twosheds
Retro Guru
It's about time I started a build thread for this bike. My next door neighbour, Alan, was clearing out his shed some time ago, and he offered me this bike, because he couldn't fit it in his car to take it to the tip! Naturally I found a home for it in my shed and it has been there for about 5 years, while I have slowly sourced some of the missing parts. The history of the bike is that Alan saved his paper round money when he was 14, and bought the bike that he had been admiring in his local bike shop window. BSA had just won the Tour of Britain, and this was a commemorative model. Alan went on to spend much of his formative years touring around the North East and Yorkshire on it, before settling down and consigning it to his shed where it remained for 40+ years. At some time in the 60's he had turned it into a single speed and some of the parts became lost.
This is the bike as received, I also got some rusty wheels!
The build has commenced. I have stripped down the frame and after much deliberation I decided to keep the extensive "patina", but as there was a lot of paint missing I have touched up where necessary.
The downtube band decals were completely gone, so I have recreated them from photos and measurements, kindly sent to me by a couple of owners I found on the internet. I also made a new 531 decal. All the other decals are unaltered.
I know this isn't a high end bike, being a factory bike, not artisan handbuilt, but I thought it should be saved, if only for the fact that all of the parts are proudly Made in England. I also have a soft spot for BSAs in that one of my distant Gt ..Gt Grandfathers was one of the founding members of the company, back in the 1800s.
I will post more as the build progresses, but it may not be quick.
This is the bike as received, I also got some rusty wheels!
The build has commenced. I have stripped down the frame and after much deliberation I decided to keep the extensive "patina", but as there was a lot of paint missing I have touched up where necessary.
The downtube band decals were completely gone, so I have recreated them from photos and measurements, kindly sent to me by a couple of owners I found on the internet. I also made a new 531 decal. All the other decals are unaltered.
I know this isn't a high end bike, being a factory bike, not artisan handbuilt, but I thought it should be saved, if only for the fact that all of the parts are proudly Made in England. I also have a soft spot for BSAs in that one of my distant Gt ..Gt Grandfathers was one of the founding members of the company, back in the 1800s.
I will post more as the build progresses, but it may not be quick.
