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kiwiJeff said :-
Thanks Nigel. My son-in-law and I have been rechecking my checks (he is over from Adelaide with family) and arrived at the same conclusion as you so will remove the injector and make sure it is spraying ok. Will also take the rocker cover off and check we haven't got a stuck valve it's easy enough to do although I checked the tappets about 1000km ago and clearances were perfect! I have a manual that I downloaded from manuals.com so have good info about how to proceed with fault finding but appreciate your advice. Would like to be out riding not trying to make the bike go!! Petrol was about 3 weeks old so should be OK. What's your advice about using an injector cleaner though the fuel tank lots of different advice on the web about the pros and cons of using it so unsure if it's a good or bad thing to try? Regards Jeff
28/12/2025 09:15:10 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
I'm watching this with interest KiwiJeff. I certainly can't see any harm in running through the better known brands of potions, lotions, cleaners, and solvents. Stick with the known brands, lord knows what seal eating carcinogens might be in the dodgy no name offerings
28/12/2025 16:12:13 UTC
nab301 said :-
In theory if you're purchasing petrol from a mainstream supplier( it should already have all the required additives )and also from a busy filling station that turns over it's fuel stocks quickly all should be ok .
I've parked Fuel injected bikes over the winter with no ill effects , sometimes using fuel stabiliser, I generally drain carbs on carbureted bikes but the only common issue i've come across that's fuel related is with lawnmowers belonging to relatives and friends in spring time.
I posted this photo before from a carbureted F650 belonging to a friend that had been laid up for years
I've used additives in the past with no ill effect , just be sure they're ok with catalytic converters which I assume your bike has.
Nigel
29/12/2025 12:43:32 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
I've been trying to polish off the little BSA C11 before getting properly stuck in to the sidecar outfit. I couldn't even get it to fire even with a whiff of easystart. Checked everything I could think of but no joy. Eventually I noticed that the valve timing looked a bit odd, so I removed the timing cover.
Fiddled about for ages before realising that the camshaft was actually for a C10 side valve model which has entirely different mechanism so could never have worked, so am now on the lookout for the correct one. There's one in the Netherlands but a bit expensive so have my feelers out on the appropriate forums.
It's actually a good job I went in there as the mainshaft special nut was missing. Fortunately I have a stock of appropriately sized stainless hexagon plus the necessary 1/2" x 20tpi taps so could make a new one. They talk about dumb previous owners......
31/12/2025 16:23:42 UTC
nab301 said :-
Ian , I'm losing track of all the bikes, how long ago did you get the C11?( I think my memory is failing..) I did a trawl through old postings and can find it mentioned but no pics , is that it in front of the B Suki?
Nigel
01/01/2026 14:59:54 UTC
Glyn said :-
I did a little bit more on the Triumph after replacing the joint rubbers in the fuel lines that had fallen apart. It was only running on 2 cylinders with the centre exhaust not getting hot. The thing has got “stick coils” and eventually I found a wire loose in one of the plug and sockets. Then, after a few minutes running, we had coolant all over the place as a small hole in a metal coolant pipe appeared. I ordered another on eBay (£30) as I figured that it’s probably more hassle to repair it. The coolant was rusty brown and has probably been in there since 1996.
01/01/2026 17:39:40 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Hi Nigel, yes that's it. I bought in the spring as I wanted a project and thought both the Norton and B'Zuki were going well and needed little attention. We can all be wrong can't we? It's a 1948 C11 - 250cc OHV single with rigid frame and tele forks. Unfortunately although it looked tidy it had clearly been built from a pile of unrelated parts - the forks were wrong, the back wheel was off a different model, various fasteners replaced by metric allthread etc etc. So I completely stripped it and re-enamelled all the cycle parts, found the correct fork parts, made spacers and sleeves etc to get the back wheel working and so on. The engine turned over nicely so I assumed all was well till I tried to start it and couldn't even get a cough.
I faffed around with the ignition and carb for ages before noticing that the cam timing looked a bit odd, with the inlet and exhaust valves opening and closing at the wrong times. The owners' club forum, which has been very helpful, eventually provided clues in that the OHV and side valve versions of the engine had similar bottom ends but with different camshafts. Helpfully the cam gearwheel was stamped with the model, and guess what? When I looked it was C10 ie the side valve. The OHV engine has a rather peculiar crossed pushrod arrangement; the side valve operates the valves directly. The sketch shows the crossed pushrods.
So have issued a plea for the correct camshaft. I've found one in the Netherlands but it's a bt expensive....
02/01/2026 10:14:24 UTC
nab301 said :-
Thanks Ian , the pushrod arrangement is amazing and the attached service data sheet makes it look like a relatively easy engine to work on if needed (famous last words). I'm looking forward to hear what it rides like when you hopefully get it all sorted!
Nigel
02/01/2026 14:52:15 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
A helpful chap on the owners' club forum has come up with the goods, and all for postage cost plus a donation to Air Ambulance. I look forward to fitting it although with some doubts. It's quite a nicely designed little machine but I fear may be too gutless for me - although a 250 it only has a 3 speed box. Be nice for popping down to the shops however, as that's only a mile or so! I don't really fancy tackling Redditch's notorious roundabouts on it especially the famous cloverleaf (the only one in England so I'm told although I believe there's one in Scotland).
In the meantime I've been occupyinmg myself with B'Zuki sidecar attachments and think I have it all sussed. The attached shows them on the bike. The rear lower one isn't finished - it will be a 10mm mild steel plate picking up on the hollow swinging arm pivot and the conveniently positioned rear brake pivot just below it. It will also have a 3/8" bolt through the pillion footrest mounting to the rear of them.The others are all clamps made out of alumimium alloy.
Most of the vertical load is taken by the 2 lower ones, and probably 75% of that by the rear one. The top 3 act as triangulation points both to brace the whole thing and to allow and set the lean out Rod mentioned. They will connect by means of seamless tubing with threaded inserts in the ends to allow for that adjustment.
02/01/2026 15:58:03 UTC
ROD¹ said :-
Those attachment points are looking good and should give solid attachment for the sidecar.
What type of suspension does the chair have Ian?
02/01/2026 21:33:16 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
I believe it's rubber in torsion (like indespension units) but may be a torsion bar. If the latter there's no damping - rubber in torsion is self-damped like the old Mini rubber system. Getting reliable information is quite tricky and what there is tends to be copies of Steib literature in German so translation's a bit tricky. I don't really want to take it apart as spares are also rare and expensive.
03/01/2026 10:19:56 UTC
Glyn said :-
Mrs Glyn lived and worked in Germany for 26 years and our 2 sons currently live in Munich. So, if you’re after translation Ian, I can almost certainly help. Great work on the C11, there’s a lot of satisfaction in sorting a problem that others couldn’t and even more so when others have created man made faults. Those sort of problems don't appear in the technical manuals.
03/01/2026 11:07:57 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Many thanks Glyn, if I can actually find something useful I'll pass it on.
In other news I was rather worried about my welding capabilities as I'll need to weld internally threaded plugs into my struts. I've done a little bit of practice on some scrap and am reasonably happy. This is using a basic stick welder on about 120 amps. My welding has improved immensely since I got a decent self-darkening helmet!
03/01/2026 15:02:50 UTC
nab301 said :-
Ian , in what must be an amazing coincidence , immediately after posting on this thread I received a call from a non biking friend who was asking if I'd be interested in looking at a newly acquired BSA for a friend of his. (he's unable to start it) Just received photos and immediately thought that looks like Ians bike! Some searching suggests it's a C11G (plunger rear suspension) so must be around 1955?
Wish me luck if I get involved!
Nigel
03/01/2026 16:23:41 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Hi Nigel, the C11G is very similar to mine but has as you say plunger rear suspension. It also has the points assembly in the timing cover rather than in the rather quaint distributor type assembly my C11 has, and also an alternator rather than a dynamo.
They're pretty straightforward bikes although havetheir quirks as I've discovered especially when they're just a loosely assembled set of unrelated parts.....
This forum (see link) has been of great help to me and has some very knowledgeable and friendly members.
https://bsac10c11c12.co.uk/smf/index.php...
04/01/2026 09:58:44 UTC
nab301 said :-
Ian , thanks so much for the link, if I do get involved with this I may be bending a few ears. Hopefully it's just a recommission of a previous runner aka cleaning the carburettor rather than a collection of mismatched internals from a previously unsuccessful rebuild!
Nigel
04/01/2026 15:59:21 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Of course I'm also always available to share my limited knowledge!
05/01/2026 09:56:33 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
The C11 runs!
It was a bit warmer today so ventured into the workshop, fitted the camshaft, timed the ignition, set the tappets, poured some oil down the pushrod tunnels and gave it a couple of priming kicks. Switched the ignition on and a cough after the first kick then it picked up and ran very nicely.
So I'm a happy chap!
07/01/2026 15:43:41 UTC
Glyn said :-
Oh well done Ian. A just reward for your endeavours. It’s a great day when you get them started after a long rest in a shed.
07/01/2026 19:57:28 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Woohoo! And it's not a 2 stroke. Phew.
07/01/2026 21:06:29 UTC
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