Surprised no one has commentated on the excellence of the entire weekend! Credit to the organisers and the local club members, not forgetting the Hosts who did a magnificent job all weekend! Cheap substantial meals, cheap drinks and a lovely club house! The ride out was first class although ultimately shrouded by the unfortunate RAF pilots demise!

I had my B33 fitted with Pearson electric start about 3 years ago, no problems whatsoever to date - in fact it has been a Godsend because it removes the worry of stalling in traffic etc and avoids the problem of trying to kick start and keep the bike upright whilst trying to find neutral, although the engine is comparatively low compression (by todays standards) I discovered I was only capable of kicking it over about 3/4 times before muscle fatigue made its presence known. The starter motor does protrude below the engine but I haver grounded it anywhere - having said that it is difficult to get up ramps into a van, need longer ramps I think but only once have I needed to load it into my van and that was when I collected from Phil Pearson three years ago!

I would not have thought fitting a TLS kit onto a rear brake is a good idea, it is the front brake which provides the most effective braking and because of the weight transfer that takes place under braking the rear wheel will have a tendency to lock up if utmost care is not exercised! I, and many other riders I am sure, never normally employ the rear brake other than when the front brake is weak and a rapid slowing down is required, (Ariel hubs etc) Another aspect might be that stopping on a hill whilst heading upwards  could be problematic as (assuming you already have a TLS set up on your front hub), you would have to rely on four trailing shoes to halt down hill progress which could be interesting. My comments assume you already have TLS on your front brake. If you take the modern superbike as an example, they normally have enormous twin discs on the front of the bike and, comparatively speaking, a much reduced diameter rear brake for the same reasons!

Who designed that engine?

Mulling through some bike orientated sites recently, encountered a site in which a contributor was bemoaning the proliferation of brand new motorcycles possessing classic British names but manufactured in Asian factories. It appeared there was considerable support for this view. The criticism was not aimed directly at BSA, other marques, including Triumph, were included. The post which caught my eye was aimed at the BSA and it suggested that many purchasers of the new model were bitterly regretting the acquisition as evidenced by the numbers of virtually new models on sale with very low mileages. Intrigued, I checked out Flea bay and, yes, there are plenty of Gold Stars available second hand with low mileages. There was one example with very low mileage and two previous owners. There are also loads of brand new unregistered models with all options available, it appears that even bono fide dealers are selling via this platform. Firstly I was surprised to learn that there does not appear to be a waiting list any longer, I was also surprised to note that many dealers were using Flea bay to sell bikes and every colour scheme was in stock and finally I was extremely surprised by the claim that many owners were getting rid of new BSA's for various unstipulated reasons. I was under the impression that the machines were flying out of the dealers doors. The aggrieved poster did not actually single out Flea bay, I looked at Flea bay off my own bat.

yeah, sounds about right...I was aware that the original specifications referred to tyres with extremely rigid walls (compared to todays products) which is why I asked for advice. Many thanks guys!

When you take out and pay for third party insurance, then damage to third parties property is covered, you have paid for it, however when you drive or ride someone else's vehicle then you are only covered for the absolute minimum insurance as required by the law. this relates to physical injury to a third party meaning a person - nothing else! The term "3rd party" is misleading... think about it - were it not the case it would be possible to insure a very small economy car, and then drive around regularly in a high powered sports car with no further increase in premium, it cannot be a vehicle owned by you, but that is a minor obstacle easily surmounted! Many years ago in 1961, I owned and drove a Morris Minor, the insurance certificate stated in writing that I could drive another vehicle not owned by me or hired to me under a hire purchase arrangement. I lost control of my father's Westminster and demolished a bus shelter, fortunately there was no one in the shelter at the time, I had to pay the Midland Red for the repair of the shelter which was a large sum to find being impecunious at the time! (still the case) I well remember the nasty letters from the 'National Insurance & Guarantee' insurance company acting for the bus company.