ANOTHER C10 STORY

The letter from Alan Freke in RC178 reminded me of an event with my first motorcycle, a 1954 BSA C10L. It was 1962 and I was sixteen years old and purchasing my first motor vehicle, a used motorcycle. My mother had suggested a bike; her parents had gotten around England for many years on a bike and sidecar. It seemed a good idea as I needed motor transport to get my first job here in Canada.

After looking at a James, my dad thought it best to get the BSA because he was more familiar with four-stroke motors and BSA was a popular brand when he was young. My first ride around the block was uneventful and exciting, however the second ride was not to be. The battery was dead. After an overnight charge I tried again the next day. The ride was somewhat longer but the battery died again. I removed the primary chaincase cover to see if there was a loose wire somewhere.

There were a LOT of loose wires! The resin on the Wipac energy transfer unit had dissolved a long time ago. We tried to get the thing to work many times and my dad even enlisted the help of a heavy-duty locomotive mechanic. But it became easier to take shorter rides and recharge the battery before going to bed. A replacement Wipac would have to be ordered from Fred Deeley’s bike shop in Vancouver and cost too much at the time.

As time went on, my clutch needed some attention so I took the friction plate to Fred Deeley, whereupon they handed me a bag cork inserts and showed me how to replace the worn corks. It seemed easy enough and my automotive teacher let me bring my bike and project to school where I could work on it in class. The finished friction plate was resurfaced in the wood shop by holding the plate against the large sanding wheel, doing both sides, then being reinstalled back in the bike. I was pretty proud of myself. I had completed my first repair without outside help.

A day later, my C10 was parked ready for me to go for a ride to Deeley’s to look at the new bikes. I kick started the BSA … then my hand slipped off the clutch lever. The bike jumped forward, then died. I tried to restart it but something was terribly wrong. There were strange noises coming from the transmission.

I took the three-speed transmission apart and I could not believe what I was looking at. The mainshaft was broken in half! I took the broken pieces to Deeley’s, by bus. The parts guys gathered around and looked in amazement. What kind of bike did that? They could not believe a C10L had the power to break its transmission mainshaft. Even more amazing, they had a replacement in stock. They blew the dust off it and sold it to me. The culprit was my new clutch, of course, which gripped very well…

I kept the C10 for a year then sold it to buy a used 1953 A10 650. A month after I sold the 250, my bank bounced the check for my bike and the buyer had moved! Derek Smith, member

And someone, somewhere is at this very moment staring at a C10 clutch with obscure plates and wondering if it’s a rare prototype! Frank W