I have a bike I can't get the correct clutch cable for; the only cable I can find has too long an inner.  Is there a firm localish to me (North Bucks) who can alter it?

I've pulled the outer cover from my M33 gearbox to see if I can do anything about the less than precise gear change. Doing something about the multitude of worn parts I've found is well in hand but I have a few questions:

1) Can the pedal shaft bush be removed and replaced from the inner gearbox cover without removing that cover, and am I right to assume the new bush has to be reamed to size?

2) It would be folly not to replace the ratchet lever sleeve bush in the outer cover at the same time, so does that need to be reamed to size, too?

3) Some of the inner cover has been worn away, I presume because the kickstart return spring is not the right one. There's now a hole which I think is revealing part of the speedo drive. Previously there was a cracked section here, which seemed to be the result of the speedo drive being forced into position.

There's been no hint of trouble from these cracks or the hole, but how concerned should I be?

Here are some photos.

Is there much difference between the rear mudguard on a plunger B33 (or B31) and a plunger M33? They do have different part numbers so are not the same. Is much involved in modifying a B33 mudguard to fit an M33 bike?

What about the two flanges on the front of the mudguard; are they for the battery/oil tank mounting plate?

I'm Roger from the Beds, Bucks and Northants branch of the club. From March we are changing our monthly Sunday meeting place to the Coffee Stop MK, at 7 Little London, Deanshanger, Milton Keynes MK19 6HU. What3words: common.happier.arose.

As before we will be meeting on the last Sunday of the month from 9:30am. Our run out, weather permitting, starts at 10:30am. All are welcome.

Our 2nd Wednesday of the month meeting at the Barley Mow, Cosgrove, MK19 7JD, remains the same and starts from 8pm.

I sometimes see B31s etc with a cover over the battery, instead of it being visible and under a strap. Is this an aftermarket thing or did some bikes come like this? Here's an example from (I'd guess) India, so was it just for certain markets?

The photo is a screenshot from a Facebook video, so not up to my usual standards.

I'm in Milton Keynes, and I need some engine oil for my bike; SAE 40. Is there anywhere local I can get it from? The shop in Stony Stratford I used to get it from has gone.

An M33 with BSA chair that's just a year younger than my example, tested in Motor Cycling, July 1955.

Up at the pub last night, the band got us to sing the Twelve Days of Christmas.

That's when I remembered that years ago we used to sing a Brit. bike version of the song at rallies. I can remember a couple; on the first day it was "a rusty old Ariel 3", and on the fifth day it was "Five Gold Stars!"

But can anyone remember what the other bikes were?

My bike's oil tank and battery support plate is a home made thing, and the regulator sits next to and just aft of the battery. I thought this was a modification a previous owner had done, until I saw a video today about a 1954 M33, the same year as mine. Now I'm not so sure.

Was this a standard arrangement at some point? I've had a look at the BSA range photos for all the production years and although they don't show that side of the bike, the regulator is always clearly visible in its usual position under the seat. I'm not worried about authenticity, I'm just curious.

Here's the video, with a view of the regulator around the 1'30" mark:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyXlYWA-SAo&list=LL&index=2

Here's the nearside of my M33. (Below) The regulator's cover has been chrome plated so it's clearly visible between the battery and the horn.

For Nige63 and anyone else who may be interested, here is how I installed the switch for my Thorspark ignition. The Thorspark is a cure for a knackered magneto but needs 6 volts (in my case) to work; uses just 0.25 amps, they reckon.

The idea was to make sure I couldn't leave my lights on by mistake, so I just bought a simple off/on handlebar switch (the usual sort) which now both turns off the lights (if I forget) and the ignition. It's also not obvious that it's the ignition switch so has a minor anti-theft advantage. The alternative was to have the switch near the battery but that meant running the wire to the lights all the way there and back again.

There wasn't much room inside the switch, so I joined the wire that feed the lights and the (green) wire that feeds the Thorspark close to the end connectors, inside the headlight. The fuse shown (supplied with the kit) is back under the seat.

Until I took the head off this year I never had a problem with leaks at the rocker feed banjos, but now I can't stop it leaking. I've tried fixing it about half a dozen times, and even scrupulous cleaning of all the mating surfaces and fitting new fibre washers and bolts, (the threads were worn on the old ones) it still leaks. I managed to get it so that only one leaked, but both have to come off together and on reassembly they both leaked.

What am I doing wrong?

Just wondering, since I've got the tank off...

Is it usual to have the end of the rear tank mounts chopped off at 45 degrees?

Am I right in thinking the bit of small diameter tube nearest the right top corner of the photo is a later addition?

Is the other bit of small diameter tube (nearer the centre of the photo) supposed to have the ends cut off at 45 degrees?

How do I hold the dynamo driving fibre gear stationary to check it will slip under the correct torque, or do I just assume all is well if I hadn't had a problem before?

Can anyone tell me if the clutch nut on the magneto shaft has a normal right hand thread, or does it have a left hand thread? It's the nut in the red ellipse (below).

Shouldn't my new small end bush have a hole in it which lines up with the hole at the top of the conrod?

the last time I had a rebore it was a Japanese 2-stroke. The advice then was to watch the tacho; up to half maximum revs for the first 100 miles, and a 1,000 rpm higher for every subsequent 100 miles. Also, don't slog it or rev it. So I have two questions.

1) What's the current thinking on running in?

2) What on earth is a "tacho"?

What is the front lower chain guard bolted to; is it just the mudguard? I only ask because my chain guard doesn't have a front lower section (it's going to get one), and the mudguard, which appears to not be the original type, doesn't have an appropriate looking hole.

All the pattern ones do, but of course that's not always a guarantee of it being right...

I found a broken top ring in my M33. Both the top and bottom of this ring and the top of the ring below appear to be worn. The ring grooves look okay, but the gap between the top two rings and their grooves is over tolerance (the bottom ring is fine).

Can anybody tell me the thickness these two top rings are supposed to be? I'm hoping to work out whether I need a set of rings or a new piston and rebore.

This seems to be in India. While they don't seem to be making BSA tanks, I expect the process in similar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpxVRyBCvmU

After stripping and cleaning my clutch of oil because it was slipping, then reassembling it, I found I had to slacken the clutch cable adjustment to get the little bit of free movement on the actuating arm. This was a bit of a mystery because I'd already slackened the cable when the clutch had started slipping, so I could kickstart the bike to get home.

The next day after reassembly I took the bike out. I did about one mile then the clutch started slipping again, really badly. I managed to get home where I found I had to slacken off the clutch cable again, by quite a bit. But the clutch still slips. What on earth is going on?