I am afraid I disagree! I would say buy an older bike, and work on it yourself before you go, for several reasons:
-To better understand your vehicle and its own idiosyncracies
-More money for travelling
-Less to go wrong in a terminal manner.
-Easier to work on ("a carb, a carb my kingdom for a carb" the broken-down injection owner can be heard to cry)
-A 'Pro' might not know anything you don't, and he won't deal with other issues in the same way, i.e. a slightly damaged thread on a bolt will get forced back on rather than a new SS bolt being put in. I used a plumber out of the yellow pages, once. They were shit (i.e. worse than me!)

If I had gone with the newest and best bike I could afford I would have ridden an 1150 GSA from Sheffield to dover, then run out of money! As it was I took 2 grands worth of old Italian stallion to Kazakstan and back. I reckon I could have spent less and got more, a decent overland bike can be had for 1500 quid and some manhours doing the prep yourself

If I was in your shoes I would order a new gasket set, get that engine out and give it a once-over, the bike could even in theory be better than new! The quick and dirty option would be to just cut that off with a grinder and weld the new one on, check that alignment!!

Please don't bin it just because of the dodgy sprocket and output shaft, like my mum used to say - 'There are starving children in Africa who would fix that bike'. At least she said something like that, was too busy thinking about the forbidden fruit of a motorcycle!

Health warning - You might not want to take any advice from someone that is thinking about doing their next trip on a '68 unit single.......

hear hear.

as for the 1150 GSA, I had one, beautiful bike, Carnet costs, Henry, you forgot about that....and insurance....The Tenere if she should die on me, too bad for me, good for local scrapyard, cheap as chips, trip continues. If the 1150 were to die, all I'd think about was how to get it back home...bye bye trip.

cheap + reliable (or easy to fix) = good

good point, what is the cost of taking a 10 grand bike across e.g. Iran, about £90K??
The insurance against that loss would cost more than my bike!

,
,
,
get a small 100mm angle grinder wit a cutting disc, they are just 2mm thick, although they are really just for cutting, you can be very gentle and use it to carefully cut / grind away at the weld.

No rush, you have plenty of time.

ii am sure it can be done.

i would rat it at a 4 on your scale of 1 to 10

G.

Hmm, you'd be wanting the "fake carnet" option then, Sir?

Its probably naughty to bring this up on an online forum, but it worked for me in Africa. (n.b. not trying to sell anything here, in fact I can't for the life of me remember how I stumbled across this particular option. Must have a riffle through the old journals.

I'm for fixing it! Plus you'll be able to look at 5th gear and have access to the oil pump. That should give you peace of mind on the trip. and if it all goes south in Africa for whatever reason you can walk away from it, if need be. You'll know that engine inside and out, that for sure!
Steve

I am intending to go south in africa... but just got a copy of blood river, I have a single minded passion to go east , not west and mines on a desert!

Cheers G

Will update as it progresses to next stage

chain removal
 

hello to get your chain off you can probably buy a chain link remover from a motorcycle shop/ebay and put in a split link when you replace it so it is easy to do in future.I have recently changed all my gears including the sprocket shaft because it kept jumping out of third and the engine is pretty simple once it is taken apart its just a matter of checking each part is not too worn and replace if needed and renewing gaskets/ o rings . while i am going on a bit i would like to say that this site has given me so much inspiration/advice it is the bees knees and thanks to all who contribute :thumbup1:

I didnt read all the replies but from the picture there is absolutely no other safe option than to replace the whole shaft or engine (maybe cheaper)

If overlanding on this, you would be a complete idiot to do anything else.. (no offence buddy)

I second hand engine should go for a couple of hundred pounds on ebay.

Ted

2nd hand ones on ebay..
 

The Second hand engines on ebay are there for a reason: Its a devil you know versus the devil you dont! This weekend sees the carb put together and back on, then looking furverently at the offending article.

Cheers G

Well not really. I often buy and sell engines on Ebay. All you need is some common sense.

Most engines on Ebay are sold by breakers who have crashed or recovered bikes. The engines are usually the best part of the bike.

Even if you are unlucky enough to buy a lemon, the drive shaft will amost certainly be fine and you could swap it into your current engine. The whole engine will cost you less than a new shaft from Yamaha.

You talking about a "unit single" BSA? I raced and rode a few in my miss spent youth! :thumbup1: