1962 BSA DBD34 Gold Star restoration (1000 miles and more)
- Thread starter swan
- Start date
Re: 1962 BSA DBD34 Gold Star restoration (Nearly done...)
Sorry to leave you all hanging.....The new Amal 389 monobloc carb arrived yesterday and my first impression is it is well made and looks good, but I will need to put some miles on it before I can recommend it fully. Some people have had problems straight of the box, so I inspected mine carefully before mounting and putting fuel it. It is much heavier (2.5 lbs) than the original monobloc carb and the finish, casting and machining look better too.
It came with a Stay Up float and viton tipped brass fuel valve. Some people have had problems with the distance piece on the float arm hitting the cover and causes the float to stick. You can see that mine has clearance and will not touch the cover when tightened, allowing the float to move freely.
My air slide cable fit right in but the throttle valve cable had too large of a adaptor on the end so I needed to remove it. Other people have also had cable adaptor problems with the new Amals, but this is minor.
I bolted the carb on, added fuel and there were no leaks or drips. I retarded the ignition a bit, closed the air slide, slightly cracked the throttle, kicked until top dead center, closed the compression release and kicked her over. On the third kick she ROARED to life. Man oh man, she sounds ferocious and is really frickin' loud. I stopped the motor after 20 seconds because my idle was set too high and I needed to shorten the sleeve on my cable to allow for more movement of the cable.
After kicking this bike over dozens of times with Skip last week, the kickstart ratchet and quadrant started to bind and slip and made the bike hard to kickstart last night. I took the gearbox cover off last night and found the problem. The ratchet is worn badly, so I swapped it with my other used one. It is better, but still shows some wear so I ordered a new one today.
With a newer kickstart ratchet it kicked over easily and smoothly so I started the bike a couple more times. Wow, this is the first time I have ever heard a Gold Star and sounds unlike any other bike. It is LOUD, ROARS and the TWITTER upon deceleration sounds great! I do not know if it is the assembly lube or simply clean parts, but she smelled so good after running. I know most of my neighbors and generally try to be considerate with late night noise and bike tunings, but I have a feeling all my neighbors are going to know who I am very soon. I cannot wait to ride this beast and hear her in the bluffs of our area.
No video yet, I want to tweek and tune some more and my plan all along was to make a really nice video after she has been shaken down for 500 miles and I can really let her scream. I have ridden my Triton and CB400F a few times this week, but now we are experiencing "ice pellets" for the next three days, so I will not ride for a while. Gives me time to put new tires and tune a friend's 1972 BSA Lightning and work on my next CB400F. My GF will be here soon for a week so there will be little time in the shop, but will post a few more images soon.
Sorry to leave you all hanging.....The new Amal 389 monobloc carb arrived yesterday and my first impression is it is well made and looks good, but I will need to put some miles on it before I can recommend it fully. Some people have had problems straight of the box, so I inspected mine carefully before mounting and putting fuel it. It is much heavier (2.5 lbs) than the original monobloc carb and the finish, casting and machining look better too.
It came with a Stay Up float and viton tipped brass fuel valve. Some people have had problems with the distance piece on the float arm hitting the cover and causes the float to stick. You can see that mine has clearance and will not touch the cover when tightened, allowing the float to move freely.
My air slide cable fit right in but the throttle valve cable had too large of a adaptor on the end so I needed to remove it. Other people have also had cable adaptor problems with the new Amals, but this is minor.
I bolted the carb on, added fuel and there were no leaks or drips. I retarded the ignition a bit, closed the air slide, slightly cracked the throttle, kicked until top dead center, closed the compression release and kicked her over. On the third kick she ROARED to life. Man oh man, she sounds ferocious and is really frickin' loud. I stopped the motor after 20 seconds because my idle was set too high and I needed to shorten the sleeve on my cable to allow for more movement of the cable.
After kicking this bike over dozens of times with Skip last week, the kickstart ratchet and quadrant started to bind and slip and made the bike hard to kickstart last night. I took the gearbox cover off last night and found the problem. The ratchet is worn badly, so I swapped it with my other used one. It is better, but still shows some wear so I ordered a new one today.
With a newer kickstart ratchet it kicked over easily and smoothly so I started the bike a couple more times. Wow, this is the first time I have ever heard a Gold Star and sounds unlike any other bike. It is LOUD, ROARS and the TWITTER upon deceleration sounds great! I do not know if it is the assembly lube or simply clean parts, but she smelled so good after running. I know most of my neighbors and generally try to be considerate with late night noise and bike tunings, but I have a feeling all my neighbors are going to know who I am very soon. I cannot wait to ride this beast and hear her in the bluffs of our area.
No video yet, I want to tweek and tune some more and my plan all along was to make a really nice video after she has been shaken down for 500 miles and I can really let her scream. I have ridden my Triton and CB400F a few times this week, but now we are experiencing "ice pellets" for the next three days, so I will not ride for a while. Gives me time to put new tires and tune a friend's 1972 BSA Lightning and work on my next CB400F. My GF will be here soon for a week so there will be little time in the shop, but will post a few more images soon.
Chucklhead05
New Member
Re: 1962 BSA DBD34 Gold Star restoration (SHE'S ALIVE!!!!.)
swan, congrats on the restoration! This was definitely a labour of love and well worth it!
swan, congrats on the restoration! This was definitely a labour of love and well worth it!
biggiesmalls
Been Around the Block
Re: 1962 BSA DBD34 Gold Star restoration (SHE'S ALIVE!!!!.)
I love these old BSA bikes. Just sitting here drooling at the old posts...
I love these old BSA bikes. Just sitting here drooling at the old posts...
rjz5400
grummble grumble
Re: 1962 BSA DBD34 Gold Star restoration (SHE'S ALIVE!!!!.)
That comment is right, you SHOULD make this into a high dollar large format book. you know how I know, because I would buy it.
Great work, I have been reading since Day one it is the only thing I look at on the Interweb some mornings......
Thanks.
Also waiting for video but will wait patiently as always.
That comment is right, you SHOULD make this into a high dollar large format book. you know how I know, because I would buy it.
Great work, I have been reading since Day one it is the only thing I look at on the Interweb some mornings......
Thanks.
Also waiting for video but will wait patiently as always.
ProSimex
RUN SCREAMING!!!
Re: 1962 BSA DBD34 Gold Star restoration (SHE'S ALIVE!!!!.)
Thank god its finally done! Ok right well
You have a problem.
You have set the standard for build photography, every item on a white background, well lit, and perfect. How the hell are you going to make videos of this thing that nice?
I swear, if we get some kinda crappy cell phone camera walk around in dim light with tons of wind noise we are going to have problems.
But I am so damn happy for you that after all this time ITS ALIVE!!
Thank god its finally done! Ok right well
You have a problem.
You have set the standard for build photography, every item on a white background, well lit, and perfect. How the hell are you going to make videos of this thing that nice?
I swear, if we get some kinda crappy cell phone camera walk around in dim light with tons of wind noise we are going to have problems.
But I am so damn happy for you that after all this time ITS ALIVE!!
MotorbikeBruno
Over 1,000 Posts
Re: 1962 BSA DBD34 Gold Star restoration (SHE'S ALIVE!!!!.)
^^^ This. hahaha
ProSimex said:
^^^ This. hahaha
