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[simon]

I started up the 350 Bitsa yesterday for the first time in probably over a month. After briefly covering the neighbourhood in a pall of white smoke (I hadn't left it at tdc) it cleared and went as it always does like a charm. Smooth and tractable and a first kick starter with its SR1 hurling an irresistable spark. Trouble is I now have a 1970 B44 Shooting Star. I sold the Ducati 860 and bought a barn find BSA and spent the last five months totally restoring it. It is in a lot of ways a less charming machine than the Bullet and it certainly doesn't start as easily but it goes like shit off a stick. It vibrates like a sex toy and clatters with a pingy all alloy motor but it will pull an easy 70mph and is apparently good for 90mph. This makes it a good partner for the V50 Guzzi which is an extremely practical machine that also handles open road speeds for extended periods. Whilst I have the storage space it seems a shame to leave the Bullet just sitting there gathering dust so it might be time to consider moving it on. I'll have to give it some solid thought before leaping in as it is a bitsa. An early 90's Indian 350 frame with early 50's English front forks, headlamp and real Smiths chronometric speedo. The Indian motor with a alloy barrel and a big Amal monobloc with the aforementioned Lucas SR-1 with a ATD providing an overall 1950's look (half width hubs etc). There are various other mods and improvements that make it go really well but none of them change the fact that it isn't a bike with any provenance. Whilst I realize cost doesn't equal value it is far too nice to flog for the minimal dollars that such a collection of bits is worth especially when you consider that pulling it apart and selling the bits would likely nett more. Its a conundrum alright!

[Adrian]

It would be a shame to let it go, especially when you seem to have made a decent job of it - wouldn't a well-tuned 500 engine help it keep up? When I got my first Indian built Enfield I sold my unit single BSAs, including my quite successful B40-engined Starfire, and, perhaps rashly, my part-restored round fin B44 Victor Enduro, one of the prettiest bikes BSA ever made. You can't have it all.



If you MUST sell, what's the asking price including shipping to the UK?



If you feel you ought to sell but want to put buyers off, just leave it with the crank off TDC again...



A.

[Bullet Whisperer]

Hi Simon. It would be an easy one for me, having no real interest in Guzzis, although I enjoyed a test ride on an 850 Le Mans after doing a top end rebuild on it a few years back. The pecking order with these three, for me, would be the BSA definitely staying put, then the Bullet and bye bye V50. Regards, Paul.

[Rattlebattle]

Take care with the B44; you can either go far or fast, not both. Hand grenades is an epithet I've seen used in respect of unit Beezas.

[Adrian]

I think that applies particularly to the C25 Barracuda and B25 Starfire (also the TR25W Triumph) with the one piece cranks and alloy con-rods, early versions of which were definitely reckoned to be fragile. BSA strengthened the design of the rod by the time they got around to the oil-in-frame version, probably several years too late. Generally speaking later model C15s and B40s were usually tough enough, as were the B44 models.



BSA boosted the bottom end of the 500cc B50 with an extra bearing on the crankshaft but forgot to beef up the con-rod for weight of the bigger 500 piston. Despite them being steel forgings, there were well-recorded instances of B50 con-rods letting go, with much the same results as a failed 500 Bullet con-rod. I seem to recall quite a trade in CCM and Carillo con-rods for anxious B50 owners in the days when I spent my money at OTJ of Edenbridge rather than HMC.



A.

[Rattlebattle]

Yes, I know all that; I've had a lot more Beezas than my one RE (a UCE EFI)....Probably the most fragile was the B25 Barracuda, the first of the 250cc square barrels with a 10:1 or thereabouts CR. I recall the tests of the day saying that the 441 Shooting Star was not much quicker than that and vibrated more. A friend had one and could never start it (wimp). For serious use a Carrillo rod is needed IMHO. My pick would be the last of the C15s, the 1966-only Sportsman. Basically the last of the SS80s it had the improved bottom end like the military B40s, probably the best engine. Whilst the 440s were great competition bikes they did need a rebuild fairly often. For me the pre-unit Beeza singles were better bikes. Certainly my Goldie never vibrated anything like a B44.

[simon]

The B44 seems to have had a bottom end modififaction already with a B50 big end bearing in place. It is a strange fsh the V50 being more like a two wheeled car than a motorcycle (a trait shared by all shaft drives i suppose) but it is smooth, fast, reliable and economical. I still have a romantic vision of setting off on a long ride and if I did that it would most likely be the Guzzi. True it is a personality free zone although quite pretty in its Monza livery plus as light as the Bullet which is good for my aging bones.

[Rattlebattle]

Of the three I'd keep the V50. Lovely little bikes. It always amazed me how the Italians could produce that when Honda managed to make one of the ugliest, though eventually super reliable, bikes ever in the CX500. The issues with the V50 are that after 30k miles the valves should be replaced as the heads can become detached and the electronic ignition isn't too clever if it's the original stuff. IIRC it was only the Mk II that had electronic ignition, Mks I and III had points. All the modern small block Guzzis are based on the V35/50 original, a design that has stood the test of time quite well. No problem cruising at near maximum speed either because the cylinder cooling is excellent.

[simon]

I'm quite fortunate with mine in that it's the 1981 model and so missed the troublesome electronic ignition and still has the two valve heads. There are other things to worry about obviously, plated bores etc but really other than perhaps a stiffener for the very skinny front forks I don't see much happening to it in the short term anyway.

[simon]

The current stable.