BSA 650

[martindf]

I have a friend that has a 70 thunderbolt 650 basket case ,motor is in frame but has not been turned over in years. fenders  an even tank are  chrome no paint at all. little pitting . Any advise on what to offer he wants $1000. and he did not take this bike apart so how knows if all are there,He says that it is complete. thanks M

[Boomer343]

In my experience the BSA's don't get the same dollar as the Triumphs and Nortons do. I have also found that you need to know what you are looking at and what you are looking for. Quite often these bikes become Bitsa bikes, bits of this and bits of that. If you have to rechrome that tank because it leaks you can kiss a lot of money good bye. There are lots of parts available although you do need deep pockets. You will also need a set of whitworth wrenches and sockets plus special tools to take the engine apart. Having grown up on Japanese bikes I was amazed at all the special tools needed to do the brit engines properly.

If you have no knowledge of these bikes and limited resources in time, money and access to technical expertise then I would suggest taking a miss. If you want to get into Brit Iron then do some research and buy something already running and restored properly. You will save time and money by doing so.

Now if it was a Goldie I'd be suggesting otherwise.




 

[JetJock]

What he said. There are some rare BSA (Bastard Stopped Again) models out there, but overall it's in low demand on the vintage market. People prefer Triumphs and Nortons.

If it was a runner, then I'd say $1000 would be a great deal. But what it sounds like he has is an eBay parts bike.

[Strawboss]

I'll say too $1000 is a bit much for a basket case, you'll spend at least that much finding parts to complete it providing you even find the parts.

[lt1]

According to both Murphy and personal experience, things take longer and cost more than planned.   Why do you want the bike?  In general, you will be lucky to recover your parts cost, and none of your time in a restoration, unless there is a known demand. 

So is this just a project?  A long-time dream?  Or a plan to make some money?  To answer your original question - I have no idea, because I don't know the BSA market nor the parts availability.  Typically, the better shape and more complete the project is to start with, the better the chances of making or saving money by the time it is done.

[Centex]

If you pull the trigger I've got Whitworth wrenches from my Brit days (when the BSA, MG and Triumph (car) dealers were going concerns) .... at this point in my life I need to admit I'm probably not gonna ever use 'em again (and be thankful).

If you're saying "what ... ?", this probably isn't the project for you.

Any advise on what to offer ....

IMHO it is worth exactly what you want to give on a purely emotional basis.

Seriously, you can't look at a project like this on the basis of economic or time-value analysis ..... bona-fide restoration will require quantities of both money and time that will have no relationship to the market value of the completed project for this rather un-remarkable (in the eyes of most potential buyers) BSA model.