a BSA A65 Lightning right now and this has been invaluable. Thank you again!
By the way, I really enjoyed watching you kick kick kick the bike with no result. I have that about three months in the future, but it's always fun to watch someone else do it 😁
Have always loved British bikes, the looks the sound the smell.
Beautiful engineering !
I bought a 1971 BSA 650 Lighting several years back at a Classic British motorcycle show in Cincinnati Ohio.
It was a non-runner but was a complete and all there bike and also came with a near complete parts bike in bits
and peices, the only thing the parts bike is missing was side covers and tank. I
The bike has sat in the shed for several years waiting on the time to get started on restoration and I am finally ready to begin on it.
I have no experiance with restoring / refurbishing a British motorcycle.
I started riding when I was 10 on a new 1968 Yamaha 125 Enduro 2 stroke ( got to love those old 2-strokes ) and have had motorcycles in my garage ( most of the time 3 or 4 ) my whole life.
My favorite 2 stroke bike is the Suzuki PE 250 Endouro, still have two of them. These were quite popular across the Pond back in the day.
Like I said no Brit bike experiance but not unskilled either, 44 years as a maintenance mechanic/electrican in a steel mill, built an raced street cars and off road Jeeps and turned wrenches on dozens of Suzuki/Kawasaki/Yamaha bikes over the years.
I do want to say your series on rfurbishing the 650 Thunderbolt was the most comprehensive easy to follow and knowledgeable video i have ever seen on TH-cam !
You sir have done an fantastic job and you have gained a subscriber here.
I have watched the video over and over and feel very comfortable now with delving into an unfamiliar bike .
Thank you for all the effort you have put in to help us out with our projects .
Bob Smith
Thank you .I' really enjoyed every single episode.very informative and down to earth .thanks again
Just binged the whole series in an afternoon and enjoyed watching the process. Thank you Dave.
I have thoroughly enjoyed watching this project develop Dave and it’s been a real joy in seeing how much you care about what you do.
The information and tips that you give are priceless and it’s reassuring and heartwarming to know that you are doing a sterling job in keeping these bikes in service.
Keep up the great work 👍
Hi James, thanks for your nice words that's really kind of you, more to come, stay tuned :)
With regards to your comments on Torque Wrenches
a few years ago I had a Trainee tightening the Head Bolts on an Antique Marine Engine
when his Father walked by the Lad said to him 'I have been instructed to tighten the Bolts down in 4 stages, what I want to know is what did they do before Torque wrenches were invented?'
His Father's answer was "they did a five Year Apprenticeship Son"
Norton Commandos have valve guide seals, at least on the inlet. I built a pre unit 6T and used Ampco 45 guides and Kibblewhite black diamond valves and installed seals. Works great. My understanding is that fuel lubricates the valve stem, not oil. Leaded fuel especially. There are lead substitutes in the fuel now, but you can always get a fuel additive if you're concerned. No seals is one of the reasons these old bikes consume a bit of oil, even when new.
Good series i haven’t worked on a British bike since the 70’s(only triumphs)and after a couple of episodes i started to anticipate your next moves (must’ve been in the back of the brain there somewhere)amazing🇦🇺
Great advice as per usual. As said before. Length of spanner should determine torque. That's why a lot of over tightening occurs with socket tools. One length to accommodate many sizes. Lots of good tips. 👍
Thanks again for your nice words Pike!
If this doesn't get some newbies buying some spanners I don't know what will. Much appreciated.
Hey Bill, for sure, that's one of our goals :)
You've certainly spurred me on to start tackling the two rusty beasts which have been clogging my garage up for far too long!
What a fine project! And really nice words and thoughts... One question; To avoid glazed bores and later poor performance, you are adviced to put attention on several points; The grit of the honer, the API grade of oil when running-in and the first startup, where you are adviced to let the bike work briskly but shortly for the first number of runs. Advice come from John Healy, Triumph dealer and mechanic in the US for decades... Have you heard this before? Cheers John in Denmark.
Always enjoy what you share about these machines, Thanks!
i did enjoy the series and as an A10 owner i must admit the a65 often overlooked has got something
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us Sir. I appreciate the conversational style also. It reminds me of a couple of bikey mates of mine. I found myself picking their brains for this type of info when ever we catch up, nothing is more entertaining than when they disagree with each other. Cheers
Thanks so much Chrissy D, sounds like some interesting debates going on over there!
I hope at some point you replaced or will replace the mirror! Love watching these videos!
Last year I bought my first big torquewrench. Never stripped a thread yet, even without one. I hardly use it, only for very specific moments.
For my pushbikes I use one because of the tiny allenbolts, so a tiny torquewrench. Otherwhise built into my arm, I know what you mean. Thumbs up for your very educational video's. Greetings from The Netherlands.
Been watching your fantastic videos and thought I better subscribe. Thank you for taking the time to show us about these wonderful motorcycles! You have a great way of explaining the process of working on them, a lot of detail. I have owned BMW Airheads and have always done my own maintenance and repairs on them. Sure would like to pick up an older Triumph some day. My first big bike was a brand new 1973 750 Tiger. Loved that bike. Rode it all over the place including all around Canada. Thanks again!
Welcome aboard Mike and thanks for your nice comments (and watching the series)!
Absolutely brilliant enjoyed this.
Between yourself and lunmad I can set about fixing my yet to be pursued late 70's or very early 80's Triumph Bonneville with complete conference.
Thinks very much all the best from NZ
Here in the desert we have slightly different "winterizing" tips. Our winter in the ungodly hot summers. My process is make sure they are out of the sun. If possible I try to bring my seats and batteries inside, as the sun/heat just destroys them. Tires go quick too but they are harder to bring inside :)
Agree. Im in Australia and summer is the worst season for riding here, in fact most summer days are high on torture on yourself in hot leathers and helmet and the bike, especially an older air cooled bike, then there's the afternoon storms. Summer sux. Winter by far is the best riding season here. Beautiful dry sunny winter days are the pick because most winter is like that here and around 15-18c makes it ideal riding weather.
Excellent series, I really enjoyed watching the whole project come to life. Thank you for taking the time to make these videos, and for detailing all the little nuances about these bikes.
Been looking at a couple of your videos really enjoyed them like classic british bikes never ridden a bike though keep up the good work
Fantastic series. Fountain of knowledge and a humble chap. Would love to live near you and I'd have myself one of those classics!
Keep up the excellent work in 2023.
Happy Christmas and New year to you.
Great watching your videos, i do like the old bikes which i used to ride when i was younger but now on newer triumphs these days, i would have another one but they are too much money now for me, really enjoy your vids thanks
Excellent advice. I learned a lot. In case of using the vernier, I have already measured my motorcycle in the same way. Due to the wear of the tensioners (iron sheets of poor quality) in a non-identical way, the adjustment never worked. When he released his hands from the moving handlebars, he always pulled to the unaligned side. When placed on the marks made by the factory, regulated by laser light, when releasing the handlebars, it is always aligned without pulling to either side.
Hi Glaico, thanks for sharing your experience :)
I've bought 16 a65 frames and engine parts from the Christchurch earthquakes , I hope to build one or two bikes a year
Good content. Made me chuckle on the 2 stroke comment. Having a nightmare with a very simple one.
What a brilliant series, can I be your next door neighbour please 🙏 Dave 😅 Fantastic 👍🏍👏👏👏👏 Thanks Dave & all involved with the channel 👏👍👍👍👍👍
Hi Stuart, thank you so much for your kind words, just seen this, Dave and the team try to read as many comments as we can, thank you for your support
I use a electrical paintstripper instead of a blowtorch. Works well.
another great video, found the info about the valve seals useful
Nice one Jack, thanks for your feedback.
Excellent series, great to see you sharing your skill and knowledge. A great source of information and very inspiring. Now looking for a suitable bike fir restoration after many years away from them. Subscribed, please keep up the good work, thank you.
Something maybe worth making a video on would the exhaust, from removal and re fitting the whole system
Great very informative video from a man who works on bikes for a living. You can't beat experience. Just one thought though. You mentioned using Copperslip on bolts. In my manual for my BMW it says torque up bolts 'Dry' I have read that using copperslip or similar can basically mean that you can over rotate the bolt (At the correct torque setting) owing to the slipping effect of the copper slip on the mating surfaces. This could potentially damage the tread(s) Any thoughts? Keep up the good work as this is the GoTo channel for sound practical advice.
Just finished the series brilliant in every way keep up the good work
Right on Jonathan, thanks for saying!
Thanks for this series I have learnt so much
Nice of you to say Stuart, thank you
Thanks for this channel, I am determined to get my British twin to sit along side my w650 scrambler one of build,all I need to do now is sell my 300 gts vespa ,low mileage ,anyone no ,hardly used got it when smashed up in military and could not ride only on automatic ,no ,a well ha ha cheers and thanks again for the excellent film
Glad you're enjoying the videos Mickey and thanks for watching along :)
Great series of vids. Nice one Dave
Brilliant series. Thanks for publishing it. I’d be really grateful to know where you got your engine workshop stand from - it looked really useful. Thanks.
Hey, from memory Dave got it from a bike show here in the UK. I think this is the company that sells them: www.newvu.co.uk/classic-bike-parts
Great show Loved it I wish I had
Known you when I was 20 my bsa came in a basket 🧺
A10 was more expensive to produce? I'd have to disagree , they already had the tooling ! Did you read hopwoods book? Don't you think the a50 was a much sweeter machine than the a65 , obviously slower but less vibration , good videos .
Another thumbs up from me. Well done team.
Thanks Brian!
I have 16 frames and a ton of parts rescued from the Christchurch earthquake all A65 and one A70 I will try and build one of each model
Lots of great tips here. Thank You! 👍😊
Thanks Dan :)
Be great if you could do a video on stripping teledraulic forks
Thanks for your feedback Tony. We do keep a note of all the comments and they help us build the channel.
I use assembly lube if the engine is not going to be fired up for a while
What's the best way to rescue and refurbish rusty old bike wheels and OIF frames?
I have a 1955 BSA A7SS and 1976 T140v Bonneville given to me by my Grandfather and Father, both in pretty poor condition from poor storage.
I'm missing quite a few major parts for the BSA, but the Triumph is pretty much complete, so I'm going to start tearing the Triumph down to get the frame stripped and hopefully powder coated, but I've read a lot of negative reports surrounding powder coating OIF frames, with no real solutions offered.
What would you recommend?
Great info! Thank you.
Cheers from the U.S.
Love your stuff..
Subbed!
Awesome David, welcome aboard!
love the content and the methodical approach to mechanical work.
couple of querries (sounds like the Rocky hoor)
1. copperslip, not a persnal choice of mine.purely because of aesthetics I favour nikaslip.Seems to work well so far. Any thoughts on the product?
other question pertains to your blast cabinet. Do you find it big enough and what size compressor runs it
many thanks
drew
Is there a lubricant or anti-seize I can use on my spark plugs when putting them back in place? The spark plugs tend to squeak a little on my new 1964 Triumph TR6...when I screw them back in.
ive got a A65 that jumps out of gear while accelerting in thrid gear, is this common for the A65s? any ideas?
Excellent advice delivered in calm professional manner. Thanks again for sharing your years of experience with us. As far as I am concerned, you should have your own show on Discovery. By the way, just in case you think Beverley is into bike mechanics, I’m using my wife’s computer....I’m not allowed my own in case I look at Norton porn!!!!
Hey BR, yeah, we all assumed you weren't BR. Good that you can take control of your life in that way. Thanks for watching the videos and your nice comments :)
Is wellseal the same as aviation number 3? Looks similar but aviation 3 came in a bottle with a brush on the lid of a bottle the other 1 was dow corning silicone smells like viniger thats what i grew up with loctite 515 is better than avo 3 same thing wont set hard