Past Blasting and Shattering

My computer crashed.  As I was sifting through the remains, trying to reconstruct things that I lost, I came across these photos of the exact moment that I bought the BSA, in the exact condition it was in.

I had thought these photos were lost to the ages, and was amazed to find a photo of my dad writing the check on the bike's seat:

How perfect is that?  First, you can see that it was a rainy, dismal day.  The old man was wearing a raincoat, for pete's sake. Here's our campsite, if you don't believe me:

It was a crappy day, but it was the first day of a long weekend.  I remember telling my dad on our way in that I wanted a project bike.  I already had the beautiful Honda CB450 (seen above) and was looking for something to fix up.  He asked, "What's your preference?"  I told him that I really liked the Brit bikes, and I would thrilled to find a Triumph or a Norton.  Even better would be an AJS, a Matchless or a BSA, but I only had a $500 budget, so I knew that was out of the question.

We pulled in, set up our tent and settled in.  Right next to us was a really interesting guy from Canada, who had ridden his BMW over 1000 miles to get here, and we started talking and shared a few beers (see above photo).  After a while, I got up and started to wander the campgrounds.  No more than 50 yards away, I see a fella pushing 2 bikes out onto turf next to his campsite, and a "for sale" sign on one of them.  It's a Triumph and a BSA, so I start getting excited.  I say hello as ask what he's looking to get for each bike.  $1200 for the Triumph and $800 for the BSA.

In my head, I'm thinking, "Maybe I can get dad to float me a little, but I really need to show this to him, nonetheless."  I go bug him, and get him to come check it out.

INTERJECTION - Before I go any further, you need to know that this was 2004.  Nobody knew about cafe bikes.  I was buying vintage Hondas for $50.  Those fuckhead bike "builders" on TV had not yet been made public.  These beautiful bikes were cheap, and totally a value in the eye of the beholder.  As they should be.  I only brought $250 in cash with me.

Low and behold, dad came down to check out the bike.  To his credit, he was able to contain his excitement WAY better than I was.  I don't remember his exact words, but it probably went something like, "Stand back, son, I'll take it from here."  I heard phrases like, "Hard to find parts", and "Enthusiastic next generation", but before I knew it, dad was asking me if I wanted it for $400.

...uh, YES!  He wrote the check, and it was done.  I gave him the cash I had in hand and promised to send the rest ASAP.  We rolled the bike the short distance back to our campsite and thoroughly enjoyed a couple of cheap beers.

The rest of the weekend was a blur.  I didn't know enough about the bike to scavenge parts from the dealers, and my goal had already been accomplished.  I had a project bike that was insanely awesome.  Over the course of the weekend, every third person who passed the tent asked if the bike was for sale.  We had offers of up to $1200 for it, but I turned them all down.  This was my treasure, I'm the one who found it, It's MY win for the weekend.

I spent my last nickel on gas to get home, but I was able to get it into the ramshackle garage of my shitty rental house, and breathe a sigh of relief.  It was now a reality.

At work on Monday, I chatted with a work friend that was also into vintage bikes.  He, too, was at AMA vintage days, and went on to tell me a story that he'd heard about someone buying a BSA for $500.  Steal of the century, he said.  I told him that it was only $400, and it was all mine.  I'm not sure if he wanted to punch me or kiss me.

In the end, I feel bad that it's taken me 8 years to reinvigorate the bike build.  I did, however, buy my first house, get married, start a career, etc.  The Beezer sadly sat idly by in those years where it seemed important to go pants shopping.  The good news is that momentum (however slow) is being made.  It's time that a REAL cafe bike made an appearance.