Hi everyone a new aquasition and aload more questions. I have purchased what i was lead to beleive IS A mk11 spitfire. It certainly looks the part at first glance but the v5 says it was first registered in April 1968. Surely it would be a mk1v by then? The engine is stamped A65.s.11610 and the frame as far as i can tell 68 4025
As some of you may be aware i have 67? Hornet on the go which made me notice several differences on the Spit. First the rear brake set up.it has an outrigger type set up the hornet not. Secondly the oil tank and return and feed set up. Its of the earlier 66 type! Do you think its just people making use of what they had or is it a misfit? T will make a lovely bike judging by the mass of re chromed goodies it came with etc. I haven't contacted boac re dating etc yet. Thanks for looking.
DAVE
That engine number is for a Mark 2 from the 1966 season.
Mark 3 engines and frames would be prefixed A65SA and Mark 4 prefixed A65SB.
68 4025 is a part number not a frame number, I expect it is raised not stamped in.
The frame number should be stamped in on the front left side frame engine mounting lug. If the lug is the rounded type the number may be faint. The original frame number would read the same as the engine number.
Thanks Julian you are quite right i was quoting the engine mounting lug number-derr! Since spoke with previous owner who told me where to locate frame number. The v5 shows matching numbers. Is this right? The 66 would explain an earlier oil tank and rear brake set up etc but registered in April 68? Would it have sat in a show room so long? Thanks for all your help and advice. Dave
It is possible that it sat in the showroom but a Spitfire, being the top of the BSA range in 1966 I wonder.
Is the number a contemporary one or an age related replacement?
I will send you a personal message.
Congrats on the Spitfire Mk11 purchase, my '66 is A65S 10155 stamped on both the engine and frame. I don't know how that fits in the BSA production time frame but it is titled a 1966.
The 1960's was a time when titles were often issued with the year that the vehicle was sold/registered to the first owner. Many states used that criteria and today this can be a non issue or a critical issue like in California regarding smog inspections. The advent of smog and safety requirements based on "model year" led to a Federally mandated uniform VIN number system circa 1970 and all titles were by model year there after. Being old I lived through what is now "ancient history" and usually I can't understand why people don't know these things until realize that few can bear first hand witness to those days. I guess I am lucky to remember what I had for breakfast these days.
I have a Triumph (car not a bike) TR4a with the same classification. It was built mid year 1965 yet is titled a 1966. A lot of Triumph (car) forum users obtain a Heritage Certificate (anything like this for BSA?) with the actual build date and a shipping date months latter as the cars sat at the factory before being sent to the dealers in the US. After that they could easily sit at the importer and then the dealer for many months again. It's most likely the same with British motorcycles. I can remember when a friend worked at a Lincoln-Mercury deal and they had a new DeTomaso Pantera sitting on there lot for a couple of years before being sold cheap. BTW, L-M dealers were the place where Panteras were originally sold. My Ferrari 308 GT4 has the same history,built Oct. 1977 but was sold to the first owner in 1979, at least it is titled a 1977.
Thanks for you reply and very interesting comments. Just wondering as yours is a 66 what sort of rear brake plate is it carrying? Just one of a thousand questions bound to arise! Cheers Dave.
Hi mikegt4 if your 66 spitfires rear wheel is 19inch do you happen to know what ratio the speedo gear box is thanks Roy
years ago i owned a mk 11 spitfire which was registered a year or two later which always confused me. no gp carbs either .
perhaps the crated bike was lost and found in the factory stores department?
Quote from: royblackburn1@btinternet. on 13 Feb, 2022, 13:35
Hi mikegt4 if your 66 spitfires rear wheel is 19inch do you happen to know what ratio the speedo gear box is thanks Roy
My Spitfire has 19" front and 18" rear, the standard wheel sizes for just about every 650 of the era. My speedometer gearbox is 2:1 ratio, part #BG 5330/31.
Usually the speedometer itself has a gear ratio internally that must work with the speedometer cable speed to get an accurate reading. The speedometer usually has a mark on the dial where the pointer must be at the cable RPM listed on the speedometer face. I assume that is the norm for BSA and the proper part# speedometer must be used. I had a 1966 Alfa Romeo Duetto that had adjustable internal gearing which could be tuned with a screwdriver to get accurate speed readings (as if any Italian speedometer is anywhere near accurate). See if your speedometer part# is the same as mine.
Hi mikegt4 thanks for your reply I believe you live in the US and I also believe that bikes sent over from the UK to the US east coast and west coast had different rear wheels sizes my bike was brought back to the UK with 19 inch rear so confusing sorry Dibble for interrupting your post. Roy
Yes I am in the US. I don't think that I have ever seen any unit twin 650 with a 19" rear tire. I just looked through about 5 old magazine tests of BSAs from the 1960's and all the 650's had 18"rear tires. The 1968 BSA 750 triple US spec did come with 19" front and rear. I don't remember what my triple had (sold it 1980) or if the wheel would even interchange with my Spitfire but if your Spitfire is a US spec returned to the UK someone may have replaced the rear wheel. Just food for thought.
Hi Roy please dont apologise its all very interesting stuff! Dave (dibble).
Hi,
I believe that the first A65 models had 18" front and back and then a switch to 19" front and 18" or 19" rear for US export depending on east coast or west coast for short time and then 18" for all models.
Dave.
The BSA model year generally ran from August of previous calender year through to the following July.
But not always to plan. The new 1966 model twins started to come out in October 1965 and ran until July 1966.
There would almost always be some mid season changes to the specifications of the bikes which would be detailed in blue topped factory to dealer service bulletins and parts service bulletins. Many of these bulletins are available in the mebers section of the BSAOC website. There would be differences between UK specification models and the US specification models as Dave says.
The new range would appear at the autumn UK bike show and the factory needed to get the new models to the all important US bike market for the peak selling months of April, May and June. About half the USA sales were made in these three months.
Not unusual for bikes to be left in dealer stock at the end of the model season, the advert below, typical of many in the UK motorcycle press in the mid 1960s, showing 1966 BSAs being sold at a substantial discount in 1967.