BH California Star

[gaja]

The BMX I had as a kid was a silver BH California Star that I bought from Halfords in Clapham Junction. I've had my eye out for one to restore for ages but until recently hadn't ever seen one in silver (and only ever seen a couple in yellow).

So when this came up on ebay a few weeks ago I had to go for it;



It had the wrong wheels, brakes and seat and needed a fair bit of light restoration but after some shopping around and basic restoration here's the finished result;






The paint is pretty good but has it's share of scrapes but a repaint isn't an option as I can't find a sticker set for it. The BH was a budget BMX and it's certainly not the best. Compared to the Extra Burner I have it's pretty heavy and unrefined in places but as the bike I had as a kid I had to have one.

[CustardLips]

Nice work mate... looks well. 

[nosepickben]

Nice work, that's tidy, weird cranks but I like them. It's good to have a childhood resto in your collection. 

[Jaypeg]

Great job bud..

[oldschoolace]

Would give my right arm for my childhood bike back. Nice sympathetic resto 

[region11]

Nice to see the budget bikes that were out there...I always used to check out Halfords, and the Murreys and BH's may not have been what everyone wanted but still managed to Drool....It was all BMX

[markyp]

you know BH stands for Bloody Heavy!! great resto,these were built like tanks if I remember

[gaja]

Thanks for the comments. Definitely built like a tank, I put mine through hell back in the day and I couldn't hurt it!

Just found this picture of a very young me on the original;

[BMX1973]

Nice to build a replica of your old bike 

[Andy68]

Great story, it's all about nostalgia. Nice one 

[deeman]

 Compared to the Extra Burner I have it's pretty heavy and unrefined in places

 

Lovely resto mate, can't put a price on memories! 

[dancetothedrummersbeat]

That's quality  These type of bikes are getting hard to find now, as most of them ended up in skips. My mate had the yellow/blue version of this. I think it had bue pads/grips and seat, the frame/forks being yellow. I think the tyres were blue as well, but am not 100% sure. That bulky looking stem brings back some memories 
Great bike, and loving the old photo too 

[oldscool]

Cool to have the bike you started on 

Just need a chrome kozumi made pro star for sensible money.

[factory pilot]

Real nice nostalgia build .. I've never seen a silver one before .. I only remember the yellow one.
Love that old picture.. Nice Adidas by the way