I have one of these bikes and I just need to get my ass in gear and fix it up. Mine is a '67 BSA with a long history of just sitting around.
So, inspired from the bike show I decided to pull the old english iron out of the shed. It's in pretty rough shape. The chrome is covered in surface rust...and a little bit of pitting. The paint is beat up pretty bad. Anything rubber is cracked. The good news is that it's all there.
Even though this bike has spent much of its 47 year history just sitting in a shed, it has been a roller coaster ride from an emotional standpoint. Whats the point in having a bike sit unseen in a shed? Why not sell it and let someone else enjoy it? The money could fund other bike projects.
I'm not sure I could ever sell it. Its been with me longer than any other physical object I have. It represents my initial interest in bikes along with my learning how to work on them. On the other hand, you say, it's just a bike. Ummm, I don't know. It seems more than that to me. I put the bike on the lift and started looking it over. My memory was sparked by some of the things I was looking at. One example was a small run in the paint on the frame. I remember painting that frame about 35 years ago and I remember accepting the run and not fixing it. My patience for painting has not improved.
I know that every year I say "this is the year I get that old bike running again". Well this year is almost over but next year...
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