The mighty BSA (BSA-Suzuki-Allsorts) thread

[iansoady]

I'm not engaging in a full rebuild of this. However, as I think I've mentioned previously, there are a number of aspects that need sorting out before it hits the road. I am still waiting for the Yam 250 V twin to arrive as my transport bloke is very busy...

Anyway, immediate jobs are:

• Make & fit new control cables
• Make & fit replacement breather hoses as the present ones are dripping oil
• Think about whether I need an oil breather catch tank
• Tidy up the wiring
• Rewire handlebar switches - currently the left lower one is the starter, should be horn. The switches are early 1970s Lucas pattern as fitted to Nortons etc.
• Think about a better air filter arrangement - currently a bit heath robinson
• Modify the LH side cover as currently I have to remove the exhaust to get it off(!)
• Make & fit longer battery leads as the current ones are far too short.

For the present I'll keep the rather strange handlebar and footrest arrangement - I may even grow to like it!

[Moto63]

Look forward to seeing your progress Ian when time allows for some photos. Best of luck with it all 👍
Cheers, Michael

[iansoady]

.... you'd never started a job? The new toy has its starter button on the left (Lucas) switch assembly at the bottom where you'd usually find the horn. This, on the other hand, is operated by a corresponding button on the RHS. As my thumb is used to finding the horn on the left, I started what should have been a simple job to swap them over.....

Hours later, with truth tables, connection lists, continuity meters and oily cables all over the place, I'm struggling. The problem is of course where the Suzuki loom mates up (or doesn't) with the Lucas ignition and handlebar switches - which themselves have been modified at some time so the flying leads off them are differently coloured to what my workshop manuals say.

I think I've just about got it cracked but have realised I should have started by taking the switches apart so I could actually see what happens when various buttons are pressed. That'll teach me!

Note the profusion of red wires....

[themoudie]

Aye Ian,

OOOOOO! That looks like a good Fair Isle pattern! 

Is there a fuse in amongst it all and maybe a Zener Diode for good measure? 

I wish you all the best Ian.

Would you also let me know about the SVR250, I missed it!    It is a great shame that both the Honda VTR250 and the Yamaha SVR250 are such rare birds over here, as I think that they could be the answer to my wifes problems, with handling the all up weight of the Honda Bros400 (400lbs), these days.

Good health, Bill

[iansoady]

Hi Bill.

The little Yam is still wending its slow way to me. Hopefully it will arrive this week. My wife is having a hip replacement next weekend so I expect I will be fully occupied with nursing / catering activities for a little while!

[themoudie]

Aye Ian,

May I wish your wife well and a successful recovery? I am sure you'll be a good nurse.

Good health, Bill

[Ian]

I think I'd be tempted to start from scratch with the wiring using Japanese  switches. I'm sure you have it all in hand though Ian. Good luck and best wishes to your wife for a rapid recovery (only so you can get on with bike related issues 😉😱)
IanR

[iansoady]

Thanks for the well wishes.

I think I will do a full rewire but probably next winter as I'd like to get the bike on the road. But I like the Lucas handlebar switches and would like to continue using them. The Suzuki wiring is fairly minimal other than the connections to the CDI unit.

Oh, I'm told the Yam will be here on Thursday morning!

[iansoady]

The Yam arrived as promised and is actually a very cute little machine, looking muxh better in the metal than the videos I've seen. I've just done a couple of jobs on it - fitted indicators (out of the scrap box) on the front, adjusted & lubricated the clutch cable etc - and have just put a gallon of Texaco's finest in and it started up very readily.

I do however hate the vacuum controlled fuel system. There is no "off" position as such (well there is on another tap but you have to take the seat off to get at it). It only has On, Reserve and Prime on the main switch - the latter being a non-vacuum "on" independent of the vacuum. I may in due course ditch the vacuum unit and put a simple on/off tap in its place.

Hopefully I'll get it MoT'd next week.

[iansoady]

Oh no I won't. The vacuum arrangement is the work of the devil, with not only a vacuum operated device on the RHS of the bike but a vacuum controlled tap on the left. And a conventional on/off tap under the back of the tank where you can't get at it.

Oh well, turns out I was right to be suspicious of the vacuum arrangement. I put a gallon of fuel in yesterday, started the engine on Prime (started easily and sounds good) and left the tap on Main. When I went into the garage this morning, guess what? a pool of petrol underneath. Obviously the vacuum tap gadget is passing fuel when it shouldn't. Exactly what I feared. So I'll do my mod of replacing it with a simple on/off tap. When I lifted the air filter housing the front carb was full of petrol as well, so the needle valve in that one at least needs a good looking at. All thi because idle riders can't be bothered to turn the petrol off!

I've stripped both "taps" - see below - and will replace the one on the left of the pic with an ordinary on/off tap feeding the one on the right. I've replaced the vacuum arrangement in that with a simple gasket with a smear of wellseal.

[themoudie]

Aye Ian,

Have to say I am a wee bit green about the SRV, as I would like one.

The fuel taps sound the same as the SRX's and I have never had any problems with them.

However, if the float needle gets stuck and you come to a standstill at traffic lights, the fuel floods all over the hot engine and underslung exhaust pipe and the only way to stop the flow is to turn the engine "OFF" and hope that the whole lot doesn't ignite as it disappears in a cloud of vapourising fuel! 

Fortunately, I was able to turn Sally "OFF" and the vacuum tap worked, as there is no way unless you remove the two bolts at the rear of the fuel tank that you can get to the "ON/OFF" tap in the centre of the underside of the tank to turn that "OFF".

I hope that you are able to get the taps sorted to your liking and can enjoy a canter on the wee beastie.

Good health, Bill

[iansoady]

Well nobody said it would be easy....

I guessed that the petrol would have got into the cylinders so turned the engine over with the plugs out (by turning the back wheel in gear - I'm not daft enough to use the starter) and was rewarded(?) by a spurt of petrol from each plug hole. But if it's got into the cylinders then it must have got into the oil as well? So dive underneath only to find the sump plug has been cruelly hacked about. I'm starting to realise why the PO wanted shot of it.

Of course said plug is lurking between frame tubes and convoluted exhaust pipes so is a bugger to get at - no chance of stillsons or mole grips. I've left it alone for the time being while I ponder.

Bill - you may not want one after all. There may be a red one at a knockdown price soon.......

[iansoady]

Giving up for the time being on the Yam. I thought if I could get the offside exhaust off I'd have more fiddle room but of course the allen screws holding it on are rusted solid and rounded off. I expect I'll have to drill them out. What other horrors await....

To partially restore my sanity and return this thread to its original topic I made a new clutch cable for the BSA. Very satisfying even though I'd ordered the wrong size inner and had to search my bag of spare cable bits to find the right one. At this rate it will be hitting the road before the Yam, which wasn't the plan.....

[themoudie]

Aye Ian,

Bill - you may not want one after all. There may be a red one at a knockdown price soon.......

 

OH! Maybe I shoudn't lust after one, but I could be tempted as both Sally and the Monoshock were very disappointing after purchase.

Sally came home fine, with a ride up from Manchester to Perth and all was well with the world. That was until I went to start it the next morning and the rattle from the bore was like a flamenco dancer on speed, playing the castanets!    So, engine strip, to find that the oil pick-up filter in the bottom of the sump and only accessible by splitting the crankcases, was half full of cotton fibres from using cotton waste to wipe up spills when changing the oil. Also, the oil pump seals (not a standard size and not available on their own!  ) were hardened, so machined the seal seats to take standard size seals available off the shelf. 54K miles later the old bird started heavy breathing, but with no rattles and a cloud behind like a Bantam on overun.   

The Monoshock came home from Aviemore, without a problem, apart from only having 14psi in the front tyre, until rectified and a new MoT, less than a week old. Next day started it up and after warming through the rumble from the nearside main bearing up to 3,500rpm was loud! The PO was on chemo and not expected to see the end of the year and I'm too soft ......    A tide mark through the engine at main bearing level, from condensation and similar faults as those seen in Sally's pick-up and oil pump, resulted in a £1K engine rebuild that I did myself, plus paintwork. To add insult to injury, I find the handling a bit "lardy" when compared to Sally or the Duke, it's those wide profile tyres.

Here's hoping Bertie Bassett proves a better purchase and that you can sort the SRV, without too much ado.

Good health, Bill

[iansoady]

So I'll bite the bullet and drill out the cap head screws holding the exhaust on. Fortunately there is a short curved section which actually bolts on to the rear head so I won't be risking breaking / stripping anything that would need access to that head as it's a pig to get to. Enthusiasm waning slightly.....