Author Topic: Is that a BSA "Big Valve?"  (Read 1468 times)

Offline JJ

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Is that a BSA "Big Valve?"
« on: May 02, 2021, 07:52:59 AM »
...or are you just glad to see me?!? :laugh: :grin: :wink: :thumb: :boozing: :cool: :smiley: :smiley: :smiley:


















« Last Edit: May 02, 2021, 07:53:37 AM by JJ »
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oldbike54

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Re: Is that a BSA "Big Valve?"
« Reply #1 on: May 02, 2021, 09:54:52 AM »
 Those were some beautiful motorbikes .

 To show how much has changed , there was an article in one of the large magazines with the model that replaced this one as the performance bike in BSA's line , the Lightning . It was full of hyperbole , "our road tester had a really difficult time mastering this beast in 1/4 mile testing" , followed by something like "this fire breathing monster will run the 1/4 mile in less than 15 seconds if you can keep the front end on the ground"  :shocked:

 A ditch pump 2 valve Guzzi is faster than the snorting bucking BSA , and will pass repair shops on a normal day  :laugh:

 Dusty

Offline JJ

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Re: Is that a BSA "Big Valve?"
« Reply #2 on: May 02, 2021, 10:02:25 AM »
QUOTE: "....a ditch-pump 2-valve Guzzi"

Never heard that one before! :laugh: :grin: :wink: :thumb: :bow: :cool: :boozing:




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« Last Edit: May 02, 2021, 10:04:02 AM by JJ »
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oldbike54

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Re: Is that a BSA "Big Valve?"
« Reply #3 on: May 02, 2021, 10:36:53 AM »
QUOTE: "....a ditch-pump 2-valve Guzzi"

Never heard that one before! :laugh: :grin: :wink: :thumb: :bow: :cool: :boozing:




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 It's a Roperism , although I've heard it used for years describing flathead 45 CI HD's and other really agricultural devices .

 Dusty

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Re: Is that a BSA "Big Valve?"
« Reply #3 on: May 02, 2021, 10:36:53 AM »

Online PeteS

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Re: Is that a BSA "Big Valve?"
« Reply #4 on: May 02, 2021, 11:49:08 AM »
I had a '51 A-10 plunger at one time and started learning a bit about BSAs. I think the standard Road Rocket had a CR of around 6.9:1 and the Super Rocket got bumped to 7.1. BSA guys feel free to correct me but the increase was nearly infinitesimal.

Pete


Offline LowRyter

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Re: Is that a BSA "Big Valve?"
« Reply #5 on: May 02, 2021, 12:00:29 PM »
Hot Rod Magazine rated the Lightening as the fastest motorcycle tested at 135 mph.  (IIRC)

It was Hunter Thompson's bike when writing the Hell's Angels book.  He purchased it based on the magazine's claim.  Hunter wrote about riding the beast around Big Sur on the PCH.   
John L 
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Offline JJ

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Re: Is that a BSA "Big Valve?"
« Reply #6 on: May 02, 2021, 12:03:23 PM »
Hot Rod Magazine rated the Lightening as the fastest motorcycle tested at 135 mph.  (IIRC)

It was Hunter Thompson's bike when writing the Hell's Angels book.  He purchased it based on the magazine's claim.  Hunter wrote about riding the beast around Big Sur on the PCH.

Yes...and later in his life, ol' Hunter graduated to Ducati's and wrote about cafe racers in..."The Song of the Sausage Creature" :shocked: :rolleyes: :huh:
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Offline LowRyter

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Re: Is that a BSA "Big Valve?"
« Reply #7 on: May 02, 2021, 12:08:26 PM »
Yes...and later in his life, ol' Hunter graduated to Ducati's and wrote about cafe racers in..."The Song of the Sausage Creature" :shocked: :rolleyes: :huh:

And don't forget his take on the Vincent Black Shadow vs the Honda 750 in the "Fear & Loathing on the Campaign Trail 1972".  There are pictures of the Vincent.  I think it's an Egli.
John L 
When life gets you down remember it's one down and the rest are up.  (1-N-23456)

oldbike54

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Re: Is that a BSA "Big Valve?"
« Reply #8 on: May 02, 2021, 12:41:56 PM »
Hot Rod Magazine rated the Lightening as the fastest motorcycle tested at 135 mph.  (IIRC)

It was Hunter Thompson's bike when writing the Hell's Angels book.  He purchased it based on the magazine's claim.  Hunter wrote about riding the beast around Big Sur on the PCH.

 Unfortunately that 135 figure is nonsense , a good Lightning was capable of maybe 110 MPH on a really good day at or near sea level , with a tail wind :laugh:  I enjoyed the good Doctor , but he was prone to hyperbole and drug fueled flights of imagination . Remember , he claimed the BSA had some magical powers , one of which was that it somehow sensed the tanker truck stopped just around a blind corner , the result being that the BSA went off the road and crashed in the dirt rather than running him straight in to the gasoline(?) tanker . More like he was riding over his head and simply crashed , probably after having ingested some psychedelic substance .

 Dusty

Online PeteS

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Re: Is that a BSA "Big Valve?"
« Reply #9 on: May 02, 2021, 12:43:49 PM »
My favorite HST quote,
“ Some people will tell you that slow is good - and it may be, on some days - but I am here to tell you that fast is better. I've always believed this, in spite of the trouble it's caused me. Being shot out of a cannon will always be better than being squeezed out of a tube. That is why God made fast motorcycles, Bubba....”

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Offline JJ

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Re: Is that a BSA "Big Valve?"
« Reply #10 on: May 02, 2021, 12:50:01 PM »




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Offline Turin

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Re: Is that a BSA "Big Valve?"
« Reply #11 on: May 02, 2021, 02:04:57 PM »
Quote
I enjoyed the good Doctor , but he was prone to hyperbole and drug fueled flights of imagination .

That's a substantial part of what made his writing so entertaining. I read Song of the Sausage creature when it debuted in Cycle World in the mid '90s. I was hooked.
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Re: Is that a BSA "Big Valve?"
« Reply #12 on: May 02, 2021, 02:05:56 PM »
 The 61 BSA A10 modified I'm building right now is/was a Super Road Rocket....As Dusty says, 135 mph would be BS even if the bike was modified...The stock ones did have a nice look and arguably the best looking engine  put into a bike...

oldbike54

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Re: Is that a BSA "Big Valve?"
« Reply #13 on: May 02, 2021, 02:20:00 PM »
The 61 BSA A10 modified I'm building right now is/was a Super Road Rocket....As Dusty says, 135 mph would be BS even if the bike was modified...The stock ones did have a nice look and arguably the best looking engine  put into a bike...

 A full race prepped 650 Lightning on IOM TT gearing with a full race fairing with a 125 LB rider on board was probably capable of an honest 130 MPH at some place like the Island , Ulster , or the banking at Daytona . Of course the engine was done in after 200 miles  :laugh: Seem to remember triples in the latest form were capable of 142 or so .

 A guy tried to tell me his 650 Triumph would do 150 , this while I was sitting astride a tuned T 140 that would make maybe 112 with me under the paint.

 Dusty

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Re: Is that a BSA "Big Valve?"
« Reply #14 on: May 02, 2021, 02:37:48 PM »
A full race prepped 650 Lightning on IOM TT gearing with a full race fairing with a 125 LB rider on board was probably capable of an honest 130 MPH at some place like the Island , Ulster , or the banking at Daytona . Of course the engine was done in after 200 miles  :laugh: Seem to remember triples in the latest form were capable of 142 or so .

 A guy tried to tell me his 650 Triumph would do 150 , this while I was sitting astride a tuned T 140 that would make maybe 112 with me under the paint.

 Dusty
 My naked frame modified production 650 Triumph did 133.1 mph in the swirling winds in the standing start 1-1/2 mile old Air Force runway in Loring Maine.It was the first stock frame 650 pushrod engine on gasoline to set a record over 130 at any land speed racing track..
  In the early 70's I believe  Romero was clocked at 157 mph on the oval at Daytona on a fully faired race prepped Triumph/BSA 750 triple. About the same time an iron head 883 Sportster fully faired and tuned by Harley's race dept went a bit faster...
 
« Last Edit: May 02, 2021, 02:39:00 PM by Rough Edge racing »

oldbike54

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Re: Is that a BSA "Big Valve?"
« Reply #15 on: May 02, 2021, 02:49:34 PM »
Dusty
 My naked frame modified production 650 Triumph did 133.1 mph in the swirling winds in the standing start 1-1/2 mile old Air Force runway in Loring Maine.It was the first stock frame 650 pushrod engine on gasoline to set a record over 130 at any land speed racing track..
  In the early 70's I believe  Romero was clocked at 157 mph on the oval at Daytona on a fully faired race prepped Triumph/BSA 750 triple. About the same time an iron head 883 Sportster fully faired and tuned by Harley's race dept went a bit faster...

 Yeah , forgot about those Rob North prepped triples . The 500 Nixon won on at Daytona in '67 kinda looked like a 500 CC Triumph , but the engine was actually developed to go gp racing with , short stroke , big bore , different cylinder head , memory says it might have altered to a wet sump design . It was probably capable of nearly 130 on the banking , maybe a bit more .

 Dusty

Offline LowRyter

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Re: Is that a BSA "Big Valve?"
« Reply #16 on: May 02, 2021, 03:26:33 PM »
Unfortunately that 135 figure is nonsense , a good Lightning was capable of maybe 110 MPH on a really good day at or near sea level , with a tail wind :laugh:  I enjoyed the good Doctor , but he was prone to hyperbole and drug fueled flights of imagination . Remember , he claimed the BSA had some magical powers , one of which was that it somehow sensed the tanker truck stopped just around a blind corner , the result being that the BSA went off the road and crashed in the dirt rather than running him straight in to the gasoline(?) tanker . More like he was riding over his head and simply crashed , probably after having ingested some psychedelic substance .

 Dusty

Wait! 

You're saying Hot Rod Magazine and Hunter S Thompson aren't the model of truth and accuracy?  Really?   :evil:
John L 
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oldbike54

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Re: Is that a BSA "Big Valve?"
« Reply #17 on: May 02, 2021, 03:40:51 PM »
Wait! 

You're saying Hot Rod Magazine and Hunter S Thompson aren't the model of truth and accuracy?  Really?   :evil:

 Sometime in the very early 70's the Green 'Un , or was it the Blue 'un , anyway , one of the "Uns" was interviewing the Bultaco rep for England and doing some testing on the new 250 Pursang . The journo asked the rep how many ponies the new Bultaco made , the rep asked what Montesa was claiming for their new 250 . The journo said the Montesa rep claimed 25 HP . The Bul rep said "the ours makes 26"  :rolleyes:

 Dusty

Offline LowRyter

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Re: Is that a BSA "Big Valve?"
« Reply #18 on: May 02, 2021, 03:47:17 PM »
OK, I said "IIRC".  Apparently the Beeza achieved a more credible 130MPH

John L 
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oldbike54

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Re: Is that a BSA "Big Valve?"
« Reply #19 on: May 02, 2021, 03:55:53 PM »
OK, I said "IIRC".  Apparently the Beeza achieved a more credible 130MPH



 On the gearing necessary to run 130 the bike would need to be turning probably 7,000 RPM's , it didn't happen . Hell , with a real world 42 or 43 ponies, it wouldn't pull up to 7K in high gear .

 Dusty
« Last Edit: May 02, 2021, 08:34:22 PM by oldbike54 »

Offline LowRyter

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Re: Is that a BSA "Big Valve?"
« Reply #20 on: May 02, 2021, 03:57:42 PM »
130?  of course not.  But it felt like 150.
« Last Edit: May 02, 2021, 03:58:13 PM by LowRyter »
John L 
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oldbike54

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Re: Is that a BSA "Big Valve?"
« Reply #21 on: May 02, 2021, 08:30:25 PM »
Yes...and later in his life, ol' Hunter graduated to Ducati's and wrote about cafe racers in..."The Song of the Sausage Creature" :shocked: :rolleyes: :huh:

 I don't think he actually ever owned a Ducati , it was a test bike provided by Cycle World , he tended to own mostly dirt bikes . Not sure where the article was , it might have been something Mark Kram wrote , but there was a persistent rumor that Thompson was a bit like Carlos Castaneda , at least a significant portion of what he wrote about was tamer than how he portrayed it . He did do a lot of Lysergic acid diethylamide  , psilocybe cubensis , Lophosphora Williamsii , and pretty much every other mind bending drug available . No doubt he did some crazy stuff , but seriously , how competent is anyone on a motorbike when tripping balls ?

 Dusty

Offline Turin

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Re: Is that a BSA "Big Valve?"
« Reply #22 on: May 02, 2021, 08:36:44 PM »
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Offline ohiorider

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Re: Is that a BSA "Big Valve?"
« Reply #23 on: May 03, 2021, 05:10:39 AM »
BSA ...... my first motorcycle.  Purchased slightly used in October of 1965.  Took on my first solo road trip August 1966.  Charleston WV to Port Isabel TX and back.  650cc Spitfire Scrambler.  A10 engine.  Lucas magneto.  6v generator.  No battery.  Many fond memories.







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Re: Is that a BSA "Big Valve?"
« Reply #24 on: May 03, 2021, 08:11:07 AM »
There are a few bike speed records set in the 40-50's that are untouchable today even the the advancements in tuning knowledge....the famous Rollie Free Vincent, you are lead to believe the bike was a stock lightning tuned by the factory...it was more or less and running the the fuel class meaning methanol and or nitro methane... a supposed stock new at the time 63 Bonneville ran 133 ...and a few more.....

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