BSA Rocket III

Phil R

Turbocharged
Joined
Mar 20, 2008
Messages
502
Location
Kennewick, WA
Ride
2008 Classic
Played around at a vintage bike show today and saw a bunch of neat old bikes, including this BSA Rocket III.



Had a bunch of guys come and admire my bike too. Gawd I like that!
 
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Very cool. I've never seen an old BSA R3 in real life. Thanks for posting the pic...not too many pictures of them out there, either.

Everywhere I go my R3 gets peoples' attention. I know what you mean...it's a blast, especially when you're parked between a couple of HDs and everyone is ignoring them to go bug-eyed over the Rocket.

My only problem is that people want me to fire her up so they can hear it run...and they're typically disappointed in the result. I'm thinking really hard about a set of D&Ds...
 
Ditto...

on the disappointment of the sound of the stock pipes. I don't want loud, but perhaps a little growl and aggressiveness.
 
Phil R said:
on the disappointment of the sound of the stock pipes. I don't want loud, but perhaps a little growl and aggressiveness.
Click to expand...

I have a set of original pipes for sale that I drilled out for more growl. I also have my ray gun silencers from my first rocket 3. It was a 1969 much like the one in the picture however that one has front forks and disk brakes probably off a mid seventies triumph. The tank and sidecovers are def 1969.
 

I also noticed the "bat wings" are missing from the oil cooler.
I wonder if this is one of the early 70's models with a 69 tank on it.
 
Thanks for posting that Phil.
Nice old BSA, I don't care about what year it is or isn't,
it's still our bikes namesake and predecessor.

Nice ride you got there yourself.
 
Except for the front disc brakes AND the mufflers, this one IMO looks like a modified 1971 edition: new gaiter-less forks, chrome guards, no oil cooler covers , what looks like the so-called "conical" rear drum brake, two-tone side panels and fully exposed shock springs. BTW, the 1969 vintage gas tank remained std on the European version until the end of 1971.

By way of contrast, the original 1971 edition had a twin leading shoe "conical" front brake and more conventional mufflers with a long megaphone shape.

Jamie
 
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