Staff Stuff

STAFF STUFF

SHARPminded readers may recall that the last time my A10 BSA graced these pages, it was seized and I was well-lubricated, having availed myself of the healing properties of three very tall mai-tais. At least the damn thing had the courtesy to weld its innards directly across from a well-stocked bar. An eBay purchase gone terribly wrong, the restored, “no expense spared,” 200-mile bike looked great in digital photos-and in person when I hopped a commuter flight the 400 miles north to inspect it, then ride it home along the Pacific Coast Highway. Ran good, too...well, at least with 105-octane race gas in the tank. Seems the builder, reasoning that Scrambler-spec 9:1 pistons weren’t high-comp enough, upped the ante with slugs of the 10.5:1 persuasion! Factor in pump gas, a nonadjustable Joe Hunt magneto (did I mention rings that never fully seated, turning the engine into a smoky, quart-every-200miles oiler?), and the result was as predictableand as effective-as lifting the cylinder head and dropping in a live hand grenade.

Disgusted, I trucked the dead Beezer home, pushed it to the back of the garage, threw a sheet over it and tried to forget the whole sorry incident. But the bike simply wouldn’t let me. Misguided motor tune aside, the restorer had put together a very pretty piece. Starting with a 1961 Super Rocket 650 roadster, he grafted on a combination of well-chosen Scrambler and Gold Star components to arrive at a streetbike BSA never made but probably should have-call it an Al OSS Spitfire Street Scrambler. Original Scramblers, among the rarest of A 10s, were sold for off-road use only, though dealers did offer a tiny Bates accessory lighting kit.

Getting my A10 back on the road would entail a full engine rebuild. Lucky for me, pre-unit BSA lover Steve Bunyard wrenches at British Marketing, a tidy little shop located in nearby Laguna Niguel. While the Twin was being painstakingly resurrected-with 8.5:1 pistons this time-I had painter pal Kenny Morris at Hot Rods-nHogs in Stanton respray the orangt-peely gas tank, adding a BSA crossedflags logo on top at the same time. Now, a couple hundred miles into its break-in period, my Scrambler is running like it should, a happy rumble emanating from its swoopy cross-over exhaust pipes. Call me biased, but I think it’s about as good as an A10 gets. Of course, I do have a Steve Tonkin five-speed gearbox intended for my stalled 650 café-racer project just lying about. One of the rare ’54 Daytonaderived twin-carb heads, too. Plus Eddie Dow alloy engine plates and some Webco finned rocker covers. Hmmm...

-David Edwards

STAFF: David Edwards STUFF: 1961 BSA Spitfire Scrambler FROM THE ARCHI VES: "Big, brawny BSA powerhouse Scrambler with full-race camsha ft. high-compression pistons and scrambles gearbox. Fine handling qualities and plenty of torque at the rear wheel make this popular model a winner in any competition. -BSA Sales Literature, 1961