Greetings from Michigan (1st post)

[The General]

Hi All,

First, I want to thank Sigma for accepting my registration.

I found the forum while looking for some parts for my 62 Super Rocket.
I have spent many hours looking over the pages of posts.
You all have such beautifully restored bikes.
What a great place for tech info and knowledge!

I noticed most posts are short so I'll try to fit in.
I'll give some info about myself and bike in the next few days.
Keep up the great work!!

[Richard]

Hi there
I look forward to reading your posts
Richard

[muskrat]

G'day TG, welcome. Tell us more. How far along with the '62 are you ?
Cheers

[a10gf]

Welcome, and looking forward to posts & photos. See Forum Info & Help about picture posting etc.

btw, sigma is just an email alias, and sorry for the registration formalities, me an co-moderator LJ. do our best to let the good guys in, and to keep the bad guys out (maybe the forum equivalent to night-club bouncers )

[Richard]

which one is LJ?
Richard

[LJ.]

Welcome aboard General... Do we salute you when you post? ;-)

Seriously... Looking forward to your participation and bikes photos... Enjoy the forum!

Edit:

which one is LJ?

The toughest one! ;-)

[a10gf]

the one with the dark glasses !
(sorry for the offtopic)
-----------------------

General wrote:

What a great place for tech info and knowledge!

Thanks for the comments.

[The General]

Thanks for the warm welcome.(No saluting required LJ).

Here is a little bit about me and my A10.

I was born in Michigan in 1952.
My first bike was a 1961 Honda CD90 at age 13 or 14.
Didn't have a drivers licence, only rode it around the neighbors fields at first.
In the summer of 1969 I bought a brand new Honda CB175.
When I turned 19 I felt like I was "man enough for a BIG bike" (650 was a big bike back then).
I found a 1962 Super Rocket for sale.
Traded my Honda 175 and some cash, and I was the new owner.
Going from 175cc to a 650cc was a big jump.
That was on January 10 1972, wrong time of the year for a bike in Michigan.
That next summer my joy turned to sorrow, that ten year old bike blew up a cylinder.
It had a bad vibration and it cracked around the base of the jugs.
So I tore it down myself and found it had a bad bushing on the crank too.
A local BSA dealer had a new cylinder on his shelf.
That was just about the time when BSA dealers were closing down.
I felt very lucky to find a new jug for an A10.

That's all for now, I'll add to the story later today.
Pictures too!

[alanp]

Welcome to the forum. Mention of Michigan reminds me of many years ago I was in Green Bay and I borrowed a colleague's wife's Shadow and rode it up to Upper Michigan. Great days and I recall as we went over a state border (must have been Wisconsin/Upper Michigan) we took our crash helmets off and experienced that old 50's feeling of wind in the hair. A little less left nowadays though.

[The General]

Thanks alanp. Ya, the helmet laws are still here.

A little more about my A10;

While the crank was out for regrind I decided I wanted to ...
Dare I say it???  I hesitate...   But here goes...
I wanted to chop it, DOH there I said it.
Well, I was young and dumb but in 1973 it was the trend.

Did all the work myself:
A 5.00 x 16" rear wheel laced to the original brake.
Replaced the shocks with 3" shorter struts (lowered the rear).
Custom ribbed rear fender, sissy bar, and cats eye brake light.
Cobra seat, Chrome rear foot pegs.
Custom horn mounted between battery and air cleaner.
2 gal peanut tank, "TT" exhaust pipes.
Removed the center stand.
Custom chrome extended side kick stand
Pull back bars in rubber mount risers.
Custom speedometer, sealed beam headlight.
14" extended front end from D&D Springer (later became known as Jammer Products).
17" Avon tire on a Hallcraft front wheel.
Hurst/Airheart hydraulic small disk brake.
No frame modifications except removed the original tank mount and steering lock.
Filled in the neck area and painted everything red.

Basically, there is not much of the original bike there anymore.
Here are a couple pics of it from 1973 (disk brake not on it there).

More story & current pics tomorrow.

[trevinoz]

General,
                I hope you kept all the bits and pieces.
That chopper must have been a pig to ride!
Trev.

[muskrat]

The HEART is still a "A". Looks great.
Cheers

[tombeau]

When a bike turns up like that, there will be many people saying "Don't change a thing"...actually they'll be using strange words like "Awesome dude. old Skool.Man.B*tch*n. Rad. Don't change a thing, just ride that m*th*r"
If you still have it in that state. It is a remarkable time capsule, like a genuine '60's cafe racer, rather than a modern interpretation of one...and dare I say it..more interesting than a concours restoration.
Welcome aboard.
Cheers,
Iain

[Beezageezauk]

Hi there General,

If I could just add my welcome comments to you.  As you will have realised by now, this is a nice friendly forum and I'm sure that you will enjoy the banter on here as much as you will enjoy riding your bike.

Keep the story of the bike ongoing!!

Beezageezauk.

[The General]

Thanks for the comments. Here's the final bits of the story;

I rode my chopper until 1982 then bought a 1977 Sportster.
I stored the BSA, I would start it up once in a while.
One year it didn't start so it just sat there from then on.
In 1994 the building that the Sportster was in burned down.
The A10 had been stored in another building.
Didn't ride at all after the fire.

I'm self employed and don't have much work anymore, so last Fall (08) I decided to fix
up the old bike. I intended on selling it.
It needed paint,a battery, a generator and some TLC.
Pulled the plugs.. they looked good. Checked the points... nearly new.
Carb was full of gas varnish, tank too.
I used lots of Gum Out and some acid in the tank to remove the rust.
I put in some fresh gas, kicked it three times and it was running!
It had not been started in at least 15 years!! (stored in a heated building).
Rode it around the yard and began to get the old feeling back, you know what I mean, used to call it bike fever.
I decided that I had the bike for all these years how could I possibly part with it.
So, last winter I tore it down to the frame and gave it a new color.
The motor had only about 4000 miles on it since the rebuild, so I didn't touch it.
Found a new 6v battery at a Harley dealer on sale for $5.00.
Found a NOS armature for the generator on EBay.
Put it all together and licenced it this year for the first time since 1982.

All my biker buddies have Harleys, I couldn't believe how much interest my
old bike has brought from the Harley crowd.
I pulled into a local bikers event with some friends of mine.
There must have been a couple hundred bikes there mostly stock Harleys.
As soon as I parked many people began to motate my way (mostly younger fellows).
Taking pictures and asking many questions, like "What is that?", "What year is it?" etc.
Not many custom bikes around this area any more. No BSA around here at all.
I felt like a kid again, guess you could call it my second childhood.

Rode a lot this summer, didn't have a bit of trouble.
90% of the time it starts first kick!
It handles great, not squirrely at low speed, doesn't "flop" at stop lights.
Rock solid going down the road.
I run 12 lbs in the rear tire that gives a little cushion for the bumps.
I have given some thought to a sprung seat, not sure yet.

Cold weather has come, so last week I decided to tear down the tranny.
I had never had it apart, doesn't look too bad but needs a few parts.

trevinoz, no I didn't keep the parts. 37 years ago I didn't know it would be a rare item.
Now it is hard to find parts in the US.
I went to a yearly national swap meet.. not a single A10 there and only three A65s!
Can't afford to buy the stuff to restore it.
Tough times here in Michigan for many people. (I've been out of work for almost two years).

Here are some pics as it is now.

[muskrat]

GOODONYA TG. Great to see you still enjoying it after all those years. A fine piece of art. I can't recall ever seeing a BSA chop down here. Keep your eye out at swap meets for your LOST bits, you can be lucky sometimes when the vendor doesn't know what they have or it's worth. Chin up things will turn around, it doesn't cost much to go for a carefree ride.
Cheers

[mrshells]

Hiya Frenchy welcome to the forum
Love the forks are they Alloy ?

[rocket man]

welcome General to the forum your bike reminds me of
easy rider it looks cool the way it is and i also like the yellow



dave