250 starfire opinions?

[chopper]

A friend of mine (ahem) recently aquired a bsa starfire 250 , anyone know what they are like ? This one has a mid level exhaust and a tls front brake . Ill get a pic up later .
I mean my fried will send me a pic to put up later :-).

Theyd hardly bate me aul norton jubilee?

[Fledermaus]

Never owned one,but anything i've read about them said that BSA had gone a little bit too far with the tuning to try to match the jap bikes,so high compression,and a hot cam....and probably running plain bearings etc.
Prob just fine if used to potter about,like most old bikes the bad reps come from having been thrashed by folk with little mechanical sympathy,and infrequent oil changes.

[Vjmc.Cork]

I had a 250 trophy for a while,same only different.
As usual,years of neglect and bodged repairs followed by a hamfisted resto
made it a tempremental hape o'shite.
Parts were cheap and available so didn't take much to get her going properly.
Main thing was a new wiring loom.It was actually a nice yoke for what it was.
I have no real interest in english yokes so sold it on as soon as it was right.
BTW,they say the only thing you need to dismantle one of them is a dual-carriageway

[ENGLISH]

I bought an immaculate but non- runner 250 Starfire for e 900 not so long ago.

I set everything up correctly and it started on the first kick ! However, for some reason it never started again off the kickstart after that first time.

I couldn't believe the kickback out of such a little engine . It hurt so bad that I couldn't bring myself to try kick it.

After that ,the starting proceedure entailed - first gear , bump it forward to compression and slightly over - 3 or 4 of my sprogs behind pushing me down the drive - drop the clutch - massive backfire and away she went .

It had a 12volt boyer fitted but still had the original 6 volt coil . It sparked at just before TDC and also just before BTC . I think the Boyer system was for a twin . I phoned them for advice and they said it was for a twin but would also work on a single . 6 volt coil might have been a bit too powerful though.

I called the shop that had done work on it for the seller . to see why they couldn't get it running. All they could remember was putting 8 helicoils into the engine casings for him. I even found a chunk of casing lying in the bottom of the engine . No idea what part it belonged to.

Sold it soon after for e 900 as a project .

When it did run it was nice to ride . Very nimble. I could do figure of eights on a narrow road outside.

If I ever figure out how to upload a photo of it I will.

[Vjmc.Cork]

Originally Posted by ENGLISH

I bought an immaculate but non- runner 250 Starfire for e 900 not so long ago.

I set everything up correctly and it started on the first kick ! However, for some reason it never started again off the kickstart after that first time.

I couldn't believe the kickback out of such a little engine . It hurt so bad that I couldn't bring myself to try kick it.

After that ,the starting proceedure entailed - first gear , bump it forward to compression and slightly over - 3 or 4 of my sprogs behind pushing me down the drive - drop the clutch - massive backfire and away she went .

There's a definate knack to starting them,Once you get it,it'll start handy enough.
One thing I learned was not to fully extend the leg when kicking it,leave a small bit of bend at the knee in case it tries to kick ya back

[nogthebold]

IIRC they had a version of the B25 engine rather than the C engine. More robust, better designed head and was therefore more likely to be able to tune to 20bhp. They were "the" small bike to have when I started work in the bikeshop. Might exercise yer grey matter keeping it going chop, but definitely wont kill you anyway

[chopper]

Yea they are a b25s . Supposed to be 25hp when new but thats iffy

[nogthebold]

Originally Posted by chopper

Yea they are a b25s . Supposed to be 25hp when new but thats iffy

Should have decent enough main bearings so as the bush on oil pump side was done away with. 20hp be a good output all things considered. Boyer and a decent carb and should be as reliable as anything that age.

Frame was probably the B40 so the forks as good as BSA ever got to lol

Be a fun little bike. If you tire of it I'll stick the B25 engine into the trials (still not fekn finished - fekn divorce lol)

[chopper]

Originally Posted by nogthebold

Should have decent enough main bearings so as the bush on oil pump side was done away with. 20hp be a good output all things considered. Boyer and a decent carb and should be as reliable as anything that age.

Frame was probably the B40 so the forks as good as BSA ever got to lol

Be a fun little bike. If you tire of it I'll stick the B25 engine into the trials (still not fekn finished - fekn divorce lol)

I was only wondering about the trials the other day . Wtf was that anyway ? . The forks look to be the same as my triumph daytona ones .it has tls brakes too .ill put up a vid of it running later

[nogthebold]

Originally Posted by chopper

I was only wondering about the trials the other day . Wtf was that anyway ? . The forks look to be the same as my triumph daytona ones .it has tls brakes too .ill put up a vid of it running later

C15 - the precursor to the B25 B40 and B50

the "cough" 15hp version lol - and thats on a good day

[chopper]

should be a link to it running there

[bonzoid]

Originally Posted by chopper

should be a link to it running there

Sounds healthy enough & looks to be all there.

[Jaded]

Cool looking yoke

[chopper]

big end went on it shortly after doing 75 on it . it was a fair mess. i got the crank ground, new big end shells and mains , new gaskets and rings with a light hone .cleaned up the port a bit .i was tempted to lighten a few bits but it might effect reliability .its back on the road anyway. the engines sparkling inside but its still a rusty aul bike outside . id say the mileage is accurate enough , there was a dodge seal on the end fed crank and a stiff oil pump which had a hairline crack internally but i'm still not sure what caused the meltdown . a few have suggested it was the speed but it didn't feel like it was under pressure and it wasn't revving all that hard. it had been lying up decades though and the damage may well have been done before i got it .

[-alan-]

That's a bummer Chop. Sorry to hear, bike was looking well too.

Originally Posted by chopper

big end went on it shortly after doing 75 on it . it
was a fair mess. i got the crank ground, new big end shells and mains , new gaskets and rings with a light hone .cleaned up the port a bit .i was tempted to lighten a few bits but it might effect reliability .its back on the road anyway. the engines sparkling inside but its still a rusty aul bike outside . id say the mileage is accurate enough , there was a dodge seal on the end fed crank and a stiff oil pump which had a hairline crack internally but i'm still not sure what caused the meltdown . a few have suggested it was the speed but it didn't feel like it was under pressure and it wasn't revving all that hard. it had been lying up decades though and the damage may well have been done before i got it .

Have a look a post 10 in this thread perhaps..

http://www.biker.ie/forum/showthread.php?t=178759

[evok]

Thats a cool looking bike.................your 'friend' must be chuffed!!

[chopper]

Originally Posted by evok

Thats a cool looking bike.................your 'friend' must be chuffed!!

its a bit of craic alright, have to run it in now though

[black pudding]

Know a lad from around here that has a mint starfire, think he is actually selling it

[chopper]

Im knocking great craic outta the little b25s .have about 200 miles of breaking in done . Ill get pics up soon

[chopper]

Originally Posted by black pudding

Know a lad from around here that has a mint starfire, think he is actually selling it

What are they worth? Hard yo gauge them .the one i have is a us bike and afaik they were only made 1 year .