January 2003
Now that Fred has finished restoring Carl’s Triumph he thinks he needs a new project (in spite of the fact that his modern Triumph, his Norton, and probably other vehicles are first on the queue). Anyway, he couldn’t resist this BSA basket case, even though he says it will be a year until he gets to it. We’ll see.
The basket case
engine bits
Fred with BSA and Triumph
BSA and Triumph
Fred and Carl both insist that the Triumph pictured above once looked like the BSA. I hear Fred is already scouring e-bay for parts.
Carl tells the story…..after all, as usual, he’s responsible
Another “free” bike. Should be lots of fun. And the adventure has already begun … A road trip to Suisun City; a missing key and subsequent dissmantling of the ignition to free the fork lock; a run to the local Ace Hardware for tools to free the frozen front brakes; lunch at Taco Bell; parts left behind; key found to be lost yet once again. All this in just the first 24 hours!
Fred adds: I removed the left side cover, and there is the tool compartment, just like an old BSA A65. Opened the compartment door, and stuffed inside I find the original tool kit.
Upon removing it and spreading the contents, I find that this is the original, unmolested, complete and pristine tool kit! Shiny as they come.
I can tell…this poor machine wants to help itself to recovery. The first step, as they say!