Thanks everyone for the positive and kind comments so far. I usually try to answer most of them individually, but recently there have been so many! This bike put up a hell of a fight, and in the end there was nowhere left to go, excepting the cam timing. If I had known about this problem and the two timing marks twenty years ago, I would have probably fixed and kept a very tidy C15 G trials bike, which I had just presumed to be a 'Dud' because it ran well, but lacked power ...

Wow Paul ! What a difference, It's like night and day. Even in the video it was obvious the bike was pulling strong. The owner will be thrilled. Congrats. Perseverance paid off. Cheers, 👍🏍🇨🇦

I think the starfire is a handsome machine

It sounded like a mini-Gold Star when you gave it the stick. Great work Paul, you've certainly fettled that one.

@paulhenshaw4514

5 күн бұрын

Many thanks!

Those Starfires are impressive when on form and that is now ON Form!

This is the happiest I have ever heard you. I have not seen many of these in Ohio.The old BSA ads read ( ALL THE POWER AND ALL THE GLORY}.Thanks for the ride.

Wow. What a difference . The way you shot up that hill, compared to the earlier rides, and the difference in the sound of a very happy engine. No wonder you sounded so happy when you got back. Well done, Paul.

This brings back memories! I used to have a BSA C 15 (late 60s) which I lightly tuned with Alf Hagon cams; alpha bottom end; bigger carb; 10:1 HC piston - can’t remember if I changed the head with bigger inlet valves now (it was a long time ago!) but I do remember it was gas flowed. One of my mates had a Suzuki Super 6 250cc which was annoying me quick - and used to sicken me because it was a Japanese bike! 🤮. However another mate had a BBSA StarFire, and my goodness didn’t that go. Paul will know what I’m talking about - it had a very noticeable power band towards high revs - almost like a turbo kicking in!

Another win for your experience and persistence, it could almost stand gearing up the way it pulls, it was quite joyful to watch. I wish we could see the look on the owners face after he rides it and I'm sure he'll be glad he let you talk him into the extra work. Well done.

This was my first bike in 1977 . A `69 model I bought it off a squaddie in Barnsley ,it was in his cellar. Ran it for 5 years and it took me all over with no hint of the dire mechanical disasters I was told to expect from Honda CJ250 riders... Electrics were another matter but they were blindingly easy to diagnose and fix. It has followed me round in pieces these 40 years past waiting for me to get my finger out. I have been collecting bits and it will get put back together as a rider not a restoration . I have an ElectrixWorld set up to replace battery points etc and I`m not going to bother with lights ..bulb horn if needed. Got a BSA scramble dept exhaust ,always wanted a scrambles tank but they are too expensive. SRM sump ,maybe the cartridge filter? Got a TLS front brake plate as mine was SLS even though it was supposed to have the TLS in `69.

What a change!!! Pulled like a train up the hill and revved nearly to the red line with no fluffing at all!! Brilliant. Wouldn't it have been good if , back in the mid 60's the BSA apprentices had been given the same freedom as those at Enfield who created the Continental GT 250? it would be a close race between the two, Maybe the BSA would have, in the 7" tls brake better stopping power??? I would love to see comparison road tests of the two!!

It pulled nicely up that hill this time. Good thing you followed your hunch that the valve timing was off.

Great result Paul , i had one of these new in 1968 , fond memories for me ,thanks.

I wish all the vintage British motorcycles still had enclosed chains.

Hi Paul, I just bought an abandoned Bantam D7 trials project rolling chassis and have been pondering what engine to put in, I first thought about a B40 or a B33 and today someone suggested a B25, so a quick search on here gave me your other two vids of this bike and I'm thinking my other Wassell bantam would go faster than a B25.......But after seeing this now you have done the cam timing, wow, I'm on the lookout for a B25 engine. Great result.

Nice one Paul. The owner will be chuffed. I run a '69 Starfire, lovely little bikes.

Hi Paul, Great to see the Starfire perform the way it should. Glade you sorted out the timing issues and stuff on the bike. Cheers 👍

Well Done Paul, Had to be the cam timing as i wrote on your other test ride/video. The problem with marks on a cam wheel is that they are just that. You always assume the marks to be stamped correctly when new but not always so. It's even more confusing when there are two set's of marks. The Degree plate never lies and tell's you what is going on. Velocette's and Vincents are even worse as the cam is a interference push fit into the cam wheel and the cam can and does migrate/creep and then the timing marks are useless. Triumph on later models have three keyways on each cam wheel. The mark to the keyway is standard timing but you can dial the cam's in with the other two keyways. All interesting stuff and a result on the Starfire. I have plenty of spares for these engines plus A50/A65 should you ever need any. Cheers.

@janetmuskett3210

3 жыл бұрын

A master at work, well done, son.

Brilliant ! Goes faster in third than it used to pull in fourth. Well done. 👍🏻👏🏻

I love my BSA C-15 250 singles. My Triumphs TR25W is light enough and fast enough for me in the dirt.

What a lovely bike,I learned to ride on the road on a mates star fire back in the early 70s what great days they were.

Well done Paul, cracking bike now!

Well done. Your experience and 'feel' for the performance of the engine was an essential part of identifying the problem and applying the correct remedy.

Damned sure got it sorted by now. Well done Paul.

Good job Paul well thought out

that engine sounds awesome

a friend of mine bought a starfire new, he destroyed it trying to keep up with another mates CB72, we called these bikes back in the day but most of the problems were caused by the way a 16 year old rode and maintained them i think

Well done Paul great job, seek and they shall find! So is this standard valve timing or have you tweaked it i.e. ditto Enfield. Back in the dark ages of my youth always remember the BSA and Triumph variant not having a good reputation probably down to incorrect assembly, poor maintenance and also the owners trying to keep up with the Japanese bikes!

@paulhenshaw4514

3 жыл бұрын

Hi David and thanks! The valve timing is now correct [no tweaks].

What a great difference! Thanks for the video!

That sounds better! Well done Paul.

Completely different bike now, good job.

Shes pulls good for sure.A beauty!

@paulhenshaw4514

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

well done m8 sounds like a different bike 😜👍

It's like a different bike. Well done.

Clear from the start of the ride that you'd hit the nail! You've every right to feel chuffed with that one!

@paulhenshaw4514

Жыл бұрын

Thank you!

Love your work

That go's and sounds just great 💪👍

@paulhenshaw4514

Жыл бұрын

Thanks!

Really great little bikes, nice to here your fair opinion and genuine praise for the B25 Starfires, instead of the usual exaggerated and often ill informed slagging off they are subjected to by some. So many of them have survived unscathed, without blowing up, so they really can't be all that bad. They were afterall built as a sporty little hotrod for the young boy racers of the time, so did get thrashed and neglected. Unlike many other similar capacity British bikes the Starfire 250 has a frame, forks, suspension and brakes that were as good as many of the bigger Brit bikes of the period. As a 15 year old I used to drool over a blue and white Starfire that was a regular sight on the roads of my home town around 1980, gorgeous styling, great sound and a cute looking all alloy engine. I never rode or owned one over the following years, but did own a few Bonnevilles, a Trident and many classic Japanese bikes of all sizes until I packed in bikes in 1992. Then in 2015 I spotted a slightly scruffy but standard 1969 Starfire at Newark Autojumble, the flame of passion was rekindled, so I snapped it up and still have it. The performance, handling, sound and stopping power did not disappoint, close the throttle and it sounds just like a Bonnie on the overrun, fabulous! I think those cam timing marks have caused confusion and errors for many over the years, and I had forgotten about them until I found your video, thanks.

@paulhenshaw4514

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks - they are great little bikes, much better than many seem to think. ! was offered a very tidy one in the late seventies for £50, but it was too tidy to wreck around the fields!

@highdownmartin

Жыл бұрын

First Brit I nearly bought was a scruffy blue starfire. Still got pix of it, parked in the gutter with rain on the tank. Had a couple of ceefas down the years, and now 43 later just bought a nice starfire with a b40 engine in green lane trim. Very nice and a proper bike( I’m tall). The reputation is , like you say, undeserved. They blow up in the same way old Landrover’s are k unreliable and don’t steer or stop. It’s because they’re shagged and have never been maintained.

Brilliant, that's how I remember them!

As you say, it's remarkable that it ran at all 24 degrees out. I'm not sure if that's a tribute to something but it's good to see it sorted now

Great job.great viewing to.thankyou

You can tell from the snarl that the BMEP is up.

Many moons ago, I had the Triumph 250 and well remember it's perky performance.

RNT 5H Where are you now? She was such a little better, notwithstanding hitting a cow.

Could tell the difference as soon as you started it, much more "pop" in the exhaust note.

Hello Paul,,,ive contacted you before as i think ive the same problem...my crankshaft line is lined up with the V on the pinion,2 teeth away theres a line,am i correct that my timming is 2 teeth out ?thanks

@paulhenshaw4514

Жыл бұрын

Hi Dean, that could be the case if the engine feels a bit lame.

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