Kickstarting a newfound passion for the simpler life on two wheels.
The Green one is mine. On the show field at the British Car Union of Chicago Show.
Saturdays don’t usually start with a phone call from a friend with a pick-up truck telling me to get ready to be picked up in half an hour. There’s no mention about specifically where I’m going, but where we’re going requires a stop at a cash station for me. Apparently the destination will contain something that I “need to have”.
I’ve always been into vehicles that not everyone else has. When looking for a collector car, I didn’t look for a Mustang or a Camaro, I bought a Ford Falcon. I didn’t want to see myself coming down the road in the opposite direction while driving. My motorcycles are the same, I haven’t owned Harleys. When looking for a new bike a few years ago I purchased a BSA Hardtail built from spare parts by a motorcycle restorer. This BSA was my first foray into the world of British motorcycles.
Don’t trust friends with a pick-up truck and an open Saturday.
Back to Saturday morning, a stop the bank for cash, and a ride out to look at the motorcycles that I “needed”. This changes to motorcycles, because while driving it was revealed that I would be looking at two BSA motorcycles that an older gentleman was selling. These are the motorcycles that I “needed”. I put the word needed in quotes because I was told I “needed” them, as I never expressed a desire to triple my British bike collection in one trip.
We arrive at the older gentleman’s place and get to look at the two BSA motorcycles that he has in his garage. One is a 1967 Spitfire MK III, the other is a 1971 Thunderbolt Oil In Frame. Both have been parked for many years and would need significant work to get back into running and riding condition.
This is the story of the 1971 Oil In Frame bike.
So yes, needless to say both bikes were purchased and loaded into my friends pick up truck and transported to my workshop. The good thing is that timing of this purchase was early fall and I would have the entire winter to work on the bike to get it running for spring. As and ad or friend once said: “If it will get you to the end of the driveway, it can take you to the end of the world” maybe not the best piece of advice when rebuilding a motorcycle, but the optimism was all I needed to dig in and get the bike road worthy for the summer.
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