A65 OIF

My first 'proper' bike after passing my test was a '69 (or '70) A50 Royal Star. Somewhere buried in the attic there's almost certainly a photo of it.

Alas it internally exploded on the Redditch bypass, being caned as the timing side bearing starved of oil - usual stuff. I was gutted. I bloody loved that bike!

The looks of the oil in frame bikes never did it for me though.

Just spotted this vid and donned my rose-tinted specs.

Bonzo said:

My first 'proper' bike after passing my test was a '69 (or '70) A50 Royal Star. Somewhere buried in the attic there's almost certainly a photo of it.

Alas it internally exploded on the Redditch bypass, being caned as the timing side bearing starved of oil - usual stuff. I was gutted. I bloody loved that bike!

The looks of the oil in frame bikes never did it for me though.

Just spotted this vid and donned my rose-tinted specs.

Click to expand...

I watched that yesterday. Usual load of rubbish from someone who has probably never owned or even ridden one.
Yes some of the earliest frames did crack, just as some engines vibrated more than others, but they are a really nice bike to ride. If BSA had been run by engineers instead of fu*^wits, then they would have had a dynamically balanced crank, a proper oil filter, & a hydraulic front brake. This would have made them less prone to shaking themselves to bits, & the T.S. bush would not have been a problem. Having said that, a proper rolling element bearing would have been preferable.
I have addressed these issues on my bike & it is a thing of joy.

I saw it and I was surprised at the 1/4-mile times and speeds 1/4- mile at 83.64 mph and 15.25 sec.. not very fast.