BSA.

[Digit]

I'm reading a book about the history of BSA motor bikes. It's obvious that the writer is a fan of the marque, I suspect he never road the rubbish heaps that I did! :lol:
Anyone remember the C10s and C11s? Yeuk, Spit! Spit!

Roy.

 

[big soft moose]

I'm reading a book about the history of BSA motor bikes. It's obvious that the writer is a fan of the marque, I suspect he never road the rubbish heaps that I did! :lol:
Anyone remember the C10s and C11s? Yeuk, Spit! Spit!

Roy.

Ive no experience of their motor bikes but they made nice guns ( it is the same company i think - Birmingham small arms - which might explain why the bikes werent much cop)

 

[Digit]

They were indeed the same company, Small Heath and Kitts Green in Brum. They went over to bikes on a big way after WW1 and the market for Lee Enfields collapsed. Till the next bout at least.
They did produce some nice machines, but none I could afford as an apprentice!

Roy.

 

[Daven]

Ive no experience of their motor bikes but they made nice guns ( it is the same company i think - Birmingham small arms - which might explain why the bikes werent much cop)

True I had a BSA .22 rifle for many years doing competetion shooting before it became almost impossible to find a range following the change in public opinion of gun owners following the tragic results of a couple of nutcases!

Dave

 

[Digit]

True I'm afraid.

Roy.

 

[big soft moose]

ive still got one of their air rifles - the supersport ss in .22 - doesnt get used much these days but i used to hunt bunnies with it and a lamp

 

[Tenko]

I still have the Airsporter I got for my 17th birthday.

Also previously owned the Bantam 175 and Starfire 250 in the days before the Jap bikes took over the world.

 

[Digit]

Both those bikes were quite reasonable. My last C11 gave better service after death than it did in life, as reinforcement for concrete! :lol:

Roy.

 

[mailee]

I did have a C15 which wasn't a bad bike but I prefered the Triumphs, started with a Tiger Cub and ended with a Bonny, great memories.

 

[Digit]

Indeed!

Roy.

 

[Chris Knight]

My first bike was BSA C11G - took me everywhere. Needed a rebore one time and a few frame bolts worked loose but apart from that it performed well enough for a penniless student.

I even have a picture - ca 1962 with my sister on the back - dig the hi-tech protective gear..

 

[Benchwayze]

Can't see much of the bike Chris, but we can see who inherited the family's genes!

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Nice bikes regardless of what is said. I had the A10... It was an old clunker, but it went on and on, until I sold it to a collector!

Regards
John

 

[CHJ]

First one I ever used was a 350 side valve (pre WWII vintage)
First bike of my own was a 600cc Sloper with sidecar (petrol rationing days) later used without sidecar, one and only speeding offence* to date. 45 mph down the Bristol road B'ham. Old bill with with loud bell on front bumper, no allowance for the fact I had stopped twice to let pedestrians cross or that the machine had no speedometer or mirror (within the law at the time)

*That caught up with me :lol:

 

[Digit]

The C11G was a better machine IMO than the C11, swing arm rear for starters, remember the rocker box oil leaks on the C11 Chris? Wellingtons were part of the protective gear! :lol:
The 600 Sloper CHJ, was that a Panther?

Roy.

 

[JMcK]

Had an A7 and changed the engine for an A10. (same frame). I then put a "Spitfire" cam in it. It was quite nippy.

It ran very well but on the way from Scotland to Sussex it got very sick at Gretna Green.

I took the engine out on a service station forecourt to discover that the crank had broken. :shock:

After much phoning around, located a "big bearing" bottom end which belonged to a guy on a farm about twenty miles away. He let me have it with the proviso that I sent him the equivalent. This was in the late 60s and there were plenty of second hand spares kicking about. I refitted the engine and rode it to the South Coast.

Next BSA was an A65, "Lightning". Toured France on it but much preferred the A10. The A65 was unit construction and not so well put together.

Then went onto BMWs. R75/6 then R100RS. Long distant memories now.

I also rode a single pot BSA 350 for work in the 60s.

 

[Digit]

I eventually graduated to a Matchless 500 Twin. Ran the big ends on a trip in Dorset, got it back by train. It was then that I found that the design was such that if the oil feeds to the big ends failed the oil continued to circulated back to the tank, so checking the return flow was a waste of time!

Roy.

 

[Benchwayze]

Wowwweee... Remember when they opened the M1?

Yeahhh! Weekend leave was a breeze! :lol: :lol: :lol:

John

 

[Digit]

I certainly do! I got pulled by a police car for testing a bike on it before it was opened! Fortunately he was a motor cycle enthusiast himself!

Roy.

 

[Benchwayze]

Oh?

'Ello, 'ello, 'ello. Wot's goin' on 'ere then?
So it was just a warning then... Nice one.

John

 

[CHJ]

The 600 Sloper CHJ, was that a Panther?

Roy.

1934/36? BSA Sloper 600cc Like This but with Foot Gear Selection. Took and passed my test on it, brakes were useless but a quick change down was as good as sticking a brick under the back wheel.

Much to the amusement of one of my mates who ended up siting between the two saddles when mine settled back down :shock:

Went from that to a Norton Domi 88. a somewhat different performance.