I noticed a saddle at a jumble with a label saying ‘1910 BSA.’ Chatting to the seller I discovered he had the whole bicycle minus its saddle and a few other parts. So I immediately bought it (without seeing it). Plus, of course, its saddle.
I was delighted when I went to collect it the following week and saw it for the first time.
It certainly does not deserve to be broken for spares. Though that is the sad state of affairs these days – whole bicycles are rarely worth as much as their components sold separately.
The only missing item I couldn’t replace was a saddle post, so I fitted a later straight tube to reduce the saddle height.
It has now been mechanically restored. I initially intended to fit a Wall Autowheel to it. But it did not easily fit, so I used my old Humber Ladies bicycle instead for the Wall.
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The following ad illustrates the similar 1914 Ladies BSA
And, to compare, its Gents counterpart
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BSA Early Bicycle History
The first machine produced by BSA was in fact a DICYCLE, an odd three wheeled machine that was demonstrated by its inventor, Mr Otto, on the board room table at Armoury Road. The company decided to join the cycle mania bandwagon when the sales of guns declined in the 1870’s. A dicycle is on show at the National Cycle Museum at Llandrindod Wells.
In 1908 A.E.Wills beat the one hour world distance record on a BSA cycle. His distance of 61 miles, 972 yards meant he was the first cyclist to exceed over a mile a minute, over one hour. The BSA cycle he used is in the Coventry Transport Museum.
BSA did not always make its own cycles and at one period Hercules Cycles of Aston were manufacturing the cycles and badging them as BSA’s.
The BSA Bicycle company was sold off to Raliegh Industries of Nottingham in 1957. Bicycles under the BSA name are currently manufactured and distributed within India by TI Cycles.
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BSA Motorcycle History
The mighty BSA was the world’s largest motorcycle manufacturer buts its origin started with one of Birmingham’s prolific trades, gun making.
On 7 June 1861 14 gun makers formed the Birmingham Small Arms Company Limited. Their stated purpose was to make guns by machinery. By 1863 their new factory on a green field site at Small Heath was complete. In 1866 it acquired its munitions factory in Adderley Park, Birmingham.
From 1880 it went into bicycle manufacture, making its own designs from 1881. Between 1888 and 1893 it devoted itself solely to production of a new magazine rifle, returning to the cycle industry in 1893 with the manufacture of cycle hubs and other components. In 1906 it took over the National Arms and Ammunition Company’s premises in Sparkbrook and acquired the Eadie Manufacturing Co. Ltd. of Redditch in 1907.
BSA also produced motorcycle components for other companies but it was not until 1903 that they produced, an experimental 233cc motorcycle. In 1909 a 3½ HP belt driven motorcycle priced at £50 went into production. These were later followed other models in several different capacities including the chain driven ‘H’ model.
In 1910 it acquired the Daimler Co. Ltd. of Coventry.
In 1916 the company were producing three basic motorcycles. During the first world war they provided motorcycles for the British Expeditionary Forces. After the war, in 1924, the company started a long relationship with the General Post Office (GPO) supplying motorcycles for the newly formed telegram delivery service. BSA continued to supply motorcycles to the GPO until the demise of this service in xxx. The most famous motorcycle used was the post war two stroke Bantam which was Britain’s most popular lightweight motorcycle.
In the 1930’s BSA built three wheeled cars in competition with Morgan and front wheeled drive saloons and drop-head coupes. They also built in small numbers the BSA 10 H.P. car which was a cheaper version version of the Lanchester and Daimler 10 H.P.and was fitted with a fluid flywheel and pre-selector gearbox
BSA also secured contacts with the Automobile Association (AA), the Police and the Army again in World War Two for the supply of motorcycles.
BSA motorcycles were aimed more at the non sporting motor cyclist and they concentrated on reliable bread and butter models. They never really excelled in racing but could always be found in trials and reliability runs.
In 1924 four BSA motorcycles climbed Mount Snowdon in Wales in less than 25 minutes. In 1926 two BSA,s went around the world in 18 months.
In 1927 BSA launched their Sloper range, so called because of the sloped engine layout. By 1930 they had a range of 16 models from a 174cc single to a 986cc twin. As the 30s recession hit home the range was reduced and models simplified to cut costs.
Later in 1931 they acquired the Birmingham car manufacturer, Lanchester.
By the second World War the company consisted of 67 factories. In World War Two BSA as well as making weaponry made a staggering 126,254 M20 motorcycles for the army. In 1943 Sunbeam from Wolverhampton were taken over, then Ariel in 1944 and New Hudson in 1940.
The Small Heath factory was hit directly by a German bomb in November 1940 and there were many casualties amongst workers as part of the factory collapsed.
After the war BSA started production of the Bantam in June 1948, the design of which had been obtained from the East German company DKW as war reparation. The company also launched what would be their most famous motorcycle, the Gold Star, whose design followed that of the pre-war Blue Star 500.
In 1951 BSA acquired Triumph Motorcycles at Meriden, a takeover which they would later deeply regret and bring about the demise of both companies.
In 1953 BSA Motorcycles Ltd was formed to keep motorcycle production separate from the rest of the group. At this time 12 motorcycle models were being produced.
All was however not well behind the scenes. 2 models were giving cause for concern. The two stroke Dandy was underpowered and was prone to overheating so it was withdrawn prematurely. The Beeza scooter never even made it to the showrooms, seemingly due to a management feud between Triumph and BSA.
In 1957 Edward Turner was appointed head of the BSA automotive division. The 250cc C15 was launched in 1954 and proof of the new Triumph versus BSA strategy was evident in the machine as it was merely a badged Triumph Cub.
By 1960 BSA were in financial trouble to the extent that the car and bus division was sold to Jaguar Cars Ltd,
The appointment of Harry Sturgeon as MD was seen as a step forward but his tenure was cut short by illness and he retired in 1966. His replacement knew little about motorcycles and it is from this point that we can chart the beginning of the downhill decline of BSA.
In 1968 a new machine the 750cc rocket 3 was launched in the USA and in 1969 in the UK.
In 1971 BSA recorded a loss and it was proposed to close Small Heath and transfer all production to Triumph at Meriden. There was a last minute change of mind but it was really too late for the company at this stage and in 1973 the BSA group was sold to Norton Villier’s to form Norton Villier’s Triumph (NVT). Two months later the chairman of NVT, Dennis Poore, dealt the British motorcycle industry a fatal blow by announcing that Triumph would close and production would remain at Small Heath. He had not counted on the militancy of the Meriden workforce and the sit in by the workers co-operative which would drag on for 10 years. It was the end, the losses mounted and the worlds greatest motorcycle factory produced its last bike on Christmas Eve 1975.
Out of the parts rose several companies and eventually a very small motorcycle company based in Southampton using the BSA name.
It should be noted that BSA Guns still exist in what was formerly the sidecar production unit in Armoury Road
[With thanks to http://madeinbirmingham.org/bsa.htm for the above information]
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