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So this is my very first project bike. A 1966 BSA A65 Hornet.
Call me mad but I have been wanting a BSA for years. ;D
It was in pretty good nick when I bought it and it set me back $4,950 Aussie dollars.
The plan is to make it into WW2 fighter plane themed "tribute" racer, I guess you could all it. I have a pretty big interest in WW2 history, aviation and cafe racers so it seems appropriate! Nothing pretty but I want it to look good and go fast. It's mostly there excluding the usual indicators, mirrors and battery but I also need to get new carbys as the right hand's throttle adjuster screw is well... Fucked to put it simply. Which brings me to my first question. I thought I may as well upgrade the stock Amal Monoblocks to Concentric Mk1's. Will I run into any problems with this? I couldn't imagine I would with the same bore.
Anyways, any tips and suggestions would be more than welcome as this is my very first project so I'm fairly new. Although I know my theory I'm lacking hands on knowledge!
PS. Sorry there is no pictures yet, Photobucket seems to be down and thus I can't upload any pictures. Tomorrow hopefully!
Sound like a plan. Are you going for an RAF Spitfire look?
Or a p-51:
There are a lot of cool details to incorporate. You have too watch out with a tribute bike though. It is easy (as I'm finding out the hard way) to slip from tribute bike to full on themed bike.
I'm trying to stick to just a paint job and a couple decals on the tank. I have a few ideas already but not sure if I'm going tio go through with them. Might hand paint a sharks mouth on the tank along with a pin-up. I also found a 1940's looking cartoon hornet I might stick on the side covers, sort of a little mascot!
Nice scoot man. Should be very cool. Nothing says classic Cafe like a beezer. If ya ever want to part with that tank, remember me! ha ha ha Keep the updates coming!
Any particular RAAF Squadron ring your bell? If you find one with an airframe in mind it will help to narrow your details down.
Its all how deep you want to go. You could paint your suspension the same as the landing gear on the plane, the frame and tanks with appropriate markings, bla bla on and on...
Buttttt... Its a BSA HORNET... The RAAF flys Hornets old and E variants...
Sorry, I am a bit biased, I'm in the CAF and work on CF18 Hornets.
Haven't really gone into to much detail but a matching colour schemes on the shocks, headlights, frame ect. would be good.
I'm guessing that's Canadian Air Force? I was thinking of joining the RAAF but the missus wasn't too keen. I'll just stick with a nice, fast, mean cafe racer for now!
So with my lack of money right now, the work on Hornet will have to halt until my next pay check gets to me next week!
Without being able to get new parts I took the liberty to strip off the foot pegs to get a feel for rear-sets.
But with a lack of rear-set gear and funds I may as well polish the old girl up! I trust somebody out there knows the best way to polish up the case and fins? I've tried everything!
the aluminum bits on the engine look to be oxidized. you may have to sand them with fine grit sandpaper and then polish. Nice bike i really like those old bsa's. I really like them hardtailed the frame just lends itself to it. Keep it up.
The concentric Amals will work great. And they're half the price of monoblocs.
If you're after flawless performance for years, go with a (ugly) Mikuni
If your trying to keep the budget, i've heard good things about the new PWK's
Thompson's right about thoose covers. With that much oxidation, you'll have to sand and refinish.
start wet sanding with 320 grit,step up till you get to 600. then buff with a heavy compound, get a clean buff wheel and buff with jewelers rouge.
I think I might stick with Amals. I know them like the back of my hand I've taken them apart that many times and want to use something a bit more familar as well as trying to keep most of the bike original.
I'm suprised with the price. Brand new from the Amal web shop Concentric Mk1's will cost me $450 for a pair including postage whereas second hand Monoblocs right here will cost me $300 each!
Okay, I'm having a little trouble trying to pry the gear shifter off it's thing. It came without the bolt that holds it in place but I can't seem to get it off.
The kick lever comes off just fine.
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