BSA A10 ride

His comments at the end are spot on and pretty funny too.
I watched about 1/3 of the ride, which was pleasant, then went to end for his comments. He also does a walk-around after 5.15 where we get a good look at the bike. It's a nice one! I'm not sure if it is a Super Rocket or Road Rocket. It sounds just like my 63 Super Rocket and seems to accelerate about the same way.
Some Avon RRs would improve his riding experience.
The summation is after 14:30

Certainly sounds sweet !

Yep, first thing I'd eject is the nobblies (and the '59 stickers ).

Mad how that bar mirror actually seems to work!

I suspect that the knobbies are the reason his w800 feels more planted than the A10.
I find the A 10 handling to be quite good with a Road Rider only on the front at present. One day I'll change the back too. It's currently a hard old Dunlop with lots of tread. I'm trying to wear it out at least halfway!

The A10 in the video has the same loping "hot cam" idle that my SR and most other A10s seem to have. From 60 to 63 the Super Rockets came with a " full race 357 cam" also known as the Spitfire cam. Some owners of earlier bikes have fitted the 357 cam. Apparently it does add a bit of pep at top as long as the cr is high enough.

In operation the bike sure doesn't feel like it's running on a full race cam as the low rpm pull from a corner is one of the bike's best features. The idle does have a race cam sound to it.
The A10s are one of the prettiest bikes ever built. The Super Rocket and Road Rocket with the 4 gallon UK tank are top of the heap in my eyes. They are every bit as pretty as a DBD34 or Rocket Goldstar but offer much more comfort. They also will start off without slipping the clutch for half a mile ( RRT2)

My Super Rocket was imported by Hap Alzina in California so it had the extra 3 Cs that Hap Alzina insisted on- Chrome, Compression and Cow bars. I tried to like the cow bars but they were awful for riding.
It also has a puny 10 litre US spec tank.
It makes no sense.
In the UK the next village and filling station is never very far away, yet they have a sensible 4 imp gallon tank.
In the US West, especially in the 50s/60s, the next town could be 150 miles away easily. It's still that way on some of the old highways. Hap said " Let's go with a 2 gallon tank then, it will look great!"


Glen

worntorn said:

I suspect that the nobbies are the reason his w800 feels more planted than the A10.
I find the A 10 handling to be quite good with a Road Rider only on the front at present. One day I'll change the back too. It's currently a hard old Dunlop with lots of tread. I'm trying to wear it out at least halfway!

The A10 in the video has the same loping "hot cam" idle that my SR and most other A10s seem to have. From 60 to 63 the Super Rockets came with a " full race 357 cam" also known as the Spitfire cam. Some owners of earlier bikes have fitted the 357 cam. Apparently it does add a bit of pep at top as long as the cr is high enough.

In operation the bike sure doesn't feel like it's running on a full race cam as the low rpm pull from a corner is one of the bike's best features. The idle does have a race cam sound to it.

Glen

Click to expand...

Mine improved going from tt100s to road riders so those tyres he has certainly make a hell of a difference to handling
I'm often surprised how good BSA got the chassis!
Mine still has the original swinging arm metalastic bushes which I do not like but still work so well!

Mine has those as well and they are good. It also has a fully enclosed chain which I quite like. The gearbox mainseal happens to have a very slight weep, just enough to act like a Scott Oiler inside the chain case. With lube and no road grit present, I suspect that the non sealed type chain will last a very long time.

Glen

worntorn said:

Mine has those as well and they are good. It also has a fully enclosed chain which I quite like. The gearbox mainseal happens to have a very slight weep, just enough to act like a Scott Oiler inside the chain case. With lube and no road grit present, I suspect that the non sealed type chain will last a very long time.

Glen

Click to expand...

I modified my sealing plate when I fitted a triumph clutch
I have a seal running on the non scrolled part of the triumph clutch adapter

Hmm
Haven't had the clutch off of mine. It is the 4 spring Triumph type which BSA fitted to the A10s in the later years, maybe just 61 on?
It's a very nice clutch to operate.

Glen

worntorn said:

Hmm
Haven't had the clutch off of mine. It is the 4 spring Triumph type which BSA fitted to the A10s in the later years, maybe just 61 on?
It's a very nice clutch to operate.

Glen

Click to expand...

I have the triumph 4 spring clutch with an SRM alloy pressure plate with the needle roller bearing

baz said:

Mine improved going from tt100s to road riders so those tyres he has certainly make a hell of a difference to handling
I'm often surprised how good BSA got the chassis!
Mine still has the original swinging arm metalastic bushes which I do not like but still work so well!

Click to expand...

lm assuming not liking cos there are prob better options out there?

nevertheless

pretty amazing how long originals can last & work!!


The Classic Motorcycle Channel 2 vids

I haven't had to do much to this A10 at all but haven't ridden it very far. I have raised the gearing in an attempt to make it suitable for times when fairly high cruising speeds must be maintained. That worked to a degree but its still not ideal for that type of road. That change reduced acceleration and made the bike less fun to ride.
I'm thinking of putting it back to stock gearing then using it on slower roads, 40 and 50 mph. There are some nice curvy ones just south of here in Washington State.
This could be a good bike for me use while getting back into riding.

On the plus side-
Easy to start
Not too heavy
Idles and runs nicely.
Very comfortable riding position
Not much temptation to speed
Sounds and looks great
Good braking with an A65 2 leader at front

The main minus is that it wouldn't be happy on the high speed highway/ motorway. Best to avoid those anyway.

Glen

74ok said:

lm assuming not liking cos there are prob better options out there?

nevertheless

A10 Swinging Arm bushes

A10 Swinging Arm bushes

www.bsaownersclub.co.uk

pretty amazing how long originals can last & work!!

BSa Swing Arm Rubber?

Watching this great series Classic Motorcycle Workshop and in today's upload Dave discusses a rubber type of swingarm bearing in a BSA at this point in the viddy: Are these used in many/all BSA's? Other makes?

www.accessnorton.com

The Classic Motorcycle Channel 2 vids

https://www.youtube.com/@TheClassicMotorcycleChannel2/videos

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It's the Idea of the swinging arm pivot being rubber mounted
It's imy mind that should be bronze bushes
But it actually works very well

worntorn said:

I haven't had to do much to this A10 at all but haven't ridden it very far. I have raised the gearing in an attempt to make it suitable for times when fairly high cruising speeds must be maintained. That worked to a degree but its still not ideal for that type of road. That change reduced acceleration and made the bike less fun to ride.
I'm thinking of putting it back to stock gearing then using it on slower roads, 40 and 50 mph. There are some nice curvy ones just south of here in Washington State.
This could be a good bike for me use while getting back into riding.

On the plus side-
Easy to start
Not too heavy
Idles and runs nicely.
Very comfortable riding position
Not much temptation to speed
Sounds and looks great
Good braking with an A65 2 leader at front

The main minus is that it wouldn't be happy on the high speed highway/ motorway. Best to avoid those anyway.

Glen

Click to expand...

I find my one very pleasant to ride
But not to ride anywhere at speed
Another thing I like about it is garage manoeuvrability,it has the steering lock of a trials bike
It's extremely easy to start and it's economical