Pre-65 Bikes

Hi there Ive got a bsa bantam bushman with heavy duty forks and need help. I need infomation on the amount of oil i need and the type to us. kind regards wayne

i just putting my tiger crankcase together shims crankshaft I have got one shim on primery side is there spose to on other side as well been looking books cant see any shims

Is it just me or are things getting out of hand? This A series Villiers engine has just gone for

Hello all...I'm looking to get my B40 stanchions repaired as they have some pitting right where the seal does its work...anyone recommend a repairer? I've emailed Fitforx today asking for a quote but no reply yet. Cheers, Mark.

Hi does anyone know the correct tappet settings for a 61 (i think) BSA C15t? thanks.

I am sorting a front hub to build the wheel. The spokes are small (2.5) guage. Has anyone fitted 3mm, or drilled the hub for bigger?? . Also what rim size are people going for (wm) . Thanks in advance...

hey all, been playing about on the bantam over the last few months, i like it alot, the thing is i want more power! i have a Todd head fitted and a ts185 piston fitted, but i have seen bantams on ebay and sites with 198cc?? how do i get this? i know i have to re bore the barrel but what piston will fit? any help would be great cheers Mikey

Hi all. I have just put a PVL ignition on my BSA B40 trialer care of mr Whitton and reduced the carb down to a 626 as I had got one to hand. It started first time and seemed to run a lot better straight away low down. It's still missing a bit at the top and that's not if I snap the throttle open. Going to check the tappets next and then put a new plug in. I have got some NGK BP6ES plugs so was going to run it on that. They are the extended nose ones. Thought I'd ask what the thoughts of other people were though. Cheers Steve.

Hi all, my mate has pulled his c15's gearbox out of the centre casing without removing the clutch so all the bits kind of fell out. The camplate has been inverted to give an other-way-round gearchange. He's stripping the clutch off the shaft to reassemble it but was wondering if the selector forks still go back in the normal way that they would with the camplate the right way up. The reason he's opened it up is that it's jumping out of first gear, any ideas?? Thanks for any help / info, Craig

Took the bantam out for a shake down(broke the front mudguard ),after about 15-20 mins the poor little bike was getting a wee bit hot and started to die .The bike is running standard ignition,B6 plug,new amal concentric,foam filter.140 main jet,2.5 pilot.The plug was on the light side so probably needs a 150main?, is there any other ways to keep the wee thing cool and where can I get a inlet extension for the carb. as at present it only has a heat shield. cheers the noo Brian

Hi Guy's. Just looking at which length of rear supension units You guy's think are best on the "Otter's" that you ride? Do you think that 13" that is specified, are best, or 13 1/2" or even 14"? Knowing that the length of these also alters the steering head angle. Let me know, I am very interested which units you think are best, and what also is the best make to use in your opinion? Or even what make do you use? Regards Charlie.

Hi, I have just finished building my Armac Cub. During running it in I noticed I had a small oil leak from the inner gearbox case. I removed the outer and inner RH cases to re seal it and reassembled everything only to find I couldn't move the kick start or select more than 2 gears. I have now removed the covers again and realized I hadn't put the lobe on the kick start shaft at 6 o'clock which would explain why that was jammed! Before I put the side back on (for the 3rd time!), can someone just clarify what I need to do with the selector plate, selector forks, indexers and gear clusters. I understand the need to position the selector fork guides i…

Just purchased yet another project off Ebay. It was described as an AJS/Matchless 350cc in trials trim for restoration. I my enthusiasm I can't wait for the reply from the owners club as I have applied for membership. So do any of you people have any information on the history of the bike and the availability of parts. There is no tank or seat, and no obvious sign of model number. The engine number starts with 14 CSR, the frame number is a five figure number starting with 13. There is also another number (casting number?) on the rear of the gearbox which is M1071. Any information would be appreciated. Thanks. Eiger.

Should there be a ball bearing behind the clutch pushrod & when arm is pulled in how far should pushrod protrude from end of shaft see photo. Not ready for re-build but making a shopping list of parts ready for Villiers Services order, thanks.

Anybody going? Is it worth the long drive? How much is it to get in or is it free like a normal trial for spectators? Never been before but thought it might be an interesting day out and thought i might camp overnight if it was worth it. Let me know your experiences guys

Looking for a few suggestions re the gearing for the James project. It's still in bits just bigger bits So as i havent run it yet i will be having to get some sprockets ordered from Talon. If you run a Greeves or James, Sprite etc what gearing do you use? I am using a std crank sprocket as the smaller ones need to have the crankcases modifying to get it to fit so really down to the gearbox and rear sprocket. I know it will need fine tuning and possible adjusting once i get it up and running, the B40 was the same just fitted a smaller rear sprocket to that as it was too low geared, just like to get it nearish as i cant aford to "waste" a rear sprocket by getting one t…

The small (17 tooth) gears on each of my C15s transmission shafts is a press fit on the splines. I used a gear puller to get them off. What is a good way to press them back on? I tried tapping with a hammer but they got stuck. Then I tried using a mill as a press and snapped off the hand lever (3/8"). I can see that the gear was not going on straight. It seems like they need to be pressed on very straight. Thanks!!

I'm assembling a C15 and see that the drive chain hits the inside of the engine cases. By inside, I mean the clutch side. This is a 428 chain with the smallest (13 tooth?) sprocket. I know you can run a 520 chain so something must not be correct. Can someone tell me what a notmal or expected clearance should be? A couple of pictures are attached.

hi GUYS i am at my wits end with my b25,i have now re built it for the second time,starts fine runs sweet and then as it warms up Awfull big end clatter. Theres good oil return to the tank. If i let it cool for a while it starts sweet again and then this orrible noise. Any ideas or should i set light to it.

I have a 1960s Dot trials bike with a 197 villiers engine and a spare engine, the bike is in bits and not sure if its all there. If you would like this bike as a rebuild project please contact me. It,s only available for collection in the lothian area of scotland so please dont enquire if you cannot collect, I would like this to go to a genuine enthuist who would rebuild this and not just sell it on. BTW not looking for any money for it just a deserving home. I can be contacted on Alan.Whyte@ed.ac.uk