56 Gold flash resto

[wackyone]

Well at last some free time to start the project, With the help of Steve (The Rocker) we got stuck into it today
pushed her up on the ramp and away we went  
It all seems to be in good condition, even the petrol tank !
Hardest thing was getting the swinging arm out, shaft in the silent blocks would not move one bit  
Cant wait to try and fit new blocks !
Any way heres a few pics of the days work

[muskrat]

 G'day Wackyone,
                        you don't mess around. That was the easy part, now the real work begins, remembering where it all went. LOL.
 Just one question. The fork sliders look to be later with the central studs and "Y" mudguard bracket. Could these be early A65?
 It caught my eye as I just purchased a '64 A65A (no tank, side covers or front guard) so was looking on the net for those bits.
Cheers

[trevinoz]

Musky,
               They are post '59 standard A forks. I think the A65 used the same.
If my eyes are not deceiving me, I think that is a Triumph front hub.

  Trev.

[muskrat]

Thanks Trev, yes I see. I just dug out my '60-'61 parts book. Same #'s as the '64 A65.
Cheers

[wackyone]

We took 35 pics of the strip for something to refer to on the rebuild, the forks are the wrong type for her age and we have already been collecting parts (hopefully correct) over the last 18 months for the rebuild.
I have got hold of a half width front hub with all the brake bits, a set off very good condition mudguards with brackets, some complete forks, Toolbox without dents etc
only things to find now are the correct handle bar levers and mounts, horn and dip switch and some new exhausts (another empty bank account )
The first job will be getting the swingarm bushes out and It looks like thats going to be some fun as we had to cut the shaft to get it out from the frame !
The start of a very long road I think but I think shes worth every hour and cant wait to ride her for the first time, Only ever been on japanese bikes up to now 

[wackyone]

Any clues on the front wheel, possible t120 triumph ? Anybody want one ?

[KiwiGF]

Hello I also have a 56 gf I'm restoring pics of which are in the members section I did not get my parts first so things are going slow on mine

My frame was a bit battered so I decided to paint it myself not get it powder coated and that has consumed huge amounts of time (and enthusiasm)

Im not sure if you after originality but the 56 model year should have Ariel brake hubs?

Are you sure it is a 56? I have had my frame and engine nos checked against the BSA despatch records they are shown below if that helps

[KiwiGF]

Hi I just noticed yr pic of the frame number and I reckon the frame no being CA7 8xxx is for a 55 model year others will no doubt correct me if I'm wrong!

Ariel hubs were on 56 not 55 so ignore my previous post

[wackyone]

We have got the dispatch records for her and dating cert, you are correct she left the factory in november 55
but was first registered in march 56 which leads me to calling her a 56 model ? some say its a 55 ? who knows ?
not me  the brakes are half width for the front and QD hub on the rear ( again I think ) but it would be nice to have it
rubber stamped by somebody 

[MG]

Hi wacky!  

It definitely is 1954/55 spec. It has the mounting and stop for the Goldie-type rear brake lever, 1956 brought the Ariel hubs with cross-over linkage, and an additional cable bracket on the rhs rear frame loop, yours doesn't have that (due to lhs rod operation on the rear brake).
So half width front (8inch) and QD rear are correct.

I can't see details of your swing arm and rear chain cover, those changed for 1956 as well. The chain cover for 1956 onwards was shorter at the front (and the front part of the fully enclosed chain guard was fitted over the gearbox sprocket), and the attachment points for the chain cover and the brake torque arm on the swing arm are different. Looks correct on the last photo you posted though.

edit: speaking of it, the inner primary chaincase seems to be the later type, since it has the mounting hole for the afore mentioned front chaincase part (pic no. 3)  
No need to run and search for a new one though, that's the only difference afaik.
Your bike being manufactured in late 1955 could also have been a mixture of parts from new. The 1956 model year would have started in August 1955 already, but BSA would also use up old stock of parts and use whatever is at hand.

Cheers, Markus

[KiwiGF]

I know you have a factory despatch record cert but there is info out there that suggests your frame number would have gone on an early 55 model ie despatched in 54

Supposedly the frame number year indicator switched over in august after the factory restarted after the summer holiday break but that is inconsistent with your bike being ca7 prefix and my bike having a ea7 prefix but both being despatched late 55

I've seen documents which state the ca7 prefix was used for 54 and 55 bikes and the 55 bikes frame nos started at 7001 so if that is correct (and that is if!) your bike would be about the 1500th made after aug 54 much the same as my 56 model was about the 1700th made after aug 55 and was despatched dec 55 to a dealer called victor horsman in Liverpool

But who's to say the published info is right and of course any bike could have been made one year and despatched in another for a number of reasons particularly I guess when orders were being completed for the Aussie and nz market

[wackyone]

heads in a spin now Kiwi 
54/55/56 ? You chaps dont half know your stuff !
I dont have the first idea on the fine details but will stick with it and try to learn 
Im going to stick with 56 for the insurance as thats what the dvla over here have it down as

[bikerbob]

Hi there.
Now is the time to decide wether you want a bike that is as far as possible original or you just want a nice looking bike to ride. If you want originality then your first step should be to contact the dating officer at the BSA owners club who will tell you when the bike was dispatched and to whom, also he will tell you if your engine was with that frame when it left the factory. I am a member of the BSA owners club and have used the dating officer a number of times for info about bikes that I have restored and each time I have found out exactly what you need to know before you get to involved. If you wish to contact him about your bike you will have to supply him with the frame and engine numbers also you will have to give him pencil rubbings of each number these are required to try and eliminate fraud. Also as a non-member you will have to also give him a cheque for £10 payable to the "BSAOC Library account" also include a SAE. His contact details are Steve Foden 113 Holmville Road Bebington, Wirral CH63 2PX. I would advise you to contact him as £10 is a small price to pay to have the correct info about your bike you may also wish to join the BSA owners club as this would give access to the relevant technical consultant for any in depth info about your restoration. The annual subs is  £23 for new members and renewal is £18 also you get a magazine every month.

[trevinoz]

Wacky,
                The front wheel you have is a Triumph 8" brake type which was fitted to T110, TR6, T120 from about 1958/9 to around 1966. I may be corrected by more knowledgable blokes.
Your frame is definitely 1955 and fairly early at that as they started at 7001.
Maybe your frame was at the back of the shed and was one of the last to be used.
A comparison of your engine number to the years production may give some clues.
It seems that the frames were used at random, not in numerical order.

  Trev.

[KiwiGF]

Hi Wackyone as the others say dating yr bike is important only if you are after originality, my bike was sold to me as a 57 (when it was first registered I think) but I can also say my bike was made in 55.   

I'm about to attempt to it new silent blocs by the way - it's next on my list. I've made up some 16mm I,D, steel bushes that will push on the outer tube of the blocs without damaging the inner tube as that sticks out about 3mm  - I'm going to use 16mm threaded studding to apply the force but if that does not work I know someone with a large press......   

I recently got my BSA factory despatch cert from the VMCC UK and as the NZ BSA Motorcycle Owners Club is an affiliated member of the VMCC we get half price certificates at 8 pounds each inc postage. The VMCC (who I have been told were given the original BSA records by the British science museum not that long ago) ask for  photo of the bike and a close up of the numbers in an email.

One "interesting" thing about the despatch record a least for my bike is that the record does include the year prefix i.e. just the engine number and frame number, not the EA7 part of the numbers, which I guess makes finding the correct factory record reliant on a reliable source of the prefix versus model years. 

[bikerbob]

Hi there
I still maintain that for any marque of bike the owners club is the way to go. I give you my experience, some 16 years ago I bought a basket case with dating certificate from the VMCC that stated that the engine and frame numbers were both 1957 and I restored it as a Gold Flash as near as I could to  original but when I joined the  owners club I found out that in fact the frame is early 1956 and the engine is 1957 also the frame left the factory as a Shooting Star, in those days I did not know the differences between the frames. It is registered with the DVLA as a 1957 Gold Flash. I have just restored a BSA A65 1963 and the info I got from the owners club is quite detailed  the bike is all original it left the factory in October 1962 dispatched to a dealer in Bristol but sold originally by a different dealer and was first registered in June 1963 also the engine was with that bike when it left the factory and it was blue in colour.

[KiwiGF]

Hi BikerBob I agree with everything you said and thats why I joined the NZ BSAOC but in case there is any confusion I did not get a dating certificate from VMCC UK for 8 pnds, I only asked for and got a certificate as to what was showing on the BSA despatch records for the frame and engine numbers that I supplied them.

The local VMCC in NZ would visit and inspect a bike before providing a certificate for the purposes of registering a bike (they are approved to do so by the NZ authorities) and that would cost a lot more than 8 pnds!
 

[wackyone]

Just gone back over some paperwork that came with the bike and found a letter from the bsa owners
club dated march 2010.
It states the bike was dispatched to Claude rye on the 29th march 1956 with the engine number that is still
in the bike.
Colour should be polychromatic silver beige, The letter seems to be for the use of retaining the reg number
which was given to her in 1956

[bikerbob]

Hi there
From what you have indicated your bike is 1956 and as I said earlier now is the time to decide if you are going to go for originality. If you are then I am afraid you have quite a few changes to make,from what I can see from the photos the whole front end is wrong wheel, forks, mudguard, headlight also rear wheel is wrong not sure about the petrol tank it should have provision for the winged badges the sides of the tank should not be reccessed for the round or pear shaped badges. I would strongly suggest that you obtain a copy of the original parts list for that year. Good Luck with what ever you decide to do.

[KiwiGF]

Hi Wackyone here is a pic of my VMCC UK cert  - I thought you might to see one!