I am looking for something to ride on the back roads. Most of the riding would be 50 to 55 mph. I have never owned a single and always wanted one. Anybody good a good reference on a reasonable affordable single from the 50s or 60s?

Thanks,

Bob in Fresno

I'm kind of opinionated on this but I think the smaller displacement bikes are generally better (easier to ride and
less "stressed").
The smaller bikes also tend to sell for less $ as Americans seem to be obsessed with "bigger is better", I think
the small displacement BSA singles are particularly nice for smaller backroads as they are light, narrow, have low
seat height and they are Torquey.
Since this is an old bike purchase you have to find "the one" that looks right.

B25 http://www.b50.org/b25starfire.htm
and
C15 http://www.bsa-c15.org.uk/
are probably the easiest to find.

Modern, British, 492cc and big $ http://www.mac-motorcycles.com/

Unclviny

We had one of those old 250 Triumph singles around in college. Everybody enjoyed it. There are truly great ones if you have lots of money but if i see another little 250 Triumph i may buy it myself.

Catalina Gold Star - I cannot ever rememeber seeing one of those for sale. Probably financially out of my budget.

Mac Motorcycles? I like the "Spud". I wondew if those are sold in California?

Triumph 250. You still see a few of those around. The guy I bought my Valkyrie from has a basket case at his house. I think he wants too much money for it.

Anybody have any experience with the late 60s BSA 441 Victors? There is one for sale in my area. I plan to go have a look see.

Thanks

Bob in Fresno.

If I remember correctly, the "Triumph" 250 was a re-badged BSA C15, put into production after the Triumph-BSA merger. The two "real" Triumph singles were the 150cc Terrier and the 200cc Tiger Cub. There was a trials version of the Tiger Cub.

Neat little bikes, but they have a tough time with a heavy rider. The Terrier was only about 12 hp and the Cub maybe 16 or so. In the bigger 4-strokes, AJS, Matchless, Ariel and of course Norton (the ES2) were interesting. Probably the 441 BSA Victor is top of the heap.

Most British 1950-1965 singles were two-strokes, usually with a Villiers engine. If you don't mind mixing the oil and gas, some of them are a real blast, particularly the Greeves for off-road trail riding. It has an unusual front suspension specifically for off-road work.

I'm pretty sure you are right that the 250 single we has was a badge job since our parts bike was a BSA version. It's been a long time but I think the barrel might have been the main difference between our Triumph 250 and a 441. They sure looked similar. I'm sure anybody who rebuilds them knows what it would take to make a 250 a 441.
Although I've seen a few cubbies here I don't recall much in the way of the Villiars single. Now and again you see one on Ebay, but San Mateo isn't dirt bike heaven and a lot of them were used off road.

I have owned several B44's and a few B50's, thats why I like the C15/B25. the B44/B50 is basically a B25 bottom end with a MAJOR bore job and WHEN the bottom end lets go it's spectacular!

Good luck.

Unclviny

For Sale - 1969 BSA 250 Starfire thumper, needs top end overhaul, and has been painted brown from front to back. Otherwise all original but old and rusty.

$12,500.00
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* Also includes all of the following:

Running bikes-
'74 Trident 750 triple, scruffy but mostly original, fair runner
'79 Bonneville Special, drag bars & quarter fairing, very good runner
'80 BMW R100RS, scruffy, full Windjammer & bags, decent runner
'81 Honda CB900F DOHC, Mikuni smoothbores & Yoshimura header, decent runner (needs re-jetting)

Rolling projects-
72 Norton 750 rigid chopper
72/66 BSA Bitsa 650
72 kawasaki 250 triple
77 yamaha RD400
'72 Honda CB750K
'76 Honda CB500 Four
724 honda CB350
75 honda CL360
81 Goldwing 1100

Parts Biks-
71/66 BSA frame, engine, forks, wheels & other stuff
77 Yamaha RD400 rolling chassis & some engine parts

+ other stuff as it catches your eye when you come pick up all of the above.

You won't find that many extras with any other deal on an old British single ANYWHERE ELSE ON THE PLANET. Any three of the four runners are worth the $12,5 price.

Anybody have any experience with the late 60s BSA 441 Victors?

Have a B44 Victor and also a B25, as both have the same frame they both handle the same, great for gentle off roading and for local country lanes as they will turn on a sixpence. The difference is the engines, the B25 is a bussbox and needs full use of the gearbox to keep the revs up to get performance, the B44 is a torquey bike by comaprison and is a much easier ride as it pulls well from low down and you do not need to change gear very often at all. Neither are very good at motorway speeds unless you gear them to the max eg 19 tooth gearbox and 47 teeth on the rear wheel. Even with this high gearing the B44 takes off well but the B25 needs clutch slipping to get it going, then you slow down with head winds.

Kommando - Thanks for the information on the Victor. One of the previous posts talked about a weak bottom end in the 441 model. Did you have any problems with the lower end? I am about 15 miles away from the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Lots of good rolling hills to ride through. A 250 would be pretty stressed on these roads. I have never seen any of the older 500 series of BSA singles or known anybody that had one. All I have ever run accross are the Victors.

Thanks.

Unless you carefully overhaul / restore an engine, ANY engine, it could blow up at any minute or maybe never.

Even if you are careful, you can grenade one by over-stressing it. Remember, some of the core parts are still 40 years old...

The 441s are great bikes and lots of fun.

I know a couple people with 441s, both of them don't run with storage issues, but they seem to have been keepers for these guys.

http://www.vft.org/vftforsale2.html

Some interesting bikes at this site.

There is even a Catalina Gold Star.

Bob