WILL IT RUN.....BSA BANTAM ATTEMPTED START AFTER HIDING AWAY FOR YEARS

WORK CARRIES ON WITH THE NEW WIRING HARNESS CONNECTED UP, BATTERY INSTALLED, REPAIR WORK CARRIED OUT ON ALTERNATOR, A SMALL AMOUNT OF MACHINING, CARB STRIP DOWN AND THEN A BOUT OF VIGOROUS SWINGING ON THE KICK START OF THE BSA BANTAM B175........SUCCESS OR FAILURE ??????

[@gurmeharsingh5122]

Another great stuff by Mr Tweed….it’s because of you i was able to restore my villers 9d and this Bantam makes me so happy! Keep going

[@TweedsGarage]

Great to hear!

[@beansgas6821]

My father had a bantam (i was just a baby at the time, I'm 63 now) it was bright red (I think it might have been ex post office, though I'm not sure) he got nicked for speeding on it, the copper asked him where the fire was ha ha. I did have an old picture of me as a baby sitting on it, but where that is god only knows. Memory lane revisited, Love the videos by the way.

[@TweedsGarage]

Great to hear you like the videos, done for speeding on a Bantam!!!.....he must have been going downhill with a strong tail wind 😀

[@colinsmith4699]

A good videoj

[@mrdainase]

Subscribed in the hope I might drag out and finish off the D7 that's hiding in the back of my workshop!

[@TweedsGarage]

Its not doing any good back there 😁

[@retromechanicalengineer]

Very good video Mr Tweed. At least your silicone screw wasn't an Araldite screw, small mercies. Your wandering rotor/stator gap may magically disappear when you change your main bearings. Best wishes, Dean.

[@TweedsGarage]

I was wondering that Dean, we shall see when i dig into it 👍

[@RedHunter500]

Excellent video as usual. I've had two similar Bantams. Have to say I prefered working on them to riding them :¬) The first, a black one just needed a bit of fettling then was used for some gentle commuting before I decided I needed something a bit bigger (an AJS 250). The later blue one seemed destined to be perpetually rebuilt. My neighbour originally renovated then sold it, the purchaser kept it for a short while before dismantling it again then losing interest. My neighbour bought it back and sold it to me. I got it all back up & running - sweet as a nut - then sold it again. About a year later I spotted it back on ebay fully dismantled..... Hopefully someone is actually riding it now.

[@TweedsGarage]

Some of these basket cases do more mileage in boxes than they ever did as complete motorcycles 😆glad to have tweaked some memories, hopefully riding it won't be too disappointing but we shall see.

[@ralphhull6946]

First little motorcycle I learned to ride...brings back many happy memories.

[@TweedsGarage]

Glad to take you down memory lane Ralph.

[@dwillett7281]

Great job 👏 so good to see things being repaired rather than just fitting new or scrapping stuff.

[@TweedsGarage]

Thanks, you've got a brake light switch and horn rebuild to look forward to as well 🙂

[@petermckee1061]

Another fine video thanks Allan. I'm really looking forward to seeing further work on this lovely little bike. Cheers, Peter.

[@TweedsGarage]

My pleasure Peter

[@grandadsfishingboat7455]

Methodology methodology. If you had blown through those jets with your lungs onto a sheet of paper you would have known if they were blocked. As you just blasted them with high pressure air you will never know if there was a problem or not. Plus when taking float bowl off keep carb level to see hoew much fuel was in the bowl…fundamental things to let you know the status quo. Good series to watch. Tho

[@TweedsGarage]

Glad you're enjoying the series 👍

[@AllenORourke1954]

The sound of that engine brought back some memories Alan, my mate and I had one in about 1968, it was an early 125 D1 if I recall, we thought it would be a good idea to take the mudguards off, stick an old set of knobbly tyres on we'd gotten our hands on from somewhere; and try a bit of trial biking on the pit heaps where we live in County Durham. No surprise that the clutch lasted about three days, we were only 14 so a big lesson learned there, I learned an even bigger lesson when a lad turned up with a 350 Royal Enfield Bullet in full trail spec, well I had to have a go on it, kicked it over, into 1st gave it some throttle, dropped the clutch and it went straight into wheelie mode throwing me off and I broke my wrist on landing, what a beast of a machine... Happy days....Allen O'Rourke...

[@TweedsGarage]

Happy days indeed Allen, they stick Yamaha clutches in them nowadays for trial work

[@nicholasgerrish6022]

Damn….. I knew this would happen. The Old Riley has been ditched for the moment!

[@TweedsGarage]

Fear not Nicholas, I've had it running but it has sprung an oil leak , nothing series but the sump has to be dropped to get to it ( more video to come🙂 ) ......The previous owner of the Bantam is getting on a bit so its full steam ahead to get it running and riding to show him

[@terryblackman6217]

Very enjoyable video, looking forward to seeing your next installment.

[@TweedsGarage]

Thanks for tuning in Terry.

[@colinbeadle7109]

Your engineering skills inspire others as the comments show. Keep it going, love your humor. I recall BSA came up with a radical engine and overall machine design. A motor cycle magazine displayed the drawings and the writer of the article was impressed with whole concept. Unfortunately no further interest was shown by the company. Probably no investment available. I'm unable to find it on the internet. Have you ever come across it?

[@TweedsGarage]

I'm not sure Colin, i did find some photos of a Wankel rotary that they built a prototype of, but i should imagine like most of the BSA ideas it was probably shelved when Lady Docker wanted another Daimler gold plated 🙄

[@coplandjason]

Excellent video Allan and good to see the Bantam coming back to life

[@TweedsGarage]

Thanks Jason

[@frederickbowdler8169]

Plastic floats superceded brass!!😊

[@TweedsGarage]

When the brass one sinks it'll be an ethenol proof plastic one going in 👍

[@thebracketfactory]

I like the spark-plug-clamp-o-tron! I think I may be making one of those 🙂

[@TweedsGarage]

It is handy but does take the excitement out of testing for sparks 😁

[@thebracketfactory]

@@TweedsGarage 🤣

[@glenmiller3783]

Runs really nice

[@TweedsGarage]

It does sound healthy Glen

[@billdyke9745]

Excellent stuff. I've always liked small bikes and cheap cars. The vehicles that got people to work so that they could build big bikes and expensive cars for the undeserving rich... 🇻🇳. (No idea whose flag that is, btw. A red flag and a gold star. That'll do)... 👍

[@TweedsGarage]

It'll be interesting to ride and compare, as my Dad's generation tended to have them third hand and abused so didn't regard them very highly, so i shall give it an unbiased assessment.

[@billdyke9745]

@@TweedsGarage I am more your father's contemporary, and I grew up in Somerset where motorcycles were rife. I can honestly say that I never met a single person who had bought a new bike. Everybody had things that were at least 10 years old and fixing stuff on your mum's kitchen table when she wasn't looking was part and parcel of it all. I used to do all the mechanicing on my clapped out old bangers at the side of the street with a minimal tool kit, a Haynes and fingers crossed. Times have changed, Mr Tweed. We're supposed to be living in a greener age, yet nobody fixes things anymore. It's broken! Buy new! Which is why I like watching people fix stuff... (You even turn your own washers, fer feck's sake! How cool is that..? You can buy them from shops... Surprisingly expensive, though)... Respect. 👍

[@TweedsGarage]

@billdyke9745 always risky working on the kitchen table Bill as is using the dishwasher to clean engine cases and ovens to bake paint/ fit bearings.......if caught the tongue lashing is brutal😬 Im hoping the pendulum is swinging the other way and people are waking up to fact that you cant keep replacing stuff and it's better to repair, is it too late.....i don't know but lets hope not. As for washers you just can't get quality washers, they are normally too thin and too small on the outer diameter.....so i just make them which is quite satisfying. Glad you approve Bill 😊

[@leslieaustin151]

Really enjoying this as I had three Bantams and a C15 in my motorcycling days in 60s. Bantam has a simple little engine/gearbox unit, as befits it’s German origins. Now back on bikes in my 70s, but a Yamaha (and a Honda under repair). Just subscribed for the Bantam! Les

[@TweedsGarage]

@@leslieaustin151 glad to have you aboard Les 🙂

[@453421abcdefg12345]

That all worked out very well! I am sure your theory about the eccentricity of the rotor is the reason for the varying gap. The surprise for me was the preference for crimped wire connectors, I have always considered these as one step away from a dry joint, I would think a properly soldered joint, supported by a shrink sleeve would be far less likely to stress fail than a crimped joint, given that it must be work hardened in the crimping process ? I also think that wiring looms left dangling as they so often are, are the most usual culprit for causing wire fractures, but vibrating machines are very hard on these systems, especially when the copper gets work hardened with constant movement. Enjoy the warm weather, we have 37 des here! Chris B.

[@TweedsGarage]

Hi Chris, that is hot, its been a scorching day with no breeze down at Goodwood today with nobody moving, i feel for the traders as they pay thousands for the pitches but nobody was at the stalls from about 10.30 onwards, cooler tomorrow so hopefully they get a return on their pitch. The solder/crimp debate is one of those subjects that could start world wars but i trained as an aircraft electrical/instrument engineer at the Royal Aircraft Establishment and aircraft wiring was always crimps ( but the crimps are far higher quality and technically complex than the cheap red, blue and yellow insulated affairs that come in those crimp kits and the proper crimp tools for them run into the hundreds of pounds ) Hope it cools down in France for you a bit . Mr T

[@ludditeneaderthal]

A proper crimp won't have stress at the joint. Aircraft crimps "bite" twice, once at the wire joint, another (stress relieving) on the "bitter end" of the insulation. Properly done, all the stress is taken up on the insulation, and the actual conductor/terminal joint "floats" free from any mechanical stress. In aircraft, those terminal crimps are inspected quite closely, and any found less than perfect are rejected. Of course, on a bike or car, a failed solder joint doesn't usually cause a crash into a mountainside from several thousand feet above, just an inconvenience, and loitering in the rain until rescue arrives, lol

[@453421abcdefg12345]

@@ludditeneaderthal I think the term "a proper crimp" is the key factor here, very few "normal" people have access to a proper tool as used in the aviation world, they must rely on a shop bought device that crushes the connector and causes local work hardening and a potential stress point, I accept that an incorrectly soldered joint can also lead to solder wetting down the wire and localised hardening of the insulation, but of the 2 methods I think the soldered joint, done correctly, is far better, there is of course the added problem caused by a Neanderthal with a soldering iron that will melt any electronic device within range, so there a crimp could be less problematical Stay safe! Chris B.

[@ludditeneaderthal]

@453421abcdefg12345 anybody can do a "proper crimp" with almost any crimper with a decent jaw profile, even those incredibly cheap lousy ones. Getting your grubby paws on decent terminals is actually the hard part. I agree, those insulated red, blue, yellow assortments are incredibly hard pressed to offer anything approaching a halfway decent crimp, at best. Since radio shack went the way of the dodo (and even a few years before, when they stopped stocking anything related to their original business model), finding a double crimp terminal locally is about as likely as hitting powerball. My point was more a why on the aviation insistence on crimps, as opposed to solder, wire nuts, screw union blocks, or scotch-locks, lol (yes, I've seen them all used on cars). Solder is way better than 99 cent terminals crimped with side cutters, or any of the above heresy. But, a good crimp on a good terminal is, undoubtedly, "best practices".

[@TweedsGarage]

@@ludditeneaderthal a very nice description of the mechanics of a crimped joint, thanks for the input. I spent many an hour with very expensive crimp tools in the equipment bays of an English Electric Canberras, Blackburn Bucccaneers and Hawker Hunters recrimping Nyvin cables.

[@nickaxe771]

Love watching you work Allen.....your lathe looks stunning....Old British I suspect....my dad was a tool maker. Nice job on the alt coils....very neat....heat shrink is so handy isn't it....I owned a small aircraft some years ago....so I agree re solder joints. Re your carb....the pilot jet drilling tubes and the tiny pressed in bush jet is a bugger for blocking a source of lots of running probs. What was the screw through the air filter air hose at the carb end?

[@TweedsGarage]

I could say its for fitting a vacuum gauge to balance the carbs.....but it only has one so I suspect it was to block a hole ( I will get a new hose ). Collette is my Colchester Student 1800 lathe and Bridget is the Adcock & Shipley Bridgeport milling machine

[@nickaxe771]

Mill as well.....I am impressed@@TweedsGarage

[@colinwellman9480]

Nice to hear it running, takes me back to my early years when they were a common sight, and sound. The joy of owning a lathe! No scrabbling around in the odds and sods tin to find something that might do. Have you still got the Excelsior? I'm a big fan of your channel along with 1.11 K subscribers, however, there are some nasty people commenting on other channels and you're leaving yourself wide open with the thermometer you are using.😁 Thanks for the video.👍

[@TweedsGarage]

What....my compost bin thermometer Colin ?! 😁, Yes the joy of owning a lathe never goes and fear not the Excelsior is still in the workshop ( there is more content in the pipe line.

[@984francis]

"Put some slurry on it boy." Les Barter, Trog Shop instructor, RAE 1974..........

[@shedbythetracks]

I was on the edge of my seat the whole time! You and that fella from New Zealand seem to have entered into a conspiracy to lure me into buying some old junk motor bike. I must stay strong and resist. Cheers from the shed.

[@asciimation]

What fella? Bike are where it's at these days. See all the progress!

[@shedbythetracks]

😆😆@@asciimation

[@TweedsGarage]

You're going to wear the edge of that seat out Randahl 😁

[@gbentley8176]

She wants to go Mr T. Riley or Bantam, I have taken a bet on which one will emerge running first. Thanks for posting.

[@TweedsGarage]

My pleasure Mr B 🙂

[@GeneralMe100]

why didn't you remove the jet block, means you haven't checked whether it has a 2 stroke or 4 stroke needle jet

[@teamjdb]

I don't know how familiar you are with KZbin machinists, but that wasn't Mr Crispin's brother's toothbrush cleaning the mag wires was it?

[@TweedsGarage]

Have a close look the writing on the handle of the toothbrush 😉

[@teamjdb]

I hadn't noticed that, very funny!

[@mechanics4all405]

will you advise me on installing electronic ignition on villiers 2T please?

[@TweedsGarage]

Sure, are you getting a full kit ( ignition/ generator) or a basic points replacement unit?

[@mechanics4all405]

basic victa system,will advise when arrives,collecting bike first week of december as I am paying by installments,thanks so much@@TweedsGarage

[@oldfarthacks]

You sir are either a very brave man, or quite foolish. Taking the switches apart was indeed brave as is taking that alternator cover off over the bed of leaves under the bike. I would be afraid of dropping a screw or some other little bit and then going insane looking for it. I salute your bravery. It's interesting that there are no diodes in that area, so where does the AC from the alternator get converted into DC? In watching you machine, at a couple of points, I was afraid that your moustache was going to get caught up in the lathe. I have to watch my beard at times for the same issue. Anyway, this looks to be a fun project. A final question, where are the llamas to go with the theme music? Did you get any from the Monty Python group?

[@TweedsGarage]

It has a bridge rectifier mounted behind the battery tray which sorts out the AC to DC conversion then the voltage regulation is carried out by the wattage of the bulbs and the the two sets of coils being switched independently to raise or lower the voltage.........this is why this system works ok until a bulb blows, then more bulbs blow in quick succession And as for the Llamas, they had to go as they kept bursting into the workshop pretending to be the Spanish inquisition and knocking everything over....

[@oldfarthacks]

@@TweedsGarage Ah the mix of English electrics and Llamas, always fun.

[@davidward8682]

will the bantam be for sale

[@TweedsGarage]

it may be one day David but I´ve got to get it running and riding first, then see what its like to ride.