[Richard230]

The local high school held a benefit car show to support their shop program. Attached are a few photos that might interest you.

[Richard230]

And four more photos.

[Karl Childers]

Two things caught my eye, the BSA, it looks like a 66 Lightning, that was my first "big'' bike when I was a senior in high school.
I liked the army  jeep too I had a bout with restoring WWII military vehicles 15 years ago . Here's a 1945 G509 (built by Chevrolet) I restored. I ended up selling it to a collector overseas, it now lives in Australia.

[GlennF]

There are quite a few jeep clubs here in Australia.  There is one group about 15 miles down the road from me you see out and about occasionally.

[Richard230]

Two things caught my eye, the BSA, it looks like a 66 Lightning, that was my first "big'' bike when I was a senior in high school.
I liked the army  jeep too I had a bout with restoring WWII military vehicles 15 years ago . Here's a 1945 G509 (built by Chevrolet) I restored. I ended up selling it to a collector overseas, it now lives in Australia.

The side covers on the BSA said "Royal Star". I think you are right about the year. Attached is a photo of the poster that I have in my garage showing a 1968 (?) BSA Spitfire. And since I have three more attachments left, I will attach some more photos from the car show. Check out the front mudguard decoration on the Simplex bike.

[zimmemr]

The side covers on the BSA said "Royal Star". I think you are right about the year. Attached is a photo of the poster that I have in my garage showing a 1968 (?) BSA Spitfire. And since I have three more attachments left, I will attach some more photos from the car show. Check out the front mudguard decoration on the Simplex bike.

The BSA is a Royal Star, a 500cc tourer. Dead giveaways, beside the Royal Star emblem on the side cover are the single carb, and speedometer with no tach. They were nice bikes and for a BSA twin very reliable. I've rarely seen a red one, most were blue or black, but it does resemble the Lightening. I've attached a photo of my '66 Lightening for comparison. FWIW it's hard to say if it's a '66 or '67, In 1966 the seat handrail was an option, in 1967 it came standard but so many '66's had them installed that I'd never try to ascertain the bikes age based on that. However, it does have a Concentric carb on it which wasn't introduced until 1967, but again that's a popular retrofit for a worn out monoblock.

[Richard230]

Here are four interesting photos that I took today while at Alice's Restaurant. The car is an Ultima RS.

[Richard230]

And four more photos. There were 6 of those Lucid electric cars at the restaurant. They all took off in a convoy down Highway 84 toward the very foggy beach. But there was only one rat bike. 

[NVDucati]

The side covers on the BSA said "Royal Star". I think you are right about the year. Attached is a photo of the poster that I have in my garage showing a 1968 (?) BSA Spitfire. And since I have three more attachments left, I will attach some more photos from the car show. Check out the front mudguard decoration on the Simplex bike.

My high school "big bike" was a BSA Royal Star 500. I'm not a expert but my understanding was that the Royal Star 500 was the gentleman's cruiser and had that single carb so that it could not develop enough power to blow itself up .

[Bilgemaster]

My high school "big bike" was a BSA Royal Star 500. I'm not a expert but my understanding was that the Royal Star 500 was the gentleman's cruiser and had that single carb so that it could not develop enough power to blow itself up .

Man, I gotta tell ya I've really warmed up to those old BSA twins over the years. They used to seem kinda "frumpy" next to their somehow sexier Triumph or Norton competitors, but now they just "look like a motorcycle should" to my geezing old peepers. As for that single carb, speaking as someone who'd grown so weary of balancing a pair of worn out Amals to the point I went with a single one-into-two manifold on my old Norton, I approve. It may not have that "Mongol Whoop!" of the dualies, but it gives a far more troublefree and smoother ride.

[Karl Childers]

Unlike Triumph, BSA twins used a plain bush for the crankshaft on the timing side of the motor. Push them long and hard and eventually it was apt to fail. A lot of restorers of these bikes today will convert the timing side to a roller bearing for more reliability.

[Karl Childers]

Man, I gotta tell ya I've really warmed up to those old BSA twins over the years. They used to seem kinda "frumpy" next to their somehow sexier Triumph or Norton competitors, but now they just "look like a motorcycle should" to my geezing old peepers. As for that single carb, speaking as someone who'd grown so weary of balancing a pair of worn out Amals to the point I went with a single one-into-two manifold on my old Norton, I approve. It may not have that "Mongol Whoop!" of the dualies, but it gives a far more troublefree and smoother ride.

+1, I have owned a few Triumph TR6's and enjoyed the simplicity of a single carb over the duals the Bonnie's had. At that point of ownership as a middle aged restorer I was less concerned with flat out top end speed.

[zimmemr]

Unlike Triumph, BSA twins used a plain bush for the crankshaft on the timing side of the motor. Push them long and hard and eventually it was apt to fail. A lot of restorers of these bikes today will convert the timing side to a roller bearing for more reliability.

Don't forget that until 1968 500cc unit Triumph twins also used a bushing on the timing side with just about zero problems. As I recall Gary Nixons 1967 Daytona winning 500 Triumph had a bushing motor.

 The BSA's had problems because in 1966 they changed the drive side from a ball bearing to a roller bearing. The change let the crank wander from side to side, which BSA tried to control with shims and a thrust washer, which was a piss poor way of doing things and exacerbated by oiling system BSA used which fed the crank through a drilling in the bushing as opposed to the Triumphs end feed. Basically, it was just a poorly engineered set up, and compounded by a crappy oil pump that tended to warp and leak rather than produce enough pressure. It also allowed the bushing to turn in the case, when that happened oil flow was restricted and soon after the rods broke at the big end and smashed the cases. The ball/needle bearing conversion that SRM made popular is a vast improvement over the stock setup but it also includes reworking the lubrication path to convert it to and feed system similar to what Triumph always used.

Having said that there a still a fair amount of guys in the restoration community that rebuild A50/65 engines using the original style bush, I've watched a friend of mine that does a lot of A65 motors, it generally takes him 3 attempts to get the shimming where has to be. If I ever do another one, I'll bite the bullet and install the SRM kit.

[GlennF]

It is probably important to remember that in the 1960's the idea that you could just walk out to your bike every day and fire it up and ride it to work and then take it for a 200 mile road trip on the weekend and repeat that week in week out for a year or two without issues or a major breakdown would have been laughable and straight out of science fiction.

[Karl Childers]

It is probably important to remember that in the 1960's the idea that you could just walk out to your bike every day and fire it up and ride it to work and then take it for a 200 mile road trip on the weekend and repeat that week in week out for a year or two without issues or a major breakdown would have been laughable and straight out of science fiction.

Good point, I too often take for granted the motorcycles I ride today!