I might!
Ha ha. Well if you have withdrawal symptoms and have any Solvol left you can make a start in mine
Billy Bantam Lives!
- Thread starter batman1
- Start date
Ha ha. Well if you have withdrawal symptoms and have any Solvol left you can make a start in mine
Johnny, you know that the seat is only there for parking.......actually it’s not at all bad, the 3 anodised aluminium fairing screws are buried well down. I’m quite pleased with the way it came out, some self adhesive closed cell foam off eBay, and some pvc seat covering also from eBay, the tricky bit was trying fold it around the curves without getting any wrinkles.
Good work
Forks?
Are they REH?
Well I don’t mind telling you....
It has a completely bog standard crank and rod from a low mileage D14/4 imported USA motor, the original big end felt good so I left it in.
Gearbox contains a Nova trials gear set, the B175 crank cases needed slightly modifying with my dremel to make a bit of extra room for the Nova gears.
Barrel is a Rex Caunt blank alloy casting fully machined by Mick Grant and Nicosil lined.
Piston is from Rex Caunt, it’s a copy of a Yamaha but the gudgeon pin is sized to work with the standard bantam needle roller little end.
The head is a newly manufactured Raybox centre plug which is basically a copy of the original standard Bantam B175 head, however this head has had the squish re-machined by Mick Grant and the joint face grooved to take a nitrile O-ring, so no head gasket on this engine.
The bantam clutch basket is re-engineered to take a 5 plate Yamaha TS125 clutch assembly, supplied by Harry Stanistreet.
I ditched the D14/4 chain case cover that normally has the additional alloy points cap for two reasons......
1. Because it’s fugly and 2 because it’s heavy.
The old style cover is 2/3rds the weight of the later cover and prettier, the later D14/4 crankcase still has the drillways to take the early cover screws, they just needed tapping out and two new screws fitting.
The Yamaha clutch is a bit wider than the Banty clutch so I needed to attack the inside of the early cover with my dremel to give the clutch basket some working clearance. I kept spraying the inside of the cover with paint, fitting it spinning it then grinding the ally away until everything cleared.
Almost forgot, to fit the cute early cover over the later bigger kickstart shaft you have to enlarge the hole from 3/4’’ to 7/8’’. Alan Whitton at Dronfield did this machining for me.
Alan Whitton also supplied the PVL electronic ignition unit, and helped with the extra machining and keyway broaching on the rotor.
Alan also machined the left hand covers to take the very earlier pretty circular magneto cover with the BSA symbol.
This also needed to be done to allow me to fit Alan’s fancy fabricated clutch mechanism, which works superb.
Engine sprocket is a 12T, gearbox sprocket is a Talon 14T.
The carb is a lightweight concentric premier, supplied to Mick Grant by Amal and pre-jetted to suit this motor. Mick Grant machined the Venturi to take the inlet stub for the rubber hose mounting which helps to reduce vibes and heat transfer to the carb.
I think that more or less covers it for the motor, but if you have any questions I’d be happy to answer them.
Yes, good spot REH forks
Ha ha. Well if you have withdrawal symptoms and have any Solvol left you can make a start in mine
That’s a tidy bike,
Think I now have shares in Solvol, and wet n dry!
To be fair all that grinding, filing, wet & drying and polishing has been something to do while locked down.
I see you have some bar risers, I’m thinking of putting some on me Banty, could you feel the difference?
Thanks, sounds like there'll be power enough to drag you through hawthorn bushes and probably a bit better than a standard D14/4 in the woods!
I originally bought the bike from an old boy who'd raced and trailed BSAs all his life.
After trying it I said that for me I would fit bar risers.
He bluntly said what do you want to do
that for?
I said because it's what I'm used to.
He scoffed and said well, you can get used to toothache but it doesn't mean it's a good thing!
Guess I'll never learn to live with toothache
I quite like the bars on anything a bit higher than most, especially on my mountain bike, otherwise I can get neck ache.
I’ve put fat bars on this bike and I’ve yet to find a straight forward packer to go under the fat bar clamps, it’s no issue at the mo as I need to get out and play on it a bit before making too many changes.
I’ve put fat bars on this bike and I’ve yet to find a straight forward packer to go under the fat bar clamps, it’s no issue at the mo as I need to get out and play on it a bit before making too many changes.
That’ll be Duncan Macdonald, a good rider and a brilliant engineer, his forks are beautifully manufactured, nice kit!
I hope I only have to buy them just the once.
That's a little belter .......
Big Jets
Registered user
Well done fantastic job 
That Bantam looks light enough to fly away in a stiff beeze! Looks great, brilliant job.
Does the exhaust box stay cool enough to not need a heat shield?
Somehow Timolgra's bike (B40?) looks like it weighs half as much again.
Does the exhaust box stay cool enough to not need a heat shield?
Somehow Timolgra's bike (B40?) looks like it weighs half as much again.
Exhaust appears to stay cool enough not to take your skin off. It’s winter now, but to be fair definitely no heat shield required!
I built it light ‘cos I’m getting old and weak, (70 next) I don’t want it pinning me down to the ground.
I can pick it up both wheels clear of the deck which is more than I can say for my Jimmy James (photo)
I built it light ‘cos I’m getting old and weak, (70 next) I don’t want it pinning me down to the ground
.I can pick it up both wheels clear of the deck which is more than I can say for my Jimmy James (photo)
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Another great looking bike. For me it's the functional simplicity.
Is the James Villiers powered?
Is the James Villiers powered?
Wonderful little machine, well done sir!
Absolutely! Jimmy James has a 250cc villiers motor, he also has a Drayton frame, from the late Jim Pickering (RIP Jim) brilliant frame but heavy compared to Billy Banty who has an ultra light frame made by DRR Derby Road and Race.
Jimmy’s big cast iron barrel makes him feel a wee bit fatter than Billy who is sporting a very light aluminium cylinder which weighs nowt.
Lots of the bolts in the Banty are aircraft alloy, and I’ve drilled lots of hole here and there to let a bit more air in
Many thanks me Lord!
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