3 Living with a Bantam

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1 3 Living with a Bantam will you get along together? People buy classic British bikes for all sorts of reasons, among them lusty performance, fine handling and riproaring style. The humble Bantam has none of these things. However, it has plenty of plus points of its own that make it an easy bike to live with, and a lot of fun. If you doubt that, just talk to any Bantam owner, and their enthusiasm for the little BSA will shine through. But first, is there any good reason why a Bantam might not suit you? Well, there s the performance, or lack of. Modern 125/175s can whip away from the lights and cruise at 70-75mph. Even the later 175 Bantams can only manage 65mph flat out, and acceleration is leisurely. The early 125s and the 150s are even slower, and the thought of riding one around the M25 or through a fast-moving stop-start rush hour is not a pleasant one. If you want to commute through manic traffic, or cover long distances quickly, then the Bantam is not for you. Secondly, if you re used to modern brakes, lights and suspension, then a Bantam, especially an early D1 or D3, will seem fairly rudimentary. To be fair, the brakes were well up to contemporary lightweight standards when they were new, but for modern traffic conditions, the front brake on the D1, D3 and D5 is quite weak. The D7 onwards brake was better, and all Bantams had decent rear brakes. It s a similar situation with lights, classed as adequate rather than good. Suspension certainly improved over the years, and there s a world between the first D1 with its basic forks and rigid rear end, and the final D14/4 and B175, with swingarm rear end and Triumph Sports Cub forks. Finally, like any older machine, a Bantam needs looking after. Modern bikes need only an oil check and chain tweak between major services, but the Bantam demands a lot more. We live in an age when consumer products keep working without much attention old bikes aren t like that. So owning a Bantam, as with owning any older bike, requires a different mindset: as well as regular servicing, riders need to keep an eye on things. Is that nut coming loose? Is that the start of an exhaust leak that will only get worse with the miles? Is this the right bike for you? A rare Bantam Sports is an eyecatcher. Ex-GPO Bantams have their own fans. 9

2 give way, though this is easy to check. Covers can tear and split, which, of course, allows rain in, soaking the foam padding which never dries out. That s a recipe for a permanently wet backside, or a rock hard seat on frosty mornings (the author speaks from experience). New covers and complete seats in various styles are available. If you can t get hold of a seat in the correct style, corroded pans can be welded back into shape, and torn covers replaced both are specialist jobs. 26 Worn kick-start and footrest rubbers indicate high mileage but they may have been replaced. Rubbers Worn footrest rubbers are a good sign of high mileage, though as they re so cheap and easy to replace, not an infallible one. They should be secure on the footrest and free of splits or tears. If the footrest itself is bent upwards, that s a sure sign the bike has been down the road at some point, so look for other telltale signs on that side. The kickstart and gearchange rubbers are also easy to replace, so well worn ones could indicate owner neglect. Beware of a worn smooth rubber on the kickstart your foot s liable to slip off while kicking the bike over, with painful results as the kickstart lever slams back into your leg. The rubber should also be firm on the lever and not drop off after half a dozen kicks. Of course, if the engine needs that many kicks to fire it up, then something s wrong there anyway. Frame The Bantam used three basic types of frame rigid, plunger and swingarm reflecting the evolution of its rear suspension. All of them were motorcycle-style welded tubular steel frames with single downtubes. They also contributed to the Bantam s appeal; unlike scooters, or bikes with pressed steel frames, the little BSA looked like a real motorcycle in miniature. The D1 used rigid and plunger frames, the D3 the plunger and swingarm, while D5 Major was swingarm only. The D7 Super had a new swingarm frame designed to look neater than its predecessor, and this frame was used right to the end of Bantam production, though with steadily improving forks. The frame should be straight and undamaged. The Bushman used this frame, too, but with a bashplate bolted on to protect the crankcase.

3 Engine/gearbox general impression Bantam engines are long-lived some say up to 40,000 miles is possible if the motor isn t abused, though others are sceptical. Either way, the unit is generally tough, and longer-lived than certain classic four-strokes. Look for chewed up screws or rounded off bolts, signs of enthusiastic but less than skilful previous owners. The life expectancy of the bottom end was certainly improved from 1957, when an oilway was introduced between the primary drive and left-hand main bearing this had previously relied on lube from the petroil mix only, which was marginal. Something else which improved engine life was the fitment of a proper paper element air filter from the D10 onwards. The D1-D7 used a strangler that, in the words of one expert, kept out bumblebees but not much else. It s part of motorcycling folklore that old British bikes leak oil, but this isn t such an issue for a Bantam, with its engine oil mixed in with the petrol. A little half-burnt oil can creep out of the exhaust port, and gearbox oil may weep from the primary drive cover and gearbox sprocket seal housing. If a gearbox leak is persistant, then the most likely cause is an unskilled owner/mechanic who used a screwdriver to prize the crankcase halves apart. If the engine is described as rebuilt, expect to see receipts, and better still, contact whoever did the job to verify that the work was done on this bike. Even buying from a classic bike dealer is no guarantee that a clean-looking engine really has been rebuilt. Some restorations are cosmetic only. Many of the same comments apply to the gearbox look for chewed fasteners and signs of neglect. Remove the oil filler cap and stick a finger inside to check if the oil had been changed recently nice clean EP90 or a frothy sludge? A tidy engine is a good sign. 32 Before starting, take a general look around the engine/gearbox. Look for fuel and exhaust leaks, plus chewed fasteners.

4 40 Cables should be well routed and work smoothly. Cables q 4 o 3 o 2 o1 All the control cables brake, throttle and choke should work smoothly without stiffness or jerking. Poorly lubricated, badly adjusted cables are an indication of general neglect, and the same goes for badly routed cables. Note that even new-looking cables may not be the best quality. If the brake lever comes back to the bars, it s worthwhile replacing the cable as well as relining the brake. Switchgear q 4 o 3 o 2 o1 Another example of Bantam simplicity switchgear is limited to a horn/dipswitch on the handlebars and a lighting and/or ignition switch in the headlight. The exact configuration depends on the model. Whatever is fitted, check that it works positively and reliably. Malfunctioning switches The light switch is are usually a simple problem to solve, but another headlamp-mounted. reason to bargain over price. Evaluation procedure Add up the total points. Score: 132 = excellent; 99 = good; 66 = average; 33 = poor. Bikes scoring over 92 will be completely useable and will require only maintenance and care to keep in condition. Bikes scoring between 33 and 69 will require serious restoration (at much the same cost regardless of score). Bikes scoring between 70 and 91 will require very careful assessment of necessary repair/ restoration costs in order to reach a realistic value.

5 13 Do you really want to restore? it ll take longer and cost more than you think There s a romance about restoration projects returning a sick bike back to blooming health and it s tempting to buy something that just needs a few small jobs to bring it up to scratch. But there are two things to think about: one, once you ve got the bike home and start taking it apart, those few small jobs could turn into big ones; two, restoration takes time, which is a precious thing in itself. Be honest with yourself will you get as much pleasure from working on the bike as you will from riding it? Of course, you could hand the whole lot over to a professional, and the biggest cost involved there is not the new parts, but the sheer labour involved. Such restorations don t come cheap, and, if taking this route, there are four other issues to bear in mind as well. First, make it absolutely clear what you want doing. Do you want the bike to be 100% original at the end of the process, or simply useable? Do you want a concours finish, or are you prepared to put up with a few blemishes on the original parts? Secondly, make sure that not only is a detailed estimate involved, but that it is more-or-less binding. There are too many stories of a person quoted one figure only to be presented with an invoice for a far larger one! 46 Freshly painted, ready to ride; the dream of every restoration project. Be honest do you want to spend time working on a Bantam, or riding it?