'68 BSA Victor Build..... Bloody 'el mate... You 'effin daft or sommat?!?

Hey - how the heck did I miss this entire thread? @Jim - you must have bought this cool old beezer right after I was at your place to grab my tins and you didn't even mention it on the phone today!

Anyhow, she sure like like a great bike and remarkably complete and clean (from the photos I have looked at) - and as others have said, after you wave your magic wand at her, she'll sparkle!

As an aside, there is an older Brit in my vintage bike club who has at least two BSA Gold Stars (late 50's I think) - both immaculate and a third that he is restoring. They are great bikes - loud and pretty darned fast too.

This one rates a solid :popcorn::popcorn::popcorn::popcorn: - watching with great interest!

Pete
 
bosco659 said:
Jim if there’s a part you’re looking for, I can help you hunt for it up here in the frozen north. I see 441’s once in a while in the local ads. Lmk if I can help. I could snag it for you and ship it down. There’s a guy selling a beat up old one right now with a bunch of spare parts. I’ll find and post the link.

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-motorcycle-...or-bike-and-motors-everything-2200/1539920399
Click to expand...

I can help with this - once the border opens a little more, I'd be happy to nip across to a US Postal Service depot and shoot the package along to Jim.

Also - if you let me know anything you are missing Jim - I'll ask in our club here. There a lot of BritBike guys and they may have the odd piece to spare.

Pete
 
I don't know how I missed this thread either. I had a Victor a few years ago and still kick myself for selling it. It was an enjoyable little thing. It would always start by third kick. The compression release is very important to the longevity of the kicker parts which were originally designed for a smaller engine. Between factory errors and crashes twisted frames are not uncommon. I've been watching Paul Brodie's YouTube videos and he shows what he found on an old Triumph frame;
 
Daylight... measured and marked the centerline at 4 places. When I line up my string on the fore and aft marks, all are lined up. So, the frame isn't bent... at least not the rear hoop and backbone tube.... phew....

zz marks.png
zzz marks.jpg



The rear wheel is way off center. Like... offset to the right over an inch.


zz rear wheel.png



There is less than 1/4" gap between the brake hub and swingarm on the left side...


zz gap.png



So, it's physically impossible to center the rear wheel in the swingarm. I'll do a close measure of the swingarm after I remove it, but it visually doesn't look bent.
Does that mean it was designed and built with this wheel offset?
Questions... suggestions...wtf comments? :umm:

Signed, confused in KC.
 
It seems that the rear wheel is offset from the factory? You might post some questions in some British bike forums.

Taken from Britbike Forum, a conversation about wheel alignment,

https://www.britbike.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=425541

“To allow the chains to line up and to allow a fatter tyre the C15C frame (used in the B44's) mounted the engine over to the left, so the center of gravity does not go down through the tyres on a vertical bike but is offset to the left. Correctly setup you should still be able to lineup the front and rear rims plus have the sprockets in line. Without realising it when you are riding the bike you will lean the bike a little to the right and/or adjust your own weight. For some reason this setup has morphed into the wheels being out of line when setup as per the factory, I have owned C15C bikes for nearly 30 years and always have been able to have the wheels lined up and have had no adverse effects with the chains and sprockets wearing out or showing as being out of line.”

And another,
https://britbike.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=33696

Some more,
http://www.b50.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4404
 
Rasputin said:
The rim may have been moved over on the hub to keep the big knobbly tyre away from the chain.
Click to expand...
It doesn't appear to be... but I'll check that when I get the wheel off.
Don't really see a need for a rim offset, as there's about a 7/8" gap between where the chain would run and the knobby.


zzzz.jpg
 
Just one more quote about rear wheels being offset, taken from ,
http://www.b50.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4404

“BSA built them with the rear wheel rim offset to the right. This was solely to give clearance between the chain and tyre. The engine is offset to the left for the same reason. The gearbox sprocket and rear wheel sprocket must be in line, eveything else is a compromise.”
 
Mr Mailman probably have it .. but to think out loud I would consider the possibility there has been a wheel change
After a jump or so hitting a rock and then looking for a solution taking a wheel close by-
 
Mailman said:
It seems that the rear wheel is offset from the factory? You might post some questions in some British bike forums.

Taken from Britbike Forum, a conversation about wheel alignment,

https://www.britbike.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=425541

“To allow the chains to line up and to allow a fatter tyre the C15C frame (used in the B44's) mounted the engine over to the left, so the center of gravity does not go down through the tyres on a vertical bike but is offset to the left. Correctly setup you should still be able to lineup the front and rear rims plus have the sprockets in line. Without realising it when you are riding the bike you will lean the bike a little to the right and/or adjust your own weight. For some reason this setup has morphed into the wheels being out of line when setup as per the factory, I have owned C15C bikes for nearly 30 years and always have been able to have the wheels lined up and have had no adverse effects with the chains and sprockets wearing out or showing as being out of line.”

And another,
https://britbike.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=33696

Some more,
http://www.b50.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4404
Click to expand...
Doh.... should have thought to look at some Brit bike forums. All that makes sense in a way... I definitely noticed that the engine is offset to the left in the frame. It's starting to look like this is normal. Weird... but normal.
Maybe @Scripto VU can chime in here?

Here's the front engine mount....


1646855749678.png



... and the front of the cases...


1646855873128.png



An engine offset to the left and wheel offset to the right seems counterintuitive though.... :umm:
 
Jim, been a long time since I've had one of those apart. Is that the QD hub? The wheel hub is splined to the brake drum.
Sight down the side of the tire to the sprocket and see how much chain clearance there is to the edge of the tire. You can shift the rim with spoke adjustment if there's room for chain clearance.
 
Jim said:
An engine offset to the left and wheel offset to the right seems counterintuitive though.
Click to expand...

Moving the engine to the left is an attempt to move the drive sprocket and chain to the left as far as possible. The rear sprocket , as you noted is nearly touching the left side of the swingarm. The rear hub does sit to the left as far as possible. What I seem to understand is that the wheel has been built with an off center bias to move it over to the right. Am I understanding this correctly?

Edit: No I don’t think the wheel is built off center, I think the second link I provided above gives the explanation. The wheel is true, the placement is deliberately off center from the factory.
 
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