BSA B40 WD (Military) 1967

I was at the Northern Trial in February, whilst there, watching some beautiful machinery and generally gossiping about all things motorbikes. A guy turned up on a BSA B40 military bike. 
It was a beautiful little thing, that for some unknown reason caught my eye. We had a brief chat about the bike, he explained some of the mods he'd done to the bike, including fitting a coil to make the kick starting easier.

The Northern Trial is an annual event, that starts in Wigton and does a loop around North Cumbria, using a mix of tarmac roads, green lanes and private land. There are sections that are the 'trial' bits and competitors are scored on various things from completing a section without stopping, uphill starts, tight turns etc. Cars and bikes run it and there are strict tyre options and several categories. It's a great bit of fun to watch and maybe one year, I'll even have a go!

Anyway, back to the B40. In April I bought one. It came up on eBay, the seller and I had a chat online and I ended up driving down to Hampshire to go collect it. Staying with a family and friends on the way to break up the 6 - 7 hour drive. 

I'd been watching the various selling platforms and had been hesitating to buy one as I would like to go overseas for awhile and this would use up some of my cash for that. 

When this turned up, it fit certain things that appealed to me, it is a 1967 bike, same year I was born. It was made at the BSA factory where I used to play as a kid. It was used as both a despatch bike, a troop convoy escort, a wide load escort and officer escort between 1967 & 1977. My dad was a military despatch rider in North Africa and my ex brother in law did a stint later on. Finally, it just called to me, which is a weird thing to say, but hey!

A mate and I, beer in hand and in his driveway, tried to start the little beastie, (with my poor recollection of what I was told an hour earlier!). We then resorted to YouTube for a video, eventually we got it started and both of us made the suitable oohing and arrghing sounds all bikers make when a new bike turns up! A little loop around the cul de sac and back in the garage she went. We could now go to the curry house and drink beer, catch up etc etc. 

Once back home, out came the polishing cloth for the chrome and anything that needed it. Then a little look at the speedo cable, which didn't seem to work and a check of all the fluids. Sort out some insurance and some time to ride.

That afternoon, a ride over some of the fell roads up here was my first pootle on this classic bit of British biking history.

 

The engine on this bike is strong, four gears are enough so far, with first being really short, it seems like neutral is a must as you go towards second, (rather than on modern bikes, where its a just a click and you're in second).

The footpeg rubbers and handlebar grips are falling apart, the pannier rack means you can't kick start the bike without taking a chunk out of the back of my calf or knee. Finding top dead centre, to kick start the bike,  takes a bit of practice and the actual need to go just past this is a fine art of guesswork!

The saddle has definitely seen a lot of use, there are three splits in the leather and the front half has a backside shaped scoop where you end up against the tank and pretty much on the seat pan, so not as comfortable as it looks!

That said, these are all minor things, the smile on my face all the way round the 100 mile loop was priceless and the sound of that little 350 single burbling along with a top speed of around 40 ish is just lovely. 

I did have one moment of frustration, approaching a right turn, the bike stalled. I ended up pushing it into a ditch nearby, trying to kick start it and getting nowhere. After 10 minutes, I realised I'd turned the fuel tap off when I'd stopped for a few minutes previously, so she was starved of fuel, and I was an idiot!

I've now tracked down the military records for this bike via the RLC Digital Archive. It cost £45 in total, for an image of the card. The bike also has the original brass plaque on the frame with its military numbers, these go alongside the frame and engine numbers. 

I would like to track the rest of the history of this bike over time and see where it's been. 

Meanwhile, it turns out the speedo cable is fine, its the clocks that are faulty, so I need to track one down and get it working. The pannier rack and wooden boxes have come off and gone into storage, awaiting a repair in the winter and the bike is about to get an oil change and filter clean. It's missing the hose between the air box and the carb, so I need to find one of those too. 

Aah, I can see a few hours of fettling coming up and of course some more riding time!

Update: I found the correct airbox hose. A silicone one that is a 45mm reducing to 38mm, with 100mm length from eBay. Fitting it involves removing the air box and the oil filter and then lining it all back up. I also changed the clips to the fuel line as the bottom one was digging into the oil filter housing.

Headlight bulb blew on my last rideout, so its a hunt for a replacement at the moment and to find out why it blew.

Some Links I've found so far:
BSA Motorcycles website: MOD Updates