Members bikes for sale.
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1971 BSA Rocket 3 MkII 750
From the collection of former club president Allan Tester.
One of only 200 'A75RV' 5-speed models produced in 1971 as required for homologation to allow 5-speed racing machines.
This bike has completed its necessary repairs and maintenance and is only awaiting its compliance retest on Monday, which is in order to obtain a new plate as the previous one lapsed long ago. This has proved to be a bit of a time waste as local compliance centres are not in bike mode of late, and the weeks have gone by in the meantime.
Pleasingly they are going to do the check while I wait, so I can ride it to and from. That will warm it sufficiently for the fine tuning of the carb settings.
The one letter that makes it different. Not many of these around the planet with a factory 'V'.
All work recently undertaken on the bike is documented here.
The only visual negative in its appearance is the condition of the frame paint, which was showing some distress when Allan bought the bike in 2008.
It seems the etch primer failed to do its job properly. It could be repaired by hand if done carefully, but does not really detract from the overall effect. That is, unless you are of the mindset that all frames should be black...
I will admit that I used to be in the latter camp, but more recently I have grown to like the look, although it does not work with all body colours. The bronze works really well, which is why Allan swapped the bodywork with another of his Mk2's after some engine work was completed in 2011 amidst the Christchurch earthquakes.
For some reason I thought that the side panels had been vinyl covered, but they are in fact painted, so wrong bike there.
It can be seen that the grey shade does not quite match the frame grey, so they would benefit from being repainted. I imagine there is a correct paint code for 'dove grey', but I could not guarantee how accurate a match this grey is. I have seen a number of versions.
Front tyre is a near-new TT100 GP, which is a softer compound than the perennial TT100 rear, and a much better handling front tyre because of it.
Rear tyre is a brand new TT100, recently fitted along with new chain and rear sprocket.
The front brake seems to work well compared to many. While it may be found wanting in an emergency, most brakes do. Fortunately the rear with the huge leverage afforded by the long brake lever is an extremely good backup, so between the pair I have not ever felt unsafe in the saddle.
In my limited riding so far, the engine has remained oiltight, and I have not needed to resort to any cardboard beneath the bike in my carpeted shed. A decent long ride may elicit some drips, and hopefully I will get the chance to find out.
Having been spoiled by spending the last 45 years with an extended centre carb tickling lever I find it a bit of a fiddle without. Its really only technique, but I would either make one or carry a pen as a finger extension if I was living with a Rocket 3 or T150 for a long period of time.
Mind you, having watched the video of the first start again I see that it did not delay proceedings any.
I had thought that the tacho was a bit happy when I first rode the bike, so I chose another for comparison. Running them up on my battery drill showed that the second one was in fact happier than the original, but both had nice smooth needle actions, so I put the original back on.
It was also the smarter of the two.
The final hurdle was passed with flying colours, so we have wof and new plate with 12 months rego.
Despite 1 hour wait, no signs of oil anywhere. Yay.
The bike is now officially for sale. 1 of only 200 made in this configuration.
Interested parties should contact the webmaster via the details in the 'contact' section.
Cheers all.