Gary Britton's BSA C15 Faber framed Mk3 "Otter". 
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Gary Britton’s BSA Faber Mk 3 Otter build.
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It all started when I mentioned to a friend that I fancied a Pre 65
Trial’s bike.
"It's your lucky day" he replied, and the next day a ton
of scrap was dumped in my back yard.
"Pick what you want and do a bike for me” he said.
Amongst this "scrap" were at least six sets of C15 crankcases...
A couple of cylinders/pistons, cylinder head’s, and gearbox's, so the game was on.
I had never owned a British bike so it was quite a daunting task, but
Armed with the wonderful RUPERT RATIO book I soon worked out what
was needed, and what to scrap, what was missing, what was bodged and what to keep for the future.
Photo's Courtesy Gary Britton.
I have access to a sand blast cabinet and a sonic cleaner so after
a session in these, I could start to build the bottom end, as you can
probably guess there was then much use of the welding machine and helicoiling.
The motor went together quite well apart from the expense!
New piston/rebore, Electrex World ignition, Amal 22mm carb, crank
rebuild, (alpha bearings), gearbox part’s, kick-start ratchet and
the best part of a whole clutch. Oh why did I start this?
A phone call to Howard Fawke’s and a Mk3 Faber frame was ordered.
"How much deposit do you want then? The reply was “none”, “we have a
Gentleman’s agreement"!! I like this bloke.
Other big bits I needed were wheels, forks, shocks, and a tank.
The rims and spokes were from Central Wheel’s; the front hub is a Triumph Cub
hub, and brake plate, cleaned up and painted with wheel spray paint. It
came out quite nice.
The rear wheel has an Alan Whitton (nice chap and
a mine of information) hub, which is a work of engineering art.
The brake plate, was made by myself, some 1/2 inch Dural with boss's
welded in, re-machined and bushed. The brakes work, but there's not much
chance of out braking John McGuiness into Ramsey hairpin.
The levers and
torque arms are my own.
(I forgot to mention I work in a machine shop for
a local factory.)
The forks, “Triumph/BSA four stud”, were bought on eBay and
were new and unused. When I stripped them I found a rare factory beetle
inside? I replaced the damper O rings with Tufnol piston type ring as recommended in your fork section.
Shocks are from Sammy Miller Products, and Terry
Weedy supplied the fuel tank.
At the end of September I picked up the frame, and could now start to build the bike.
The frame was powder coated twice. The first time was a
cheap job and no good. The second was expensive and done properly.
(There’s a lesson there somewhere). The tyres are Pirelli, I know they are
not the best but they are better then my ability and were free.
I made the brackets to fit the front mudguard, fitted taper bearings in the
Head-stock, Renthal bars and Amal throttle. Et viola the front was done.
At the rear I thought I may have a problem with clearance,
but Howard had
done his homework, and there is plenty of space for a four inch tyre.
Spindle's were made in stainless steel, snail cam adjusters in 4mm aluminum and a chain guard in 16swg alloy.
Now I had a rolling chassis, it actually looked like a motorcycle.
Time to fit the motor?
This was straight forward, I fitted the carb on a
20mm spacer I made in aluminum, this was later changed to Tufnol
material as the heat was transferring to the carb. A rubber hose and
a K+N type filter were fitted.
The exhaust is a modified front section,
and my own silencer design, was welded up by a friend.
I think it looks
nice. I fitted a cartridge type oil filter. With the tank and seat fitted
it was finished. That's what's nice about trials bikes, there’s no extra's
to fit.
Simples. Gary.
Gary, I hope you enjoy riding your superb bike, keep in touch and let us know how she goes.
Charlie.
19/06/2023...
The Britton boy's were out in force in the recent British Bike Two day trial at Lower Pitts Farm Priddy Nr Wells Somerset...
The Somerton Classic's superb trial in the West Country... Here Jay Britton aboard the Faber Framed BSA C15...Otter...Jay finished a close second in B class as you can see by the results below...
Jay Britton has been a Winner on this Faber Otter several times, well done young man...
A Route ...
Under 300cc. Tommy Kinsman Jnr 250 BSA 0, Steve Hand 185 BSA 5, Tony Bradley 185 BSA 7, Neil Clarke 250 DOT 12, Steve Grinter 250 Royal Enfield 12.
Over 300cc. Shane Stalker 500 Triumph 1, Barry Barthorpe 350 Ariel 2, Barry Stephens 350 BSA 3, Tony Henbest 370 Triumph 11, Bob Hill 500 Ariel 23.
Specials, James Godman 260 Cub 2, Mark Evans 250 BSA 30.
B ROUTE
Under 300cc. Ian Thompson 250 Greeves 2, Jay Britton 250 BSA 8, Dean Whitty 250 Greeves 10, Dave Passey 250 Drayton Villiers 11, Martin Kemp 250 Greeves 14.
Over 300cc. Jon Griffin 325 Greeves 2, Gary Britton 350 Ariel 5, Geoff Cornes 500 Matchless 10, Mark Vining 350 Trifield 16.
Rigid over 300cc, Sean Donaghy 500 Triumph 4, Jon Cull 350 AJS 5, Ian Hayward 350 AJS 14, Alan Wear 350 Triumph 30.
Specials, Mike Jarrett 350 BSA 6, Karen Clarke 185 BSA 10, David Gollicker 240 Cub 11, Chris Wrigley 230 Cub 11.
C ROUTE
Under 300cc. Robin Hoare 250 Francis Barnett 3, Neil Thomas 200 Cub 11, Paul Knight 200 Cub 11, Simon Hatcliffe 250 Burian 18.
Over 300cc. Graham Jones 350 Ariel 0, Trevor Newell 450 Royal Enfield 3, John Cross 350 Royal Enfield 7.
Rigid over 300cc, Brian Ayres 350 BSA 1.
More Later... from the Faber Otter BSA rides...
Updat2023...06...
