SMOKE signals

Buying an old bike is often a bit of a lottery, particularly when the previous owner is sadly no longer with us. This BSA came with a substantial history file and a spare engine, reputedly rebuilt, and I’d known the late owner for many years so I took the plunge and bought it unseen from his estate.

My first impressions were mixed. The tyres were flat; the seat was perched loosely on top of the frame at a drunken angle; there was no battery or headlight; the oil tank was empty and the whole bike was covered in a thick layer of dust. On the plus side, the thick file of documents that came with it detailed much of the previous history and included the original buff logbook. The B33 was first registered on 1 January 1955, which means it was manufactured in late 54, making it the same age as me, which I found curiously appealing.

According to the documentation, it had been restored by its third owner in 1989 at around 38,000 miles, then mainly kept indoors as a reminder of past times. My pal had bought it from him in 2004 with 38,990 on the clock and added very little more in the next decade; when I collected it, the mileage was still only 39,117.

A thorough clean brought it up a treat; the petrol tank in particular had obviously been recently refinished to a very high standard. I wanted to assess the engine before getting stuck into the electrics, so began by investigating where all the oil had gone. Sure enough, it was in the crankcase, so that was drained and the tank filled with fresh Classic 20/50. There was good compression, the valve lifter worked OK and, with the plug out, a healthy spark came from the mag … so I tried to start it.

Using the normal routine for an old single – slightly retarded spark, choke closed, tickle carb, ease over