BSA B50 -500 APG Build

[Koncretekid]

Oh yes, I need to welcome NSF Ed to the forum.  I'm guessing that NSF stands for "not sufficiently funded", but I could be wrong. He has been my "pit b*tch" since I started going to Bonneville and Loring, and hopefully intends to continue!  He might even bring his CB175 roadracer one of these times.
Tom

[NSF Ed]

Originally, NSF was "not so fast", but now both meanings are true!  Are you still planning on going to Loring this year?

[ol38y]

Tom, you might want to see what kind of lean angle you have before dragging also. Just a thought.  Nice work on the fairing by the way... 

[wobblywalrus]

Tom, Forking by Frank in Evansville, Illinois makes extended tubes.  They made some tubes for me.  The quality was excellent and the price was very reasonable.  Do not forget to add an extra half inch belly clearance to account for frame flex.

[nrhs sales]

now you just need to hope AMA makes rules that will allow it to run.

[Old Scrambler]

Longer forks will push the wheel forward.............a 21-inch rim will raise the height about 1-inch from your 19-inch depending on the tire. Check-out the modern HD style treads or look at the venerable Avon. This will allow you to raise the rear with a taller tire and/or rim size and basically keep nearly the same rake, trail, and wheel-base. The larger radius front tire will cause clearance issues with the fairing.  It will be narrow which should improve aero and offer reduced rolling resistence on the salt. ALSO.........remember Wobbly's front weight problem on his stock forks.........Just my 2-cents.............

[Koncretekid]

Time to get back to my build.  After a 3 week trip to Colorado to have Christmas with my children and grandchildren, got back home and ended up in hospital with pneumonia, just back up to speed and learned of the passing of my good friend Ralph.  If any of you visited my pits at BUB or following at Miller Raceway, you might have seen Ralph, either in his golf cart or just sitting in the pits.  His trip out to see me was to be his last big adventure, as he succumbed to complications from an injury sustained while at boot camp in the U.S.Marines at age 19.  Ironically, one of his first big adventures was a trip with Russell (who brought Ralph out to Bonneville from Maryland in his motorhome) and me to Europe in 1970 where we toured on our BSA's (what else?)

I sourced a nice pair of used Suzuki GS450 forks which are 2 " longer than the Honda ones I was using.  I then spent a few hours making brackets to mount a new fender.  Also had to make new axle spacers to keep the wheel in the center.  Upon re-mounting the forks and fender, it is obvious the fender or the fairing will have to be modified for clearance.

[Koncretekid]

Here's another view of the fender and new forks mounted on the bike.  I seem to have about 2" on ground clearance now, although that's without the rider.  A new larger rear tire will add a bit more clearance.  We have cut the sides out of the fairing as a way to service the motor, rather than trying to figure out a good way to remove the fairing.  You can see how Doug added a flange to the cut out, by gluing wooden blocks over the previously cut out side, and then adding a 2" wide strip of fiberglass to the inside.  I then re-connected the cut out with Dzus fasteners.  The last photo shows the tail piece cut out required to make it legal for BUB APS class.  Doug said no problem, so I guess that's what we'll do.  I'm up to about 30 Dzus fasteners if I include the new tailpiece.

[Old Scrambler]

Looking real fast.............I like the cut-outs.............Your glass-man will get the front figured.........you need some air to get to the motor anyway!

Sorry about losing your friend..........we all seem to be experiencing some of that!

[saltwheels262]

tom,
definitely looking good.
is that a different frame?

franey

[Koncretekid]

Dennis,
Thanks for the complements.

Bill,
Same frame, same everything, just adding bodywork. Had to use longer forks cause the bodywork hangs down below the frame.
 
Tom

[Koncretekid]

The tail section has now been modified to meet the requirements of BUB, as well as being legal for SCTA/LTA with the full tail section. Nine Dzus fasteners and the tail goes back on.

The new/old forks I sourced are Suzuki GS450 which are intended to be run with compressed air.  I'll bet there are a bunch of old Suzukis running around with collapsed front forks, as the springs are woefully too weak.  I replaced them with springs out of a pair of junk CB350 forks (I never throw anything away!) which are shorter and stiffer.  I made a spacer out of Delren (acetal) plastic with a threaded hole in the top to make them easier to retrieve.  I then cross drilled the tapped hole to allow any compressed air I want to add to pass thru (I could have just drilled the center hole all the way thru, but only thought of that later.) I now expect about 1/2" of initial sag, and no more than 2" of travel under Bonneville and Loring conditions.  I have about 2-1/2" of clearance under the fairing with no load.

The fairing has been removed for some final cleaning up as well as adding a removable cover on the bottom to allow oil changes.  The front fender has been installed and relieved to clear the fairing.  I am now awaiting the windscreen from Gustafsson in order to fit that.

[Old Scrambler]

Nice work Tom............You maybe could pickup another 1/4 to 1/2-inch by slding the tubes down in the trees............We added hard rubber spacers to the rear shocks to reduce travel on the bumpy parts of the salt. ..............do you need another air-cleaner for the A65 ?

[Koncretekid]

Dennis,
Since I don't have any rear suspension, I won't be adding any bumpers in the shocks.  But I may go to a larger tire (120/80-17 in place of 110/70-17).  I can also gain spring pressure in the front by adding air pressure as they are designed to do.  And no, I have both air cleaners for the A65, but I could use a new chain guard. Mine is salvageable, but only by re-chroming!
Tom

[55chevr]

Tom - 2" of travel with a 40 degree rake wont drop the front 2" ... I guess we could figure it out using geometry but I would guess 1-1/4" max. Plus the rear is rigid so it fulcrums off the rear axle. You have plenty of clearance to the under pan.

Joe