Still on motor hiatus, due to a bizarre accident involving a dump truck, an old house and a chunk of plaster falling on my machinist's head. So, in the interim, I've been doing research. A lot of research.
Exhaust system: While I have a perfectly good stock dual exhaust with mufflers, they're a bit rusty and crusty, and just don't have the best of lines. In addition, they severely limit my options of what I want. I could try to clean them up, but it's a lost cause. I could blast them and have them painted or ceramic coated, but that's another $250 easy. I could wrap them, but it would look silly with the crossover pipe, and just not sexy at all.
Solution: Left Side High Pipes from The Factory Metal Works. At about $200, they give me a really great line to add to the tank/seat idea, and add a little scrambler flavor which looks great on a bike with no chrome and only polished aluminum. The thought is to either paint them of have them ceramic coated in black, then custom build a sexy heatshield to make the whole thing pop.
Carb: Mine's shot, and there's no fixing it, only replacing it. After a tumultuous amount of ardor through online forums, I've found some interesting info. My bike may NOT be a 1967, but instead a later version of the 67 resold in 68-70 and titled strangely. From what I've read this isn't uncommon. However...
Some of the attributes of a later version of my bike are there, but some of the important ones are missing. Without going into too much detail, it seems that my bike is a little bit of a Frankenstein, and due to its racing background, I'm not surprised. The frame and engine match, so that's a plus, and they are definitely from 1967. However, the previous owners had made a lot of changes along the road, and updates and parts swaps happened, including a new race piston setup that they stamped in 1971.
Solution: It's obvious that I'm going to have to be careful with parts based on the year in the future, but for now, I'm replacing the MKI 626 carb with a new MKI 626 carb. If it ain't broke...
Headlamp: It's entirely possible that I'll wind up using my stock Lucas headlamp setup, but there's something sexy about pushing that piece a little further forward. It's like exaggerating the crown on a king's head.
Solution: I still can't believe I was able to get these headlamp brackets for $17. All aluminum, and they push the light out at least 3 more inches. With a bit of luck, all I'll have to do is shim from the bottom and drill in a set screw to fit over the fork tops (with the old ears ground off, of course).
The Frame: I'm 32 (+1) years old. I've owned this BSA for 8+ years. That's 1/4th of my entire life. The way I look at it, is the first quarter was spent drooling. The second quarter was spent in preparation for when I could drive. The third quarter was spent chasing girls, finding a career and creating a home. The last forth has been spent developing taste and culture, and has not been put towards fixing up this bike.
In my adolescence, I favored building the Beezer into a bobber. With the little grace I had, I didn't build it into a hardtail, and I'm forever glad for that. The huge cuts I made to the frame are exactly the cuts I would have had to make for this build, so everything is still awesome. There are a lot of extra tabs and crap that I know I'm going to cut off, but for now I can wait. I've grown patient in my old age.
Solution: The stupid low-rent powder-coating that I mistakenly did to it in 2004 is now gone. I've given it a thin coat of primer to prevent rust and it's ready to be transformed into the gem it should be. From my estimates, I spent almost $300 to bring it back full circle to where it should have been in the first place for $50. Folly of youth, but back on track. (In my defense, this wasn't a bid deal when I bought it. It's only become a big deal because of media in the past decade. It wasn't nearly as heartbreaking to cut up this frame back then. Time opens all wounds.)
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