BSA B50 special Photopage .

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Mike C´s BSA B50 SS 1973.
Florida, USA




I have owned this bike since new in 73, it has been improved a couple of times and here it is as of now.
It has a E&V full race motor and everything else is stuff that I made up or adapted.
The bike weighs 238lb's dry and is quite fast and has good brakes at last.
Of all the bikes I have ever owned I would have to say I like this one best.

Mike C
Florida, USA

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Jerry Bradford´s BSA B50 SS 1972.
Bentonville Arkansas USA


Here's a picture of my '72 B50SS that I have mildly customized.
I have owned this one since 1982. At one time I had seven B50's,
but now I'm down to four, plus a couple 441's and a B25.
Jerry

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Peter Brinkwart´s BSA B50 SS Racer.
New York USA.





The B50 story goes way back to 1971 when my brother George bought a brand new B50ss
for all the reason why anyone did, it was cheaper than the Jap bikes,
think he paid close to $1000 for it, and it sounded right.

Well I do remember all those horrible times having to help push start it and some times
it just did not start period, God,! if only there was a way of time transporting all of
todays knowledge to then, as I'm sure it was a fair remedy for all its ills.

When it ran it was quite a ride, vibation and that sound, had a shorty muffler, simply great!.
Well the good times only lasted a year and then the crank pin snapped and it just coasted to a
to a spot where you could curse and scream at it without a soul noticing. There was no case damage
and it was that which prompted him to buy his first set of tools, so apart it went, and thats where
it stayed for a good part of a year until the dealer got a new crank assembly.

He put it together rode it for a while, stripped the original red and black paint scheme
and spray painted it some shade of blue, At this point he lost interest and sold it to his
brother-in-law, who sold it again.

Those memories always facinated me so I decided to buy a B50 several years ago. I found my B50T
on ebay in Louisiana for the sum of $1400, plus $400 to ship to New York, the bike was pretty
tired and did not have the original forks or front rim, something off an italian bike, Ducati I bet,
it ran but smoked quite a bit since I don't think it ran in quite a while, I think I bought it
as a non-runner. So it sat in my shed for over a year with hardly a notice, until my brother
George got wind of my purchase, he is quite an experienced trials rider and had to have a crack
at it, boy did his youth flash into his eyes at the first ankle smashing kick start,
still leathal after all these years!

Good fun was had by all as they say, and then again back to the sleepy shed it went. It was not
till a buddy of mine was visiting from California that I told him about the Bsa and that I wanted
to build a cafe racer," so lets bring it down to the garage so you can look it over", always helps
to have a few beers in you when you start a project... So it was over the next few months I took
it all apart, blasted the frame and disassembled the engine. To my surprise it looks as if I was
the first one in there as all the fasteners were original and not rounded off, and nothing was worn out!!!

What I ended up doing I may have done differenly today but this is what I did.
Stripped and removed all unnecessary lugs from the frame, welded on oil cooler mounts
and an oil fitting, made up stops for the triple trees and other miscellaneous attachments,
thouroughly cleaned and flushed out the frame and had it powder coated.

The hubs were drilled, powder coated and fitted with sealed bearings, and new alloy w3 18inch rims
fitted with S Steel spokes I also use a 19 tooth countershaft sprocket with a couple of different
rears, currently a 47 tooth powered by DID 520 ers chain, does not stretch and would probably solve
most peoples chain stretch and wear problems, expensive but worth it. I bought new 35mm Betor vintage
road forks, 35 mm clip ons, with Magura forged levers, custom made the fork stem and axel to work with
e BSA stuff, fitted works performance race shocks, Vintage Brake compitition linings arced to fit the
trued drum, amazing how powerful a professionally set up 8 inch TLS can be. Heavy duty front cable really
adds to the firm feeling.

The gas tank is alloy b50t with one tap welded up and a cross over tube fitted, really only need
one for the track. Seat is alloy b50t pan custom bent and welded to give more support with a custom
seat cover made, still attaches in the stock location. Front fender and rear tail section I made from
fiberglas cloth with epoxy resin, hate the smell of polyester resin.
The oil breather tank I made from sheet aluminum then tig welded, along with all the other
aluminum pieces I made them myself, rear sets, shifter linkage, torque arms, brackets etc.
I made the exhaust out of 1 7/8 S steel tubing and the megaphone from sheet SS stock tig welded.
The intake manifold I would probably do shorter next time but it does give a very torquey feel, and I
did not want to cut up the frame, it is aluminum taper cut and tig welded to match the carb and the
ported head. The carb is a 38mm Mikuni round slide with 270 main, Ignition is electronic twin plug and
curently it has all the charging system and battery in place.

The engine has most of the good stuff, Forged JE .020 over piston with total seal rings, Carillo 6.5 rod,
alpha crank pin, balanced and lighted crank, Bigger valves, Comp. springs, titanium retaines,
longer push rods, oiling modifications, oil cooler, out rigger bearing for the clutch, heavy duty
clutch plates and springs, its all saftey wired and has a belly pan to be legal in the vintage classes
of road racing, so far nothing has fallen off. I'm sure there is a bunch of stuff I forgot to mention.
Runs great on race gas and pings on high test, even with only about 24 gegrees of advance.
Peter Brinkwart.

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Wendy Ousley´s BSA B50 SS.

I am building a “rocker” B50 café bike. Attached is a photo of the work-in-progress
that includes the Goldstar Clubman replica tank custom made for the OIF backbone
and filler dimensions on the B50 by John Williams of The Tank Shop in Dumfries, Scotland.

Did the stock 1971 B50 ever come from the factory with a low pipe that did not wrap through the frame?
Is there a part number for this header? If not do you know an after market supplier for the header
(the reverse megaphone muffler shouldn’t be too hard to come by).?

Sort of working for a final look that says, “I wish I were a REAL Goldstar!” Ha!


Here are the finished photos of my B50 “Special”.
The motorbike is mostly stock except for the Boyer Bransden
Micro Digital Kit, and the tank.


Wendy Ousley USA

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Roger Brown´s B50 T 1971 (Calgary, Alberta, USA)

Here are 2 photographs of my B50 Cafe Racer.
Originally a 1971 B50T the frame has been powder coated British Racing Green
18" alloy rims with Avon tires. Original Dunstall silencer, rear sets, clip ons.


Seat is fabricated from the original B50 base.
Engine rebuilt to MX spec with 32mm concentric. A65 countershaft sprocket
to take 5/8 chain. 3/4" breather through ford non return valve.
Currently running with points and capacitor ignition. No battery.

Has covered about 1,200 miles this year and runs very strong.

Roger Brown

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Don Udey´s BSA B50 T (1971) Illinois, USA

Stanley Millard´s livingroom lamp.

BSA B50 MX engine in YAMAHA TZR chassie.
Sweden.
Point at photo to see more.

Updated 23:39 2006-05-14
© Rickard Nebrér