[CB550 Matt]

how rare are these bikes?

The 66 bsa hornet with matching engine and spare spitfire engine turned out to be a 66 spitfire and engine with a spare hornet engine.

I was going to turn it into a hardtail bobber but i have been told they are rare .... oh hell and it is not like I am swimming in cash to go buy a new hardtail frame with a MSO.


any info advice or flames are moth than welcome

Thanks
Matt

 

[HackAsaw]

post pix if you want useful advice

 

[CB550 Matt]

I got my info from a couple people.

The spitfire was the trimmed down version of the bsa lightning, had a tuned up engine, cam, and rather rare as it turns out, it had the amal Gran Prx carms and was super fast.

I was going to Bob it but instead I am going to do a partial restore and cafe it out some. It was already 85% cafe racer when made doing 100+ off the showroom floor. In 1966 there were 800 made and mine is #10 of the factory floor with matching engine and title.

It is not a usual suspect when it comes to cafe bikes since most of these were turned into hardtail choppers during the years. Hell I bought the bike with the sole intent on doing just that but looked up the serial number and noticed some info diference than was I was told so I dug deeper. I was about 3 days away from grinding off the rear end of the bike forever ruining it ... close F'ing call imo.

 

[Hoofhearted]

The 10th reason saved it?

 

[CB550 Matt]

omg hoof has followed me here,

Nah hoof the rare frame saved it, and respect for a thing that is limited and never made again. I just got real lucky on the bike, and even luckier I looked up the numbers and asked questions before ripping it apart.

It sorta derails my plans but like you said on JJ the bike decided what I was going to do with it, and with the lightning so common in comparison it is a easy thing to get parts for, I even found a source for the amal GP's but will prolly stick with later made carbs for useability.

When I get back to my bobber project I am going to get a Frame by dave or tigman done and just bite the bullet on cost or find a doner frame and bob that.

 

[HackAsaw]

without seeing how much of a spitfire you have

it's impossible to say much of anything other than choosing not to part or chop it due to it being 1 of 800

is an emotional decision and not a financial one

my guess is there isn't enough of it there to have you compelled to plunk down for the miserable GP's

haven't checked current market value on it but if any oil bag bsa matching numbers project would fetch decent money

a spitfire should

but if it's far from correct and complete and your notion is to put it back original

I'd suggest being extremely patient, that you have deep pockets, and be prepared not to get back 75% of your money when done

even if you do all the work yourself

 

[CB550 Matt]

I am not putting the gp's on it since I want to ride it. I may or may not in the future, but I have frame engine wheels hubs(including oversized front) handlebars speedo headlight both fenders and left side sheet metal .. the original gastank is in town at one of the PO's duaghters house under her bed, (I need to get a working phone number for him).

I am missing oil bag, right side metal and carbs, gas tank too if i can never get them.

Financially if I wanted to make out I could do so right now I paid 700 cash for frame engine title and another engine and a lot of parts and i have been send a few mails from the JJ site of people interested in it, as well as 3 guys I talked to on the phone about the bike at british bike shops offering stuff/cash for it.

I am not really interested in restoring or cashing out, but I will Prolly cafe it a bit without ruining the vintage parts i have and use aftermarket parts for fenders rims(stock ones are alloy stamped made in england and rare as hell apperently) and fiberglass side panels and handlebars, and replace my daily rider (74 honda cb550) and then start on my bobber project with the second engine if I can get a good deal on a mid to late 60's BSA a10 frame that is not a rare one.

Anything else I need for the bike is not actually that hard to get to make it 100% stock stince it was a stripped down Lightning and there is a ton of NOS parts for those and they were the same as the spitfire. rare parts are the frame front hub engine and the large gas tank for europe bikes.

 

[HackAsaw]

cool, sounds like you got a deal on it

I have a spare set of 689/389 carbs and for sure the GP's are not fun

I think Borianni's are quite acceptable on them, not sure if they were stock

the oil bag and tank should be easy enough... the large one is a bit tough but not impossible

I don't know what was rare about the front hub..... thinking it is the same ol same ol used for years

I recently snagged a complete wheel off ebay recently for less than 60 bucks

 

[CB550 Matt]

frotn hub was oversized with a much larger break for slowing, I need carbs but nto 100% sure on what size. Did you get a alloy rim from ebay recently?

I found a site that makes the gastanks in fiberglass, not sure I want it leaking on me tho when it cracks lol

 

[HackAsaw]

unless it's larger than 8 inches

I don't think it's a problem to get

school me since I don't have a good BSA resto book in my face

I think I only have two factory manuals and they are for 1970 and maybe another later one

sure on the alloy rims, sometimes they are quite easy and found under the most unsuspecting listing titles

I think I posted a nice sorta obscure link to one here and recently

if it is a BSA and uses monoblocs, it's 689/389 time

or you can use non-RH/LH pairs like commonly used on everything else not BSA

I think the bore size will have to be 1 1/8"

answer for glass tanks..... SealPak

 

[CB550 Matt]

spitfire has twin carbs, I am trying to get a tank to paint up that is not pristine, since I am not doing a full restore on it I am going to do some work on the tank and side covers. I will prolly do some soCal candies and lace work in orange tones on the tank and stuff and rechrome the fenders or use aluminum fenders and polish them up. That is if I cannot get an original tank for it. I figure I will keep the frame original and go with a custom paint job like I had in mind for the bobber project.

sorry for babbling it is late here an di just got home from work.

wanna sell some alloy rims for a bsa?

and my bike atm is pos ground should I swap it to neg ground when i put it together and put in a sparx altenator vs the lucas generator that is pos ground? what is needed for the converstion? I am making my own wiring harness and going to make LED stop and turn lights basicly coping my cb550 wiring diagram.