Mock-up #1 with frame , engine , tank & seat. See it coming back together really stirs emotions knowing I was the last person to put put fuel in her and the last person to ride it ! For the forty plus years it was gone and I knew it was there , but also made no attempts to retrieve it. Didn’t think he would sell it back to me. Anyway it’s home , tucked in , warm and safe!. Building 2 BSAs now , the 500 TT bike wil be done and the 250 will be very close to done by this time next year. I won’t call it important but I will say these 2 bikes will make me whole again when they are finished. One to ride on Sundays and one to race on Fridays. Tracker fills the rest in , raising hell all over town the rest of the week !           Echoing Evil Laughter

The bike I imagine Rutt working on.

Reality - we may never know, since he never posts any pictures!!! (I would swear, but the site censors)  

Nothing quite that extreme just a complete and thorough build. Somewhat stock , keeping stock appearance. Back in time a bit from the height of popularity to bankruptcy , absolutely British styling at its best. But I would build a CX 500/650 , I like the engine. They make great projects.

Pulled the yellowed paper towels out of the ports , pushed it thru a rotation or two with the kick starter. A tad stiff but real good for 40+ yr sleep. Shine a bright light into ports , I definitely ported it , looks great , she’s ready for a 30mm carb for sure. I may just clean & polish key pieces and run it. See what kind of wrench I was way back when.

Oh she gets the best of care and the best of whatever she needs. I can’t screw this up , it’s my retirement bike. Just a pokey little 250 for the backroads. I don’t remember exactly how fast it was but eighty wasn’t a problem just took awhile to gather all that speed up. Just a nice exhaust & carb after that I’ll live with whatever she can muster up. Some stable suspension and some Dunlops , she will handle fine. Not to mention some very refined 650 brakes to handle coming in hot ! My 52 yr old vintage BSA will be a solid mount. She will run again ,    

Low & slow , stock rear shocks are 13” and will replace with 320mm=12.6” and lowering sleeves/blocks will lower it .800” and quicken the steering a tad bit. I want crank shaft below axles , a nice low COG for ease of handling. Thought about running a 17” in the rear and a 18” in front to further lowering it but have decided to keep 18” rear and 19” front for appearances.  Aluminum triple clamps and fuel tank and rims and rear sprocket all shave weight in comparison to their steel/cast iron counterparts. I’m using Triumph 650 sliders that also shave weight from BSA sliders and look better all polished , more for looks than weight reduction but I’ll take it. It’s not a quest to lighten it , things just happen to work out that way. I’ll be happy no matter how much final weight is cause there is not much left but to drill holes in everything and that’s not my style. Anything south of 275 lbs would just make the smile bigger and maybe the bike a tad faster ! Investigating some different powder coaters in an effort for high quality & better prices but I will be using the same painter. Also still haven’t settled on the fenders aluminum (lighter) or polished stainless shiny n sexy , a bit heavier. They will be from Speedwell Mud Guards(made in the UK) the best fenders you can put on a British road turd like this. I gotta be crazy for building this bike and even crazier to want to keep and ride it , forever.    

Trying to give it the Brit look as well. I actually found a big wide set of mx bars with the big curve in the cross bar. Very cool Brit look but super expensive too. American mx bars have the straight cross bar. But this is a street scrambler not so much of dual purpose so im keeping the 34” flat track bars with the low bend. Some chrome non oem switches and maybe a set of those handlebar turn signals that go at the end of the bar. Nothing set in stone yet but I am using the stock Lucas headlight and a non oem Lucas taillight. No junk , every piece quality , all tastefully done. A single chrome mirror , no tach or speedo , when you look down lots of shiny , absolutely no crap on the bars. NO cel phone holders,chargers of any kind , no crap !
I would hope an Englishman would find it well done and want to take her down the lane for a spin ! Close to 39” wide with those bar end turn signals not a lane splitter , that’s for sure. Was investigating a 280cc big bore kit , cause that’s what I do , but decided against it ! While she should run real good as is l just can’t modify the old girl , just carb and exhaust and I’ll be more than happy with whatever she can muster. Big bore leads to cam , cam leads to modified valves and head. Keep it simple I have to remember what I am building and not overdue it. Tasteful , light , low and slow , what an odd combination of goals to shoot for.

Hay Ruttly

I seem to remember Dave is working on a British version/looking LS650 !  

I'm itching to see what it looks like .   Some of them old British Singles from the 50's and 60's had a lot of Charm to them !  
Well , in my eyes anyway !!  

https://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/BSA/BSA%20B40.htm

This one is the same size and HP as my modern 350 !    
But
The have the gear shifter on the wrong side ?