1962 BSA DBD34 Gold Star restoration (1000 miles and more)
- Thread starter swan
- Start date
dean owens
Pittsboro, NC
Re: 1962 BSA DBD34 Gold Star restoration (New crankshaft arrived!!!!)
holy mackerel! absolutely AMAZING!!!!!!! thank you so much for sharing.
holy mackerel! absolutely AMAZING!!!!!!! thank you so much for sharing.
Re: 1962 BSA DBD34 Gold Star restoration (New crankshaft arrived!!!!)
Thank you everyone for the kind words and encouragement. I still cannot believe this is my bike, I own it and this abstract pile of parts will someday soon become a living breathing machine. Slow and steady will win this race.
Off to the machine shop this morning to hone my cylinder to match my new forged piston.
+.040 over
Thank you everyone for the kind words and encouragement. I still cannot believe this is my bike, I own it and this abstract pile of parts will someday soon become a living breathing machine. Slow and steady will win this race.
Off to the machine shop this morning to hone my cylinder to match my new forged piston.
+.040 over
Re: 1962 BSA DBD34 Gold Star restoration (New crankshaft arrived!!!!)
Thanks Ed!
Another minor step forward. Cylinder is honed to match piston (great work Engine Store, Winona!) and I will file the rings to factory specifications tonight.
Thanks Ed!
Another minor step forward. Cylinder is honed to match piston (great work Engine Store, Winona!) and I will file the rings to factory specifications tonight.
11400MilesAway
New Member
Re: 1962 BSA DBD34 Gold Star restoration (New crankshaft arrived!!!!)
Swan..i signed up cuz of your (this) amazing thread while searching different forums for information about B31's..
You are doing a fantastic job and I can't wait for more updates!
I'm gonna start my B31 thread and hope you and others will be give me advice as I have limited knowledge (first time) and resources where I am..
Swan..i signed up cuz of your (this) amazing thread while searching different forums for information about B31's..
You are doing a fantastic job and I can't wait for more updates!
I'm gonna start my B31 thread and hope you and others will be give me advice as I have limited knowledge (first time) and resources where I am..
Attachments
Re: 1962 BSA DBD34 Gold Star restoration (New crankshaft arrived!!!!)
11400, thanks, welcome aboard and it looks like you have a diamond in the rough.
As I have said before, despite the popularity of Gold Stars, there is little, real usable build information on the web. By documenting my restoration (and mistakes) it will help the next person restoring a BSA like yourself.
My girlfriend is gone, I spent several hours cleaning and organizing my small workspace last night and will finally finish prepping my hardware for cad plating this week. Stay tuned.
11400, thanks, welcome aboard and it looks like you have a diamond in the rough.
As I have said before, despite the popularity of Gold Stars, there is little, real usable build information on the web. By documenting my restoration (and mistakes) it will help the next person restoring a BSA like yourself.
My girlfriend is gone, I spent several hours cleaning and organizing my small workspace last night and will finally finish prepping my hardware for cad plating this week. Stay tuned.
dean owens
Pittsboro, NC
Re: 1962 BSA DBD34 Gold Star restoration (New crankshaft arrived!!!!)
tell me about it. this is one I look for every time i come here.
tell me about it. this is one I look for every time i come here.
Re: 1962 BSA DBD34 Gold Star restoration (New crankshaft arrived!!!!)
ok to hijack and give 11400 miles something to get him going on his project.....here is my 53 b33 500 in a goldstar frame.(the way i bought it). i restored it about a dozen or so years ago-really nice machine to ride...joe
ok to hijack and give 11400 miles something to get him going on his project.....here is my 53 b33 500 in a goldstar frame.(the way i bought it). i restored it about a dozen or so years ago-really nice machine to ride...joe
kieferocks
New Member
Re: 1962 BSA DBD34 Gold Star restoration (New crankshaft arrived!!!!)
EPIC build. Keeping an eye on this for sure.
EPIC build. Keeping an eye on this for sure.
03rangerxlt
Been Around the Block
Re: 1962 BSA DBD34 Gold Star restoration (New crankshaft arrived!!!!)
Yeah, I keep checking in to see updates...
Yeah, I keep checking in to see updates...
Re: 1962 BSA DBD34 Gold Star restoration (New crankshaft arrived!!!!)
All,
rumors of much death are exaggerated... I am alive and well and so is my girlfriend. Sorry for dropping off the radar and leaving you hanging.
A perfect storm of professional, civic and social responsibilities, lots of travel, restoring my newly found shop equipment and helping friends on their projects have kept my from my Goldie. Any free time I have is spent wrenching and riding the Triton, but now that it is getting cold and the sun is going down earlier, I'll give my full attention to my project. I am burning a vacation day next week to finally finish prepping my hardware for cad plating and I plan to finish polishing my tank and tins too.
My life will slow down in November and am eagerly looking forward to working on the Goldie in my tiny, but warm workspace.
All,
rumors of much death are exaggerated... I am alive and well and so is my girlfriend. Sorry for dropping off the radar and leaving you hanging.
A perfect storm of professional, civic and social responsibilities, lots of travel, restoring my newly found shop equipment and helping friends on their projects have kept my from my Goldie. Any free time I have is spent wrenching and riding the Triton, but now that it is getting cold and the sun is going down earlier, I'll give my full attention to my project. I am burning a vacation day next week to finally finish prepping my hardware for cad plating and I plan to finish polishing my tank and tins too.
My life will slow down in November and am eagerly looking forward to working on the Goldie in my tiny, but warm workspace.
Re: 1962 BSA DBD34 Gold Star restoration (New crankshaft arrived!!!!)
I am late to the thread, . A sleepless night last night, and I guess that has been a blessing. It allowed to read the entire thread over a couple of hours, so the ups and downs stayed with me.
Living in Scotland, I kind of caught the tail end of the Brit bike meteor in th early 70s, and the full blast of the Japanese hurricane that followed. In those cheap and cheery days, I owned and rode many a Brtish bike,,,,,,and sent a few to the scrapyard too. I think I managed rides on all my dream bikes (Laverda SF, RGS, Goldstar, and Vincent Black Shadow.....and yes, a marvelous hour on a Brough SS100 featuring the Matchless engine.
As to owning.........well the Goldie and RGS were always the ones I wanted and were always the ones that stayed tantalizingly out of my budget. The Vincents and Broughs were things of love, but my appetite settled itself for magazine features and day dreams.
The particular Goldie has rolled out like the first reel of what will eventually be my favourite bike thread of it. So far, it's a dream bike found in the way we dream of finding one, and attacked with the precision and control that we'd love to think we'd apply to the work ourselves.......but most don't.
So this whizz bang thread has dropped off the radar a bit.............family responsibilities stand aside for no bike, and it's a couple of months committing to that side of life that can buy you six months over where you want to be.
There's got to be a lot of pressure to push it on to completion, but trust me, the journey, the imagining is always better than the ending. In many ways, owning an immaculate DBD 34 can be less life enhancing than wanting to own a DBD 34.
I remember a miraculous build on a 67 Bonnie I took part in, Getting the bike, looking at the sum of the parts and working out what to do..........those were the moments I will treasure far more than riding the finished bike,,,,,,,,,weird, but true. The rescue of the bike, the engineering, the hassle,,,,,,,,all great. With few exceptions, the end result turns into a motorcycle,,,,,,,,just a motorcycle.
I think this one will be different. each phase is detailed and consigned to memory. I wish you well when you come back to show us all more. In your heart, it might well feel like it's a burden that you carry, but see it through.j
I am late to the thread, . A sleepless night last night, and I guess that has been a blessing. It allowed to read the entire thread over a couple of hours, so the ups and downs stayed with me.
Living in Scotland, I kind of caught the tail end of the Brit bike meteor in th early 70s, and the full blast of the Japanese hurricane that followed. In those cheap and cheery days, I owned and rode many a Brtish bike,,,,,,and sent a few to the scrapyard too. I think I managed rides on all my dream bikes (Laverda SF, RGS, Goldstar, and Vincent Black Shadow.....and yes, a marvelous hour on a Brough SS100 featuring the Matchless engine.
As to owning.........well the Goldie and RGS were always the ones I wanted and were always the ones that stayed tantalizingly out of my budget. The Vincents and Broughs were things of love, but my appetite settled itself for magazine features and day dreams.
The particular Goldie has rolled out like the first reel of what will eventually be my favourite bike thread of it. So far, it's a dream bike found in the way we dream of finding one, and attacked with the precision and control that we'd love to think we'd apply to the work ourselves.......but most don't.
So this whizz bang thread has dropped off the radar a bit.............family responsibilities stand aside for no bike, and it's a couple of months committing to that side of life that can buy you six months over where you want to be.
There's got to be a lot of pressure to push it on to completion, but trust me, the journey, the imagining is always better than the ending. In many ways, owning an immaculate DBD 34 can be less life enhancing than wanting to own a DBD 34.
I remember a miraculous build on a 67 Bonnie I took part in, Getting the bike, looking at the sum of the parts and working out what to do..........those were the moments I will treasure far more than riding the finished bike,,,,,,,,,weird, but true. The rescue of the bike, the engineering, the hassle,,,,,,,,all great. With few exceptions, the end result turns into a motorcycle,,,,,,,,just a motorcycle.
I think this one will be different. each phase is detailed and consigned to memory. I wish you well when you come back to show us all more. In your heart, it might well feel like it's a burden that you carry, but see it through.j
Re: 1962 BSA DBD34 Gold Star restoration (New crankshaft arrived!!!!)
It's been a cracking thread to read almost as a journal. What has impressed me the most is the standard of the work carried out on the bike. Some of it has been a real memory jogger, and some of it has been "hell, I wish I'd had the patience, money and connections to do mine that well". Up to this stage in the game, this looks very much like one of those bikes that is going to be built to a standard way higher than the original factory finish. Personally, I love it, because (like the Pearson crank), it elevates the bike to something akin to art.
The early pace of the work was breathtaking. I so well remember the way that the early enthusiasm gene works...........the bike gets your every waking moment, and you give it your heart and soul. For most of us mortals though, familiarity breeds contempt (a strong term, but you know what I mean), in that the build (regardless of the bike) can slowly fade from being your demon lover to the thing that is an endless drain on your time and pocket. The amazing thing is, it can strike at any stage of a project. I've seen two bikes for sale where the owner has tired of the project, and all that needed to be done is maybe three or four days of work and $200 or $300 worth of cash..........yet the owners have given up.
I don't think that's what is happening here. The front end of the project seems to have been tackled with such determination, that this one certainly isn't going to wither on the vine. I'm confident that in a day or a week or a month, we are going to see this project spring back into internet life, and a bike which I think has the potential to be one of the world's best Goldies is going to knock our collective socks off.
The bike's owner is kind of living out our collective dream, and I think everyone who has followed the thread is willing this thing to the conclusion that we all want to see.
It's been a cracking thread to read almost as a journal. What has impressed me the most is the standard of the work carried out on the bike. Some of it has been a real memory jogger, and some of it has been "hell, I wish I'd had the patience, money and connections to do mine that well". Up to this stage in the game, this looks very much like one of those bikes that is going to be built to a standard way higher than the original factory finish. Personally, I love it, because (like the Pearson crank), it elevates the bike to something akin to art.
The early pace of the work was breathtaking. I so well remember the way that the early enthusiasm gene works...........the bike gets your every waking moment, and you give it your heart and soul. For most of us mortals though, familiarity breeds contempt (a strong term, but you know what I mean), in that the build (regardless of the bike) can slowly fade from being your demon lover to the thing that is an endless drain on your time and pocket. The amazing thing is, it can strike at any stage of a project. I've seen two bikes for sale where the owner has tired of the project, and all that needed to be done is maybe three or four days of work and $200 or $300 worth of cash..........yet the owners have given up.
I don't think that's what is happening here. The front end of the project seems to have been tackled with such determination, that this one certainly isn't going to wither on the vine. I'm confident that in a day or a week or a month, we are going to see this project spring back into internet life, and a bike which I think has the potential to be one of the world's best Goldies is going to knock our collective socks off.
The bike's owner is kind of living out our collective dream, and I think everyone who has followed the thread is willing this thing to the conclusion that we all want to see.
Re: 1962 BSA DBD34 Gold Star restoration (New crankshaft arrived!!!!)
alright swan you better get the ball rolling we natives are getting restless-......
i probably know the answer since we are practically neighbors-nice fall weather in mn is nothing to take for granted so he is probably enjoying the warm days before he has to seal the doors for a long mn winter...joe
alright swan you better get the ball rolling we natives are getting restless-......
i probably know the answer since we are practically neighbors-nice fall weather in mn is nothing to take for granted so he is probably enjoying the warm days before he has to seal the doors for a long mn winter...joe
