1965 BSA Lightning Rocket 650

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Пікірлер: 37

  • @garyhunt9838
    @garyhunt98382 жыл бұрын

    Thank you for representing old England Kaplan , this was the sound of my Father coming home after work and picking me up from School ☺

  • @richard9444
    @richard94442 жыл бұрын

    My dad dad one ,he was a rocker in London UK 🇬🇧 in the 60s ,he's 83 and still a rocket at heart.

  • @ianmangham4570

    @ianmangham4570

    2 жыл бұрын

    Very cool 😎 🙏🇬🇧

  • @user-ir6fm3qs4o
    @user-ir6fm3qs4o2 ай бұрын

    Nice bike. You should buy it and ride it young man. Be safe out there

  • @ZonkerRoberts
    @ZonkerRoberts2 жыл бұрын

    The BSA Lightning 650 is the bike Hunter S. Thompson rode in the 60's (even while he was writing his breakthrough book "Hells Angels"). Beautiful machine.

  • @ianmangham4570

    @ianmangham4570

    2 жыл бұрын

    Nice one I never knew that, I seen the interview he did where the hells angel rode the bike into the studio set. You can bet Hunter was the only guy who's bike started easily and never leaked oil over someone's driveway 😂🙏👍

  • @martincvitkovich724

    @martincvitkovich724

    Жыл бұрын

    @@ianmangham4570 Vertical split crank cases tended to leak

  • @notyetsilenced9746
    @notyetsilenced97462 жыл бұрын

    My second motorcycle. Bought used in 1969 for $500. Drove it for a month before the engine blew (left rod started clanking). Paid $300 for a rebuild. Drove it for another six months, then drove it from Rochester NY to San Francisco, then on to Burbank before the engine blew again (left ball bearing cage). A beautiful looking bike. Good handling. Good power for the time, but not a Norton. Reasonable comfort for the time. On the down side: pathetic brakes, Amal monobloc carbs warped and would stick open, corks in petcocks leaked fuel, oil leaked everywhere - especially sump pump cover, pathetic lights, no ignition key (easy to steal), kick starter lever broke off periodically, timing could not be adjusted individually for each cylinder, porous exhaust pipe seal against head, crazy left-handed-bolts everywhere, non-standard "Whitworth" bolts that no American or Metric socket set would ever fit, starting drill required "tickling" that sprayed gas over your fingers every time, cast iron piston rings randomly broke, valve guides came loose, punishing vibration at highway speeds, fiberglass side panels fragile, clutch cable broke often, throttle cable broke, inherently defective engine design based on timing side bushing that always wore-out (dropping oil pressure to the left rod), pathetic 6 volt electrics. "Bulletproof"? Not a word I would use! Fun when it ran right? Definitely. Not an experience I would choose again.

  • @davidefland1985
    @davidefland1985 Жыл бұрын

    I love BSA sounds so good

  • @mickgerard6696
    @mickgerard66962 жыл бұрын

    That’s a beauty boys. God bless ya.

  • @ianmangham4570
    @ianmangham45702 жыл бұрын

    World's most comfortable handlebars, imagine how far you could cruise on that beauty

  • @notyetsilenced9746

    @notyetsilenced9746

    2 жыл бұрын

    Reality is quite different. Stock seat is hard as a rock. Engine vibration peaked between 60-70 mph. Be careful what you wish for.

  • @ianmangham4570

    @ianmangham4570

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@notyetsilenced9746 Sit on a cushion and stay at 50mph 🙄

  • @martincvitkovich724

    @martincvitkovich724

    Жыл бұрын

    Hell, I toured for 3 months on a 1964 650 BSA Thunderbolt. In 1970 . It was a quite comfortable sickle

  • @ianmangham4570

    @ianmangham4570

    Жыл бұрын

    @@martincvitkovich724 My uncle Mick had a bsa goldflash 650 in the 70s 80s, he sure leaned her over with me sitting pillion at the roundabout, real smooth and great 👍 handling. 🤠💯

  • @ianmangham4570
    @ianmangham45702 жыл бұрын

    Beautiful 🙏👌❤️🇬🇧

  • @jethrox827
    @jethrox8272 жыл бұрын

    Reminds me of a biker heading to Woodstock in 1969

  • @davidefland1985
    @davidefland1985 Жыл бұрын

    It’s beautiful

  • @54macdog
    @54macdog2 жыл бұрын

    I hope the new BSA is successful and that they release a bike like this.

  • @notyetsilenced9746

    @notyetsilenced9746

    2 жыл бұрын

    I hope it is infinitely better than the 1965 A65.

  • @54macdog

    @54macdog

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@notyetsilenced9746

  • @zachwrench
    @zachwrench2 жыл бұрын

    Nice low mile bike there my dad has two a 66 & 67 both 650 lightings.I'll be watching this he may want a third bike both engines for his have been at the engine builder for over a year now and summer is fast approaching

  • @aumkar2
    @aumkar22 жыл бұрын

    Nothing beats sit up and beg.

  • @ianmangham4570
    @ianmangham45702 жыл бұрын

    Avon roadrunners made in 🇬🇧, had them on my gp125 in the 80s

  • @khadijagwen
    @khadijagwen Жыл бұрын

    I rode one at 120 MPH.

  • @Unfunny_Username_389
    @Unfunny_Username_3892 жыл бұрын

    Interesting! Sounds great. At the time, and for a decade or more before, British bikes like this must have presented quite a serious challenge to the Harley Davidsons. I imagine they were lighter, handled better, were quicker and used a less fuel. I personally think they look as good if not better than the US bikes too.

  • @notyetsilenced9746

    @notyetsilenced9746

    2 жыл бұрын

    In the 1950s perhaps. Sportster was preferred by those who had the money.

  • @josephliptak
    @josephliptak10 ай бұрын

    Sadly, i saw many BSAs, Triumphs, and Nortons get placed on the chopping block especially during the 1970s when most were bolting or welding hardtails on their stock bikes or removing the engine completely moving it to a rigid frame. The craze got so big it was nothing to see 350, 450, 500, and 750 Honda choppers everywhere along with the Kaws, zukis, and The Yamaha xs650.

  • @fredross3176
    @fredross317610 ай бұрын

    Ticking Time Bomb

  • @bwma
    @bwma2 жыл бұрын

    Nice BSA! You didn't even get that power egg up to its scary powerband. They flatten out around 4000 then pick back up around 5000rpm then hold on for another level of power.

  • @notyetsilenced9746

    @notyetsilenced9746

    2 жыл бұрын

    Scary? No. 50 horsepower may have been thrilling in 1965. Not today.

  • @glenminnick3724
    @glenminnick37242 жыл бұрын

    Bought my 5oo Trophy in 1975, owned a 66 bonnie, 73 Tiger, 75 850 commando later. Also a 69 G 80 cs Matchless! Made the mistake of getting married in 1989, ouch! Sold most of them ... shame on me!!

  • @kopynd1
    @kopynd1 Жыл бұрын

    when enfield built the twin if they copied the style of the a65 a50 twin engine a would have bought 1

  • @johnchopp3278
    @johnchopp32782 жыл бұрын

    My uncle had a yellow one. No idea where it ended up.

  • @ccrider00
    @ccrider0010 ай бұрын

    👳‍♂️ bezzers is for geezers, I'll take a 65-68 Royal Endfield 750 Inteceptor or same yrs Norton n-15 cs or 68 Norton P 11 I thank you please! 👳‍♂️"he-leo"🧞‍♂️👋

  • @ragnarironspear1791
    @ragnarironspear17912 жыл бұрын

    My father had the same bike until he married Mum .

  • @briamhess9865
    @briamhess98652 жыл бұрын

    I love you guys it's always something but I never see bull tacos bull Taco Jim palmeroy both taco I've got the last bull taco probably brought to United States custom built only Hugh knows prairieville New York I've had that bike for 40 years what about Taco