BuddyPress.org

The problem is that when you first set up wp and bp you automatically set up an administrators account for wp that is not automatically ported into (used by) bp once you install the bp plugin. This simple solution is to create an account for bp that is not your original wp username and account. Create a test account and you will see everything now works. Unfortunately you cannot use your email address or username from your admin account. If there is a way around this please advise.

The clue that gave it away was my earlier observation of the double // in the url. A members account name will appear there if all is working properly.