Description
This is my 1970 BSA B44 which I bought privately back in October 2018 from Leeds.
The bike is fitted with some extras, Bike-Seal puncture prevention for the tyre inner tubes, the Pazon, Sure-Fire electronic ignition, I have the instruction booklet for it. It is also fitted with a screw on oil filter fitted low behind the gearbox and no doubt these contribute to the bikes reliability. For the uninitiated starting is easy and aided by the electronic ignition and a decompression lever on the left handle bar. Tickle the carb, push on the kick start till you feel the compression stroke, apply decompression lever and just get the cylinder over the top, release the lever and then give it a good follow through kick and it usually starts easily. Happy to help any potential purchaser who is new to big singles to learn how to do this.
I service the bike myself, oil, oil filter and have only needed to adjust the tappets once, it's an easy job.
The bike is in good shape and practical for a vehicle over 50 years old. But clearly time takes its toll and there is some rust here and there, paint chips on the front of the tank from wrestling it on and off the frame and some rust on the chrome here and there and the headlight. For the last couple of years there has been a small oil weep from the nearside cylinder head, it's not got any worse although I keep an eye on it and continue to ride the bike. BSA parts are plentiful and easy to source from various suppliers so no problem keeping the bike going. I am just in the process of fitting the correct original tank fittings for holding the tank to the frame from Ripe Motorcycles BSA Specialist as the original was not correct and marked the top of the tank. Chis at Ripe was very helpful and can recommend. It was a long drive south from Leeds when I bought the bike and before I got home it was raining heavily and then started to snow, very unexpected but the bike performed faultlessly and still does. It has had 3 former owners since registration. I bought the bike because I just had this itch to ride a big single cylinder thumper motorcycle and it has been a whole lot of fun to ride and car drivers can hear you coming. The sound is superb when you open up the throttle and accelerate down the road, you can hear each bang of the cylinder. For those not familiar with this model it is derived from the bike ridden by Jeff Smith to two FIM 500cc world motocross championships in 1965/ 1966. BSA decided to capitalise on this and released the B44 Victor off roader and Shooting Star on road models. Mine is probably the last B44 to role out of the BSA factory in 1970 as it has the twin leading shoe front brake which is excellent given how light the bike is. This is a very rideable classic that has been reliable and has not done much more than 1, 100 miles since I bought it, no MOT or Vehicle Licence required so very cheap to run. I now have a classic Triumph which I tend to ride more these days as I have scratched that single cylinder itch, so I am reluctantly selling the BSA. From my understanding this is a BSA Victor but it has the Shooting Star tank, as the oil tank and side panels look like those from the Victor. Shortly after I bought the bike the original Shooting Star tank which was made from plastic started to leak. The previous owner told me it had been epoxied so I had another go at lining the inside of the tank but it didn't last long before it began to leak again, the Ethanol they now put in petrol is not good in a plastic tank. I ordered a cheap steel tank from India and simply replaced the original plastic tank, I have kept the plastic tank for anyone who would want the original. On reflection I could have ordered the correct Victor tank but I think it looks nicer with the Shooting Star tank, in any event they are cheap to buy from India if anyone wanted to put the bike back to Victor off road spec. This is a practical reliable classic that may also interest someone who has not thought of buying one for fear of maintenance and reliability issues. I have a couple of manuals for the bike, the Haynes manual for BSA Unit Singles and the very detailed Rupert Ratio Unit Single Manual Vol 1 for The Engine. I've priced the bike sensibly for a quick sale but will consider offers. Any questions please ask.
