This is a 1950 BSA B33 I've been pursuing for 5 years, my personal unicorn. My buddy Danny, who found it in 2008, finally decided I should be the rightful caretaker. Story is there was a dilapidated house in North Hollywood with some old cars outside my buddy had been admiring for years. One day he stopped by and there was an old guy cleaning up. He asked about the cars, they weren't for sale, but the old dude told him he had something else. Apparently his brother had just died and left a house full of loaded guns and this Beezer. The brother went by "Candyman." There was also Candyman's leather jacket, which Danny's friend bought, full of strip club match books. The bike looks to have been customized in the 60's, last registered in '68, then put away for 40 years. 21" front wheel, Bates side-mount headlight, Sparto tail light, green rattle can, and some chrome. I'll be trying to maintain the character and get it mechanically sound. I want to keep it as a running time capsule. I'll get it running first then work on the chassis internals. It needs the primary cover screws, gasket, and some footpegs... but Danny says it runs good and went up the street a few times. The mag had been gone through and shoots a nice bright spark. But my gut tells me I will eventually need to go through the motor. Anyone with info on the bikes, parts resources, etc, feel free to contact me.
As found, out in the sunshine for the first time in decades
Love that bike! That's one of the few survivor bikes I've seen that looks like it would be usable and presentable with minimal work. Check for rusty/weak spokes or a rotten gas tank and if it's all good, get her runnin and put her to work. Congrats!
PS- I might just happen to have an NOS Superior jiffy-stand for your bike...
I love that bike. As has been said, I wouldn't change a thing, just clean it up and ride it. I think once you start looking a little closer, you'll find that the taillight is a BT&E, (Barnett Tool & Engineering - they still make clutches and cables.) It's a little more rare than the Sparto, cooler too. The headlight also looks more like an MC Enterprises than it does a Bates. This was the same headlight used on the original Easyrider bikes.
Pulled the front wheel off to replace the old cracked Dunlop tire and tube. Neighbor is hooking me up with a 21" modern Harley tire until I can find money for a correct old tire. Lubed all the old cables and they seem to be workig just fine. Basically just doing anything I can do that's free. Brake pads looked brand new. There was no brake stay so I need to make something. The rear Grasshopper holds air, has no cracks, and lots of tread, so I'm keeping it.
Just got back from a test ride. Runs strong. Shifts smooth. Made it to 3rd. Brakes work better. Pretty sketch to ride without foot rests. On to oil changes and gaskets.
It took a while, but after seeing a few sets of foot rests go for $100-$200, I managed to find a set of mid 50's Gold Star foot rests for $30. They had the correct spline. One was good, but the other required 2 hours of hand filing the splines to fix a boogered up section. A little gentle persuasion with a torch to make them work, and the Beezer has some footrests! All I have left is to clean the tank and I should be able to toodle around. That should satisfy me until I'm ready to completely disassemble it and clean it up (not paint it).
BTW I'm looking for a 21" dunlop or something else that would mate well with the grasshopper tire on the back.
great score, that rules so hard!!!! i will call around, the old dunlop speed ribs are my faves, i know some old curmudgeons around here that ive gotten them from before.
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