Purists look away now....

Hello Dennis,

That looks a really good job.  It's your bike and you can ignore any comments from the purists -they don't as a rule know what they are talking about.

Patrick

Great looking special Dennis, reminds me of the Jubilee I built from bits as a teenagers in the 70s but far more professional and very tidy!   I just love the reverse cone megas - I bet it sounds superb!  

Looks good to me!  the jubilee is very noisy if the Megas don’t have good baffles, people used to put their hands over their ears as I climbed hills! Got fined for my trouble though ... mind you it was in 1977 and the Dunstal replicas I bought from armours were no better! 

If you want a standard seat, I’m tall and like to slide back a bit, they are available from Bantam john and leightons. 

No prob!

Posting pics is easy, just click on the picture of the photo above where you write and add the pic from your comp/phone.

if it would just stop raining and my cold clear up and I’d start building my Navi special. I haven’t made up my mind about colour but am thinking polychromatic blue frame and silver tank and oil tank. I had a pleasant surprise while looking through my stash of parts to see the tank I intend to use in NOS! 

Oh and be careful putting the bike on the stand with an Ali rear mudguard, it’s easy to distort it if you heave on the stays.

finally, I’d probably lower the front mudguard a little, but that’s personal choice! 

This is also a purist´s nightmare:

Seat and rear hump still in the works

Story behind it: The owners car with the freshly overhauled original engine lying inside was stolen so he had to look for an alternative. He found this Honda 250 twin and squeezed it into the frame.

I bought the front mudguard, original kickstarter, gear shifter and some other parts from him for my Navigator.

Just a thought Dennis, which of course you may have already considered.  As you are using a none standard, much lower profile aluminium mudguard perhaps it is worth making a shorter aluminium or steel upper mounting stay which would lower the mudguard and allow you to lower the mounting clamps on the forks to give you plenty of adjustment on the brake cable.   It would be easy enough to drill a new hole to reposition the bracket for the lower mounting stay attachment to suit.

Nick

Hi  Dennis.

Your bike looks fab and you have put it together in a way that appeals to you. I am on with a Jubilee at the moment, I am really enjoying working on it. we need to encourage all tastes to the world of classic bikes, not just the it aint std brigade.

A youngster in days gone by created it, alloy guards cafe racer style headlight and brackets, metallic golden orange frame, megaphones, norton stickers on the tank rather than badges, high back light,etc.

I intend to keep it that sort of way, as that's what most younger lads did way back when. the Magazines of that time encouraged and featured specials and improvements,and everyone worked on them in sheds and back yards.

Evolution does not stand still for all, hence the Triton and others that have paved the way to the machines of today.

Kevin.

But as said the only part that doesn't look quite right is the front mudguard. I'd suggest it's actually the wrong radius - probably for a 19" or even 21" wheel. Mudguards always look better if they're close to the tyre.

I really don't like the enormous gap that Gold Stars have between the back mudguard and the tyre. Totally unnecessary.

I would have made different choices about the seat and silencers, but the important thing is that you have transformed a heap of bits into a working example of a model that although under-rated could have led to much more.

has raised a rather intriguing train of thought in my mind. When insuring such bikes, how do you respond to the question, "Has it been modified in any way?" and what effect does it have on the eventual quotation?

Hi Dennis.

Will take some pics when I can and post them.

Wonder how many people with Goldstars many with Akront rims the odd Mikuni and loads of stainless bits get on if that is modified. They say there are more Gold stars and Rocket Goldstars registered than BSA ever built. Makes you wonder if the ones that know that declare that to the insurance people, can't see it at the money they go for, oh well.

I have quite a few brit bikes with period parts, my BSA B40 trials is deemed to be ok, as is my B25 with yamaha period  alloys.  In my family we've had Tricatis Tritons, BSA sunbeam scooter engines in Bantam frames, never had any probs. I am on a special 2T at the moment.

Tell you what does worry me, people using poor grade soft stainless for stressed parts, sometimes it's better to be safe than shiney.

will see if I can post a few pics of some of my mentioned bikes.

Kevin

Nothing wrong with specials, nice bikes, I like the round barrel victor, although to my eye the rear mudguard needs a bit of adjustment! ;-)

I could have been a purist if a had a museum. My bikes are to be ridden, so they have some deviations from original. Neither do I think that period mods are out of place. As long as you don't destroy original part, making it impossible to return it to original. What you have done from a heap of bits is truely impressing.