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How does one start the daunting task of a full restoration from a rolling chassis on a 60 year old bike? Rather, WHY would someone do that to themselves and subject their wallet to such an undertaking? Well, here’s my crazy story and why, between building a dozen other bikes, this ’65 BSA Lightning became my muse.
One day in early 2016 I happened to be at a house party in Queens NYC in the backyard of an apartment complex. In the corner of the small yard I saw what looked like a couple old motorcycles underneath a tarp. At this point I had already secured a new garage in Queens where I had modified and rebuilt about a dozen motorcycles under the Clubman Cycles name (CMC, NYC) so I was constantly on the prowl for new projects. A couple of my bikes had even been featured in some prominent cafe racer magazines and website articles so my confidence was high so when I saw a ’65 BSA rolling chassis underneath the tarp I said, “I could build that!”
This blind confidence would later prove to be a soul crushing, 7 year crusade to get a 60 year old bike running for the first time since it had been titled and registered in London in 1965! At first, the hipster owner told me he had no intention selling it when I came knocking on his door but I couldn’t get the bike out of my mind. I showed up two weeks later with two grand in singles and put it in his hand in the threshold of his apartment saying, “how does that feel? Keep it and I’ll take this rust bucket off your hands.” Thinking I had pulled the heist of the century, I busily got to work on what I thought would be a 6-8 month build.
Drawings by bike designer, Joshua Lutz
First, the tank was so badly rusted it had to be acid etched and required some pretty serious metal work that was beyond the scope of what I could do in my garage. Next, I discovered that both the top and the bottom of the engine had to be completely rebuilt. Luckily for me, John’s Motorcycle Repair Shop was still open at this time in Woodside, Queens so I brought it there for an overhaul. These guys used to specialize in old British bikes and sold T-shirts that had a 60’s BSA on the front because as the owner put it, “nothing looks sexier spitting oil all over the place than a BSA.” He used to joke that British bikes were designed to weep oil to keep ’em from rusting. After all, what do you expect from a bike that was designed with clutch on the left and shifter on the right?!
Everything was shot. The brakes, forks, electrical, trans, lights, paint… even the seat was crap. The only thing that stood strong as an ox were the frame and wheels.
Unbeknownst to me, this job would take the better part of 7 years and around 10K to complete. The bike now rides and shifts like a dream. Yea, it weeps oil and spits gas like a baby with colic (like every other vintage British bike).
This machine is now as reliable as it is beautiful. The following work was completed to become the flawless rolling artwork you see in front of you here:
Check out this video tour of the bike for cold start and close up detailed 4k video.
No other oils should be used on a BSA Lightning. SAE 20W-50 Valvoline VR1 should be used in the engine oil tank (as a superior alternative to STP 20W-50). Vr1 + these are included in the sale of this bike.
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