BSA C12 Scrambler

[Tony T]

Settle down. I can hear you laughing.............. 

Would anyone out there know if somebody has, successfully or otherwise, built a vintage racer out of a C12?
I've had this thought for some time as my Dad owned one in the mid 50's.
Any information, links or leads much appreciated.

[firko]

Although you'll probably get a bit of a ribbing for attempting something so .....err, weird, I reckon you'd have a lot of fun building the bloody thing. On the race track it would be woeful but what a neat little Classic Dirt bike and a cool way to remember your Dad. I'd be digging through old Brit magazines to see what the 250 scrambler of the day looked like and build something along those lines, sort of like a 250 4 stroke version of Ray Atkins trick Bantam shown below.
.

[Tony T]

Thanks Mark.
I've only got one photo of my Dad on it and it's really bad and only front on, so not much help to me.
However, since he died 11 years ago, I've had his idea and figured it was about time to start working on it.
In all honesty, it wouldn't ever see much track time with me on it, but like you say, it would be cool it build it and have something to remember the old man by.
Good idea of looking for 50's magazines. What years should I look for? I'm sure they were built in the second half of the 50's but not sure of exact years.

[firko]

I'd be looking at the late 50s/early 60s for starters. Once you've built it you can hit the skid pans in your Sunday best racing gear like the trendy dude below.

[Tony T]

I haven't got any riding gear that cool though.................. 

I guess the eBay search begins......................

[LWC82PE]

im sure id have plenty of photos in some books. C12? im not sure ive heard of that model C10, C11, C15 yes but im not familar with a C12. i will look in some books to see what they look like. are they sidevave 250 motor? if so they are really really gutless, worser than a overhead valve C15 250 and they are bad enough. you really gotta do some porting, head work, intake and exahaust work. i know we have a side valve C10 or C11 semi assembled. you think a xl 250 or 350 is slow then wait till you get on one of these 250 BSA's!!

the answer is yes you can make a british scrambler out all those bikes. we are starting on a tiger 70 triumph replica at the moment and back in the day they had high level exhaust and were used for scrambles/grass track in the mid 30's

[Tony T]

Thanks Leith
Should have known you'd have some BSA knowledge. 
C12 came after C11 and had overhead valves.
If this ever gets off the ground, it would never be meant to be a competitive racer, just a nice bike to own as a kind of memorial to my Dad.

[LWC82PE]

yeah i know the bike now. they came out for one yr in 1940 as a side valve and then in the mid 50's as a pre unit over head valve engine. i finished off a restoration or a C11G  about 5 or 6 years ago which is very similar to what your looking at. ive got all the info on model ID's engine/frame numbers etc if you need that plus all the specifaications.

[Tony T]

Thanks mate. If you're not doing anything one day  I'd be interested in the numbers so I know what I'm getting if when I go to buy one.
Andy Morris had a bit of C11 stuff a few years ago. Don't know if he still does. I've got to do a couple of promo shots at his shop in the morning, I'll ask him.

[Tim754]

Think I may have got most of a motor (only) for those Pommie puss balls somewhere about. If I have ,its yours Tony. Cheers Tim
Price ? No Charge....  OK;)

[Tony T]

sounds good Tim.
Let em know.
We'll do a deal............. 

[LWC82PE]

You dont necessary need to find magazines from the 50's. current day classicbike magazines from the newsagent have info. ive got a database cataloging all lots off issues from the the first issue of classic bike and the classic motorcycle up to mid 90's i think and it lists the issues various bikes were featured. i believe this is also on the intenet on those magazines websites i think. so far i havent found anything on C12's modified for scrambling. this would be partly because by 56-58 which is what you model would be, the unit construction C15 had come along and was a much better engine but still not real great unless it was the highly tuned model.

by the way yours has a clamied 11 BHP!

[Tony T]

Perhaps it is a bit of a big ask, but I'll keep looking into it. Especially if Tim has an engine to get me started. 
11hp eh? Might take some getting used to when jumping off my KX500................... 

[jimson]

Tony I'll keep my eyes out    for you as I'm looking for some bits for a C15 Scrambler.jimson

[Tony T]

Thanks jimson
I think your idea is probably a bit more realistic. Good luck.