1965 BSA Lightning Rocket 650

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  • Опубліковано 17 бер 2022
  • Check out the live Kaplan Cycles Vintage auctions; ebay.to/2TZsQ7E
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    Vernon, CT 06066

КОМЕНТАРІ • 37

  • @garyhunt9838
    @garyhunt9838 2 роки тому +8

    Thank you for representing old England Kaplan , this was the sound of my Father coming home after work and picking me up from School ☺

  • @richard9444
    @richard9444 2 роки тому +8

    My dad dad one ,he was a rocker in London UK 🇬🇧 in the 60s ,he's 83 and still a rocket at heart.

  • @user-ir6fm3qs4o
    @user-ir6fm3qs4o 2 місяці тому

    Nice bike. You should buy it and ride it young man. Be safe out there

  • @ZonkerRoberts
    @ZonkerRoberts 2 роки тому +5

    The BSA Lightning 650 is the bike Hunter S. Thompson rode in the 60's (even while he was writing his breakthrough book "Hells Angels"). Beautiful machine.

    • @ianmangham4570
      @ianmangham4570 2 роки тому +1

      Nice one I never knew that, I seen the interview he did where the hells angel rode the bike into the studio set. You can bet Hunter was the only guy who's bike started easily and never leaked oil over someone's driveway 😂🙏👍

    • @martincvitkovich724
      @martincvitkovich724 Рік тому

      @@ianmangham4570 Vertical split crank cases tended to leak

  • @notyetsilenced9746
    @notyetsilenced9746 2 роки тому +1

    My second motorcycle. Bought used in 1969 for $500. Drove it for a month before the engine blew (left rod started clanking). Paid $300 for a rebuild. Drove it for another six months, then drove it from Rochester NY to San Francisco, then on to Burbank before the engine blew again (left ball bearing cage). A beautiful looking bike. Good handling. Good power for the time, but not a Norton. Reasonable comfort for the time. On the down side: pathetic brakes, Amal monobloc carbs warped and would stick open, corks in petcocks leaked fuel, oil leaked everywhere - especially sump pump cover, pathetic lights, no ignition key (easy to steal), kick starter lever broke off periodically, timing could not be adjusted individually for each cylinder, porous exhaust pipe seal against head, crazy left-handed-bolts everywhere, non-standard "Whitworth" bolts that no American or Metric socket set would ever fit, starting drill required "tickling" that sprayed gas over your fingers every time, cast iron piston rings randomly broke, valve guides came loose, punishing vibration at highway speeds, fiberglass side panels fragile, clutch cable broke often, throttle cable broke, inherently defective engine design based on timing side bushing that always wore-out (dropping oil pressure to the left rod), pathetic 6 volt electrics. "Bulletproof"? Not a word I would use! Fun when it ran right? Definitely. Not an experience I would choose again.

  • @davidefland1985
    @davidefland1985 Рік тому +1

    I love BSA sounds so good

  • @ianmangham4570
    @ianmangham4570 2 роки тому +3

    World's most comfortable handlebars, imagine how far you could cruise on that beauty

    • @notyetsilenced9746
      @notyetsilenced9746 2 роки тому

      Reality is quite different. Stock seat is hard as a rock. Engine vibration peaked between 60-70 mph. Be careful what you wish for.

    • @ianmangham4570
      @ianmangham4570 2 роки тому +2

      @@notyetsilenced9746 Sit on a cushion and stay at 50mph 🙄

    • @martincvitkovich724
      @martincvitkovich724 Рік тому +1

      Hell, I toured for 3 months on a 1964 650 BSA Thunderbolt. In 1970 . It was a quite comfortable sickle

    • @ianmangham4570
      @ianmangham4570 Рік тому

      @@martincvitkovich724 My uncle Mick had a bsa goldflash 650 in the 70s 80s, he sure leaned her over with me sitting pillion at the roundabout, real smooth and great 👍 handling. 🤠💯

  • @mickgerard6696
    @mickgerard6696 2 роки тому +2

    That’s a beauty boys. God bless ya.

  • @davidefland1985
    @davidefland1985 Рік тому +2

    It’s beautiful

  • @54macdog
    @54macdog 2 роки тому +2

    I hope the new BSA is successful and that they release a bike like this.

    • @notyetsilenced9746
      @notyetsilenced9746 2 роки тому +1

      I hope it is infinitely better than the 1965 A65.

    • @54macdog
      @54macdog 2 роки тому

      @@notyetsilenced9746

  • @ianmangham4570
    @ianmangham4570 2 роки тому +2

    Beautiful 🙏👌❤️🇬🇧

  • @jethrox827
    @jethrox827 2 роки тому +1

    Reminds me of a biker heading to Woodstock in 1969

  • @zachwrench
    @zachwrench 2 роки тому +1

    Nice low mile bike there my dad has two a 66 & 67 both 650 lightings.I'll be watching this he may want a third bike both engines for his have been at the engine builder for over a year now and summer is fast approaching

  • @aumkar2
    @aumkar2 2 роки тому +1

    Nothing beats sit up and beg.

  • @ianmangham4570
    @ianmangham4570 2 роки тому +1

    Avon roadrunners made in 🇬🇧, had them on my gp125 in the 80s

  • @khadijagwen
    @khadijagwen Рік тому

    I rode one at 120 MPH.

  • @Unfunny_Username_389
    @Unfunny_Username_389 2 роки тому +1

    Interesting! Sounds great. At the time, and for a decade or more before, British bikes like this must have presented quite a serious challenge to the Harley Davidsons. I imagine they were lighter, handled better, were quicker and used a less fuel. I personally think they look as good if not better than the US bikes too.

    • @notyetsilenced9746
      @notyetsilenced9746 2 роки тому

      In the 1950s perhaps. Sportster was preferred by those who had the money.

  • @bwma
    @bwma 2 роки тому

    Nice BSA! You didn't even get that power egg up to its scary powerband. They flatten out around 4000 then pick back up around 5000rpm then hold on for another level of power.

    • @notyetsilenced9746
      @notyetsilenced9746 2 роки тому

      Scary? No. 50 horsepower may have been thrilling in 1965. Not today.

  • @josephliptak
    @josephliptak 10 місяців тому

    Sadly, i saw many BSAs, Triumphs, and Nortons get placed on the chopping block especially during the 1970s when most were bolting or welding hardtails on their stock bikes or removing the engine completely moving it to a rigid frame. The craze got so big it was nothing to see 350, 450, 500, and 750 Honda choppers everywhere along with the Kaws, zukis, and The Yamaha xs650.

  • @fredross3176
    @fredross3176 10 місяців тому

    Ticking Time Bomb

  • @glenminnick3724
    @glenminnick3724 2 роки тому

    Bought my 5oo Trophy in 1975, owned a 66 bonnie, 73 Tiger, 75 850 commando later. Also a 69 G 80 cs Matchless! Made the mistake of getting married in 1989, ouch! Sold most of them ... shame on me!!

  • @kopynd1
    @kopynd1 Рік тому

    when enfield built the twin if they copied the style of the a65 a50 twin engine a would have bought 1

  • @johnchopp3278
    @johnchopp3278 2 роки тому

    My uncle had a yellow one. No idea where it ended up.

  • @ccrider00
    @ccrider00 10 місяців тому

    👳‍♂️ bezzers is for geezers, I'll take a 65-68 Royal Endfield 750 Inteceptor or same yrs Norton n-15 cs or 68 Norton P 11 I thank you please! 👳‍♂️"he-leo"🧞‍♂️👋

  • @ragnarironspear1791
    @ragnarironspear1791 2 роки тому

    My father had the same bike until he married Mum .

  • @briamhess9865
    @briamhess9865 2 роки тому

    I love you guys it's always something but I never see bull tacos bull Taco Jim palmeroy both taco I've got the last bull taco probably brought to United States custom built only Hugh knows prairieville New York I've had that bike for 40 years what about Taco