Hello from England

[BridgeBrit]

Hi everyone,

Very glad to find this site! Am just starting my first ever restoration project on a BS 50. If anyone knows of any spare parts that may be loitering in sheds or cardboard boxes here in the UK (for the BS 50) I would be delighted to hear.

Very happy to find you all here!

[disc_valve]

Hi,

So there is another BS50 in the UK ( check out the pic of mine in the Gallery section). As far as I know there are only one or two other tiddler Bridgestones over here - my 50 Sport and a couple of 60 Sports.

Unfortunately, there's not much chance of finding a stash of 50 parts on this side of the pond, but the good news is that there is reasonable availability of parts from contacts in the States (Richard, of course is No 1!) and Ireland. Also, assuming you are talking about a disc-valve 50 (not a BS7) a lot of the parts are interchangeable with the BS90, which was sold over here back in the sixties.

Good luck with your resto,

Graham Weeks

[BridgeBrit]

Hey, thanks for answering! I believe you must be the Graham Weeks who wrote all that fantastic information about VIN numbers?

The bike is a new arrival from the Midwest and won't be running for a while so yours will be the only roadworthy BS 50 in the UK for a while :-) This one is a '67 but unused since '74. She's actually in pretty good condition. I spent yesterday de-gunking her. I found chicken feathers inside all the mud - where has she been? I've never done this before so am relishing the challenge (but might also regret my own stupidity.) The list of parts I need isn't too long at the moment. Just from an outside inspection I know I need a RH Side Cover, Clutch H/Bar lever, RH H/Bar brake lever, footrest rubbers front and rear, Gear lever, Exhaust joiner rubber, rubber connection to air filter, air filter, Key, and a Kick Start lever, replacement Fuel Line, probably replacement cables. The Kick start lever looks to have been sheered off though so I'm not sure if that is ominous or not. I'm taking her round to Sammy Millers next week for them to give her the once over. Yes, I have lready contacted Richard and he has been really helpful - I shall be definitely placing an order there. If I can source some bits and pieces over here though that could be really helpful.

Graham, can you offer any advice about tyres? The Bridgestone 2.25 17s don't seem to be available in the UK. I have only seen them on the Japanese webbike site. Did you go fully authentic on your BS -50 (Apart from the colour, of course:-) I can get front and rear Bridgestones imported for about £100 from Japan. I could get a cheaper alternative here. I want to keep it as authentic as possible but am also concerned about the cost of the spares I shall need to get. I have been considering getting a cheaper set for now that will enable me to move her about without damage, until later on?

Thanks again for answering my post.

Stella

[vntage honda]

hi Stella, i have just picked a BS 50 for a friend of mine in the UK, i think its about 1967, he has some spares for this model, but i don't know what he will part with till he has done this one, i think he has a 90 as well, i live in the midlands , and will be taking it to Stafford show, where he will pick it up from next month, i know Sammy very well, he and bob have done a lot of work for me, and i have sold him some nice bikes, don't know if he has any bridgestones, not been down there for a while, did go to Nettle marsh last week, picked up some early Honda stuff, i will ask him, or i could give you his telephone number.
Alan

[RayK]

Stella

I have a BS 50 Sport - fairly rare in Oz also.  The tyres I have are Michelin, made in Thailand - they cost me $30 AUD each.

Have fun
Ray

[BridgeBrit]

Hi Alan,

Thanks for that. So there's ANOTHER BS 50 Sport over here, as well. Excellent! Sammy Miller does have some Bridgestones in the museum so I will ask him about spares also, although I fully expect he'd rather hang onto them for his own jobs. Any telephone numbers gratefully accepted as long as they don't mind a call. Thanks for answering. Stella

[BridgeBrit]

Hi Ray,

AU$30 each sounds like a bargain to me.

Thanks for answering my post.

Stella

[disc_valve]

Hi, Stella,

Yes, I am that same G.W who wrote the bit on Serial numbers - I've been into Bridgestones since 1980 so I've had a little while to gather info on the bikes!

Your list of "missing parts" looks suitable small, and the good news is that they are all parts common to the BS90 apart form the pillion rest rubbers, so supply shouldn't be a problem. The pillion rests are fixed on the '50 and folding on the '90, but reckon they should be available still. On the subject of tyres, I've just gone down the line of "round and black", and fitted standard Taiwanese ruibber on the basis that I don't need top grade boots to ope with 5.2 hp. I have, however fitted a ribbed front tyre, as I always think Block or Universal pattern tyres look wrong on the front wheel. Ribbed fronts ar becoming more tricky to find these days, so you will probably have to get that from one of the speciailist vintage tyre suppliers or try looking round the autojumbles.

My 50 Sport originated in Kansas and ended its US life as a field bike. With only 3500 miles on the clock, it came complete with a few dead Kansas spiders and loads of Kansas dirt in all the crevices. The reason why it ended up as a field bike was that it was a pig to start, which turned out to be caused by the oil seal in the disc valve cover being badly fitted at the factory. Obviously, the previous owner had spent long hours thrashing away at the kickstart trying to force it into life and he'd also sheared off the kicktart shaft. Sounds like an interesting parallel with your little beast.

Graham   

[BridgeBrit]

Hi Graham,

Thanks for that and the info. Took the head off today and found the piston is well and truly seized! Quite possibly another reason why the kick start is sheered off but it cheered me up no end to discover you were successful after also having a sheered kick start. Could be a month of Sunday's liberating the piston from the barrel though. Oh well, if it was gonna be easy I wouldn't have been interested. I shall bear in mind the oil valve seal as well though, now I know.

Went to Sammy Millers today. He was somewhat ... disparaging about the 50 Sport! Mainly because he didn't believe he'd be able to get any of the parts. The 175cc they have in the museum was bought fully restored at an auction for £2000 (he told me.) I tried to tell him that I could get the parts but clearly my three minutes of his time were up :-) His mechanic was much more helpful though so it was a worthwhile visit.

It was a big step taking off the head today as a total newbie but once you get going you gain confidence. I'll feel happiest of all though when I have got to the bottom of the sheered kickstart. If it's just a sheered lever that's kind of ok but if there's more damage inside it might be another matter.

Thanks for your message!

Stella

[Jeff Bar]

Its a shame Sammy Miller was not more helpful, but I guess he is driven my the dollar.

He is wrong about parts. Richard Clark provider of this site has most any part you might need.

Good luck and have fun with the 50.  Jeff bar

[BridgeBrit]

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for your post. I agree. I think Richard will be able to solve most problems on the supply side. From Sammy's side I guess too, if I had been a hugely successful rider and race winner where you need a serious kind of beligerance, I too might be more forthright and less inclined not to speak my mind. It's funny, the friend I had gone with wanted to punch him because he thought he had been so rude, but I get kind of zen about it. At the end of the day it's not what he thinks about the bike it's down to me and whether I'm still prepared to put the work in. If I finally manage to liberate the seized piston and there are no other humungous problems then I know I have a bike in progress. If there are more biggies I mght have a donar bike. And I guess from Sammy's point of view also he has to look at any restoration project in terms of what it's going to cost, how easy it'll be to source parts and the mechanic hours he has to pay. When it's your own project you can afford to be a little less ruthless. But I'm also seriously stubborn and not known to give up on anything without a fight, especially when I've shelled out hard earned for it ;-)

Thanks for your post.

Stella

[reed]

BridgeBrit
Don't be to hard on Sammy Miller we all have are days! you have found the Bridgestone site you can get parts from Richard.
And people with good advice on Bridgestone motorcycles this is the place to be, good luck with your Bridgestone 50.
All the best.
Steve Reed.   

[BridgeBrit]

Thanks Steve.

Stella

[reed]

BridgeBrit
Nice to see more people joining the Bridgestone site from the UK.
All the best.
Steve.

[BridgeBrit]

Hi Steve,

Are you a Brit living in the US?

The UK is kind of a Bridgestone wilderness - any Bridgestone warrants endangered species status there are so few around. We HAVE to come to Richard's site or we'd have no one to talk to :-) Most people haven't even heard of Bridgestone motorcycles over here. But I have to say that when they see one they do think they look pretty cool!

Stella

[coxy]

g day Stella good luck with your bridgestone its pretty much a dry argument here in Australia with bridgestones as well but i think more were imported here .i have had a plan for a long time to go and see the Sammy miller museum   and some others also to go to the TT i might get there one year .all the best .coxy

[BridgeBrit]

Hi Coxy,

You should, it's a very good museum! Never been to the TT though. Actually, it was going to the museum that inspired me to do a restoration project. All the bikes and cars these days seem so plastic and uninspiring and the bikes in the museum looked so fantastic and interesting. Then I came across the Bridgestone and learned how much ahead of their time they were that I thought I just had to do it. Whether I still think that in six months time might be another matter. Luckily, you live far enough away to not hear the swearing :-)

[reed]

BridgeBrit
Yes i live in the states now, its a great place to live!
Thanks.
Steve.

[reed]

Coxy
If you ever want to go to the TT let me know i have been a few times!
Its great fun etc.
Thanks.
Steve.

[BridgeBrit]

Hi Steve,

Yes, I bet it is. I'm a little envious of all the space you have out there (and the BS bikes too, of course.)

Sorry about the space hogging in the previous post. Something happened to the site when I was writing it. It started flashing like a jackpot win on a coin slot machine and wouldn't let me change anything. Wonder if this thread is causing trouble?

Thank you Steve and everyone else for answering my posts. I'm really glad I joined this site. You are a great bunch of guys with great advice and encouragement. Will probably have a technical question to start another thread with soon.

Stella