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I found out the hard way about British electrics on my 500 Triumph. The spark plug coils were under the tank mounted with cheap alloy brackets. One of the brackets broke and the coil touched the tank. That threw the timing off and seized the pistons. I was 370 miles from home in Laconia, NH at the time. That Turnip was the only motorcycle I ever owned that left me stranded.
I owned two BSA Lightnings and they never gave me a problem.
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I had a Lightning 650. Great bike, too small for me but fast and handled. Engine was a peach too and reliable. Much underrated bike i think...
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I had a BSA 750 triple. No problems with electrics while I owned it, but keeping oil INSIDE the cases was an excercise in frustration. Every pair of levis I owned had a permanantly stained left shin.
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(02-07-2017, 12:50 PM)The ferret_imp Wrote: I had a BSA 750 triple. No problems with electrics while I owned it, but keeping oil INSIDE the cases was an excercise in frustration. Every pair of levis I owned had a permanantly stained left shin.
I don't about the triples, but the Lightning had a built in chain oiler that nobody knew about. Inside the primary chain case was a small pocket. A channel at the bottom of the pocket led to a small rubber hose above the drive chain. The primary chain was bathed in oil. As it spun it threw oil in the pocket that dripped down onto the drive chain, and it threw oil all over the place.
When I rebuilt the motors of my two Lightnings, I dropped a bead of solder into the bottom of the pocket to seal it closed. No more greasy side down.
The chain was simple lubricated with motor oil from a small oil can. When the engine oil was changed, the chain was removed and boiled in it. It was then hung on the clothes line with a coat hanger to let the excess run off. Today's tree huggers would faint if they knew what we did with the motor oil after that.
