A few weeks later I was allowed a go at the controls of the restored machine. Starting needed a very firm boot, although the bike had a 12V conversion and Boyer electronic ignition. God knows what the original motor was like, needing careful setting of the advance/retard and only offering a marginal output from its magneto. It came to life on the third kick, not bad for a first attempt. Anyone not used to British thumpers would immediately have switched off! The engine vibrated, rattled and knocked as if it was about to explode, whilst the exhaust growled and thudded like an out of control pneumatic drill.
The whole bike shook in sympathy with the engine's fight with the combustion process, a strong tendency to skip across the car park. The owner looked on benignly, indicating that all this was quite normal, nothing to worry about. The clutch lever was a knuckle buster but I managed to get it all the way back; the gear change was on the wrong side and worked the wrong way around, needed a hefty bit of footwork to engage with a minor bang.
Hadn't the engine been so soft in its delivery of power I would've stalled it, so viciously and suddenly did the clutch engage. Saved by the thudding torque that soon had us careering out of the car park and thence the open road. Flat, narrow bars needed a manly tug to turn the beast, which then had a tendency to overreact, turn harder than I actually wanted. The owner was probably a bit worried by then, especially after I lost my way in the box, trying to use the brake lever to change gear!
Second finally found, the bike gaining a bit of velocity, into third, everything smoothing out nicely - well, my eyeballs had settled down! A couple of bends despatched without trauma, a long straight. Open her out, then. Thud, thud, thud... the bars didn't exactly pop out of my hands but it moved with a body shaking lurch and soon put 60mph on the clock. Up to fourth, 70mph! Big, long stroke, singles thrum away to a wild degree when pressed; didn't take me long to back off.
Up ahead I could see some snaky bends. Engine braking was pretty harsh, speed falling fast. Still, the hairpin didn't look like a 50mph job to me, so I squeezed the front lever. The half width, SLS front drum looked like it might pass muster in one of those heavyweight push-bikes and reacted as you might expect. Despite almost spraining my wrist there was hardly any braking force.
Into the bend at about 45mph, running wide and then throwing the bike over, trying to straighten it out a bit but it wasn't a happy bunny. The tyres were square cut Avon-imitators of Chinese origin and squirmed once a few degrees off the vertical. The suspension reacted to the slightly bumpy surface as if it wanted to detach itself from the frame. Throughout all the weaves and wobbles, though, the bike just about held its line - the centre of gravity of an old style thumper is very low, which makes for a basically safe ride!
Turned her around and rode back, somewhat more sedately. The owner could tell from my face that the experience had been far from religious. I listed all the things I found wrong with it, eliciting a grimace when I mentioned 70mph! I was still interested in the bike but he wanted two grand and it didn't have enough practicality for me to justify that kind of money. He did mention that it did 75mpg and that all the consumables lasted for tens of thousands of miles.
I was allowed to ride the bike for a long weekend. The wife was placed on the pillion, we set forth for Leeds from Birmingham. Quite a ride for a forty year old motorcycle but back roads and mild speeds were the name of the game. Thudding through the English countryside, the sun shining brightly and the wife giggling from the vibes... it was a nice day out. The next day was all rain and winds but the bike was a stalwart old thing, stood its ground and got us home, albeit wet and cold. The wife was surprisingly enthusiastic...
The owner was a BSA fanatic, had a couple of the big twins and a garage full of spares. He eventually admitted that he'd made up the M33 from lots of different parts, but added that he hadn't actually skimped in any areas. I wanted proper tyres and a later TLS front end, all of which he had in his garage. I still wouldn't pay two grand, but we both seemed happy with eighteen hundred quid.
A10 forks were mated to an A65 TLS front drum, then attached to the front of the M33. The drum was designed to stop a heavier 110mph twin, had bags of braking power when applied to the 70mph speed of the 500cc thumper. So much so that the forks seemed to shake the headstock, the frame made from what looked like bicycle tubing.
As mentioned, the only thing that saved it from serious nastiness was the way the engine was very lowly mounted in the chassis, though that did mean it had a minimal amount of suspension travel. Bumpy country lanes shook me out of the saddle, gave my spine a real battering. A disappointment, as the riding position and saddle were intrinsically comfortable.
The engine also thrummed at all revs though it was never really dire unless the bike was pushed beyond 70mph. The motor was similar to the B33s, which in turn had a lot in common with the infamous Gold Star. While the latter engine managed 40 horses, at the price of excessive vibration and an early death, the milder motors made little more than half that! |
So mildly tuned that they could keep going and going, though most ended up being rebuilt. My motor was re-engineered to a degree - electronic ignition, alternator replacing the dynamo and magneto, rubber belt primary drive conversion, lead-free valves and alloy rocker valve gear.
That all added up to smoother running, easier starting and better economy. That said, it certainly was a long way from being civilised compared to even the more primitive Japanese singles, like the SR500. But I wasn't looking for some plain vanilla motorcycle, wanted something full of character that required a degree of effort and concentration to ride properly!
So far so good... 4500 miles, no major problems and plenty of ideas about how to improve the bike and mould it to my needs. Amongst other joys, riding an old British motorcycle brings you into contact with all kinds of characters and offers of motorcycles...
Thus did it come to pass that I was offered a BSA B40, 1962 vintage. Only 343cc, unit construction, 20 horses, pretty much as it came out of the factory but 23000 miles and somewhat faded despite the one owner. I was surprised by the amount of go on offer, the easy way the revs were wrung out of the wee beastie and also the ease with which it could be slung through the bends. We swapped back, I felt I'd gone back twenty years even though there was only a few years between their manufacture. I consoled myself with the excessive torque of the 500cc thumper. The B40's owner wanted three grand for what was viewed as a totally utilitarian motorcycle and though totally original about due for some serious attention. We agreed to differ in our views, but that didn't stop us enjoying many rides together.
I was usually two-up, but that made little difference to the M33's performance, and I had difficulty keeping up with the smaller single's acceleration but we were both happy cruising at 65mph. The modified M33 was much better braked, the B40 easier to sling through the bends. On smooth roads there wasn't that much difference but throw in some bumps, the M33 had to slow down or end up in an hedge! With the wife on board I wasn't going to chance it. Every time she got off the bike, she was red of face and giggling like a teenager... improved the old sex life no end!
A few more rides on the B40 followed. I got quite carried away, accelerating out of corners like a boy racer, only backing off when the top end began to ring! Its top speed was 80mph, the vibes quite as fierce as the exhaust note. I was doing this with the owner riding my M33, was shocked to look in the mirror and find him still on my tail - God knows what the vibes were like on that bike!
We pulled over, the engines clacking away as they cooled down, heat wafting up off them and oil dribbling out of the cylinders’ gaskets. A couple of cigarettes later, the motors were back to normal and we continued at a more moderate pace. Must've been reading all those Malone stories of trying to blow up venerable British tackle that finally got to us.
It didn't take the B40's owner long to suss out that a similar front end to mine would do wonders for his handling. A visit to the old M33's owner was in order and he happily sorted him out for a hundred notes. He also offered a CCM motor, which is based on the B44 engines, themselves not that different to the C15. However, this couldn't be heard, and cost 500 quid. Too chancey! At least when the B40 showed every sign of keeping on running - valves, gearbox and even main bearings were supposedly dicey on this model but this one had survived intact.
With the new TLS front brake and better forks, the B40 wasn't seen again if my friend was in a bad mood, taking the M33 on the straights and curves. Mostly, though, we didn't push the bikes that hard, preferred to form of a procession of old British tackle, the different rhythms of the thumpers somehow in tune with each other, as well as the English countryside.
The M33 isn't the first machine that comes to mind as an all-rounder rather than a weekend toy on which to wallow in nostalgia. However, on Avon tyres it was nicely secure on wet roads and it had mudguards that actually kept the rain off the machine and the rider. It was mildly amusing to thud through town, the loud, odd blast out of the exhaust confusing everyone where was the tank? Yes, the 75mpg was true, though only if it was kept under 65mph - 70mph brought it down to 60mpg! The valves starting to bounce or just bad combustion?
New engine parts are expensive, much better to buy a spare motor for a couple of hundred quid. Chassis parts are rare-ish but most of them can be improved upon with later parts, though that ultimiately devalues the bike. Keep the old stuff for when you want to sell the bike to a collector. Electrics, brakes, tyres and front suspension all need to be upgraded to cope with modem road conditions, especially if the bike is going to be ridden for more than Sunday outings.
That's one of the strange things about the British bike scene. The more a bike is modified to suit modem riding, the more value it loses! Some totally original, so-called classic would fetch twice as much as mine but be half as useful on the road! Silly, but that's life.
Donald Thomas