The cause of the BSA's demise was shedding of its main bearings, with plenty of damage to follow. An SRM rebuild was next on the agenda, the bike then running well for a couple of years until the mad bugger bought himself a big Vinnie twin! The Rocket was up for sale and I decided I wanted it. Mine for a very reasonable 1750 notes with plenty of engine parts thrown in.
Luckily, by then the motor had evolved into a reasonably reliable and tough state, along with the SRM rebuild there was electronic ignition and a new Amal Mk. 2 carb and manifold. Even with the SRM rebuild, it would be a foolish owner who topped the ton for anything other than the most minimal of excursions; even more than 90mph was pushing it, though at 80-85mph in top gear the engine had a settled into a melodic feel that gave the impression of being absolutely bullet-proof. Push any harder, though, and those famous primary vibes attacked the whole structure (and the rider!) with the vigour of an out of tune pile-driver.
One reason the bike weighed in excess of 400Ibs was that it needed heftiness in its structure to counter the vibration. Even then, push the old dear hard, both the oil and petrol tanks would thrum away viciously enough to froth their contents. The one time I did the ton for half an hour, as well as the double vision vibration, the engine gave off sufficient heat to pass for an out of control nuclear reactor and the motor began to go into a series of stutters - either lube or fuel breaking down, metal expanding out of control or a combination of all three! No permanent damage resulted but it felt so out of kilter that it wasn't a trick I repeated.
It was 1994 when the bike came into my hands. We had every reason to believe that the 78807 miles on the mileometer was genuine. The age showed itself in the mostly original chassis components fading away and rust poking through in many places. Even the suspension was largely original, the forks having been rebuilt a few times - along with the SLS front brake, there was a strong inhibition with regards to speeding that boded well for engine longevity!
Being a bit of a perfectionist, I decided that a complete respray and re-chrome were most definitely in order. The fact that the winter weather was turning very nasty was, of course, mere coincidence. A sign of how well maintained the bike had been by its various owners (eight including me), the ease with which spindles and bearings popped out of the chassis - and their general good order. New Girling shocks, yet stiffer fork springs, a rebuilt TLS shoe front wheel (necessary because the majority of cagers just didn't have a clue) and a few yards of wiring (as the electrical system had begun to play up) were the only new bits necessary. The rest was just hard graft cleaning her up, some art with a spray gun and a relation who conveniently worked in a plating shop!
Just as the birds began to twitter loudly in March, the bike was fit for the open road. It immediately disgraced itself by rolling to a halt about ten miles from home. Panic! What had I done wrong? Not much, just not left sufficient free play in the wiring - when the bars turned sharply the wires had pulled out of their connectors.
I hadn't done much to the engine, just a good service and full oil flushing - it was running fine, best left alone apart from 500 mile maintenance sessions. In its new finery it was a real head turner and seemed to run with new found sleekness - though that was probably all in my mind! At this juncture, the BSA had become my sole means of transport, a critical source of wheels as I live in the remoter parts of the Dales!
Country roads were what the Rocket was made for. With its improved suspension, stability was excellent but it needed a little bit of muscle to hustle through the corners. The stands had long been modded to increase ground clearance over the stock bike, now well matched to the Avons' grip - go over far enough to grind something, you'd fall off the edge of the tyres.
The old SLS drum front brake had been an edifying experience insofar as it tested the strength of my heart and bowel muscles! Its one area of superiority was in mild braking, especially on wet roads, when retardation was so controllable that I avoided plenty of dangerous situations. The TLS front drum had racing linings, was a fierce old thing that had my heart in my mouth the first time I used it in the wet! The old twin cylinder motor had engine braking like a kick in the kidneys, though it made the primary chain clack away ominously, and, with the mild back brake, provided a safer alternative when it was raining.
The front anchors were forgiven their wet weather horribleness as soon as I had to pull up sharply in the dry. Squealed the front tyre, no problem. If I hadn't rebuilt the front forks, they would've been shaking in the yokes. You wouldn't believe some of the antics of the Sunday drivers up here - literally in another world. A few months later, with the summer heat beginning to bum up the road surface, I dodged around a caravan, the bike up to 90mph, only to find another one hurtling towards me. I had to really hammer the brakes, twitch the bike back on to the right side of the road, and let them off again pronto (to avoid being back-ended!). I made it by about a millimetre.
The BSA's gait is stately rather than race-bred, it doesn't really like being ridden like that! Sure enough, two miles down the road it conked out! Sat there sulking for about ten minutes until I'd almost expired from the effort on the kickstart! It fired on a final desperate kick and settled down to a moderate tickover as if asking what all the fuss had been about? At that moment, Joe-Caravaneer rolls up, judders to a halt in front of the bike and careers out of his cage! By the time he'd finished with the ear-bashing he was beetroot red. He reckoned I'd almost given him a heart attack when I'd appeared out of nowhere! Dozy bugger!
The only way to get away from these idiots is to take the bike off up some very minor trails that aren't wide enough for a cage. The gearbox didn't offer a ratio that was ideal for this kind of work, it was either slugging it away in top with a questionable level of vibration (the major question, its effect on my marital tackle!) or doing about 3000 revs in third which just didn't feel right - these kind of bikes, you get the mill into top at the first opportunity and try to stick with it come what may! There's sufficient torque to get away with such antics but just beyond tickover the bike judders away harshly until another 1000 revs clears it up.
The Rocket hustles along motorways at a stately 85mph, just sufficient to stay with the slow lane crowd. The odd bit of extra acceleration is OK for short bursts and there's enough power to push her along at well past the ton if some desperate speed is needed to avoid caged antics. Not really recommended, though, and 85mph cruising turns in about 45mpg against a normal 55-60mpg. Oil also disappears rapidly.
The bike went through the 100000 mile barrier without much ado but thereafter needed a top end rebuild, both valves and their seats, pistons and bores in a bad way - oddly the engine had run well until the final 100 miles, or so. Parts availability is good but prices keep on going up every year. The engine's easy to work on if sometimes fiddly - getting the pushrods to line up for instance. I did the rebuild in about a week but all was not well.
At first I thought the smoke burning and poor acceleration were down to the need for a good running in period but they were even worse after 500 miles, though the motor sounded fine and vibration levels were just as good or bad (depending on what you're used to) as before. After consulting a couple of experts, the piston rings were the prime suspect. Pattern stuff that just didn't work as they were supposed to. With those sorted, things were back to normal and the BSA ran very nicely.
It now has 138000 miles on the clock, though for the past year I've been using a Honda XBR500 as my basic means of transport. The BSA had to have a complete gearbox rebuild at 121000 miles - maybe its first! The main bearings have just started to rumble, so another complete rebuild is probably in order but I really love the old dear and don't begrudge the cost or effort needed. A unique blend of fun and practicality, with an ever rising resale value - can't be bad, can it?
Doug Wilson