All the other BSA cool aside...chrome tank panels for the win
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Oh, the heck with them big rocket bikes I was talking about last week.
- Thread starter John Backlund
- Start date
Oh, they're making it all right. I just hope it doesn't take too long to establish dealers here in the US.
There is a Norton branded machine being made, but it's very expensive and made by a small 'boutique' builder, or I think it's still being made.
The BSA is backed by the giant India-based conglomerate, Mahindra, much as Polaris is with the resurrected Indian brand.
We have five other bikes right now, though none are quite the rocketships like we used to have. Since Trixie sold her 125 hp Kawasaki in late November, our fastest bike currently is my 97 hp Triumph Thruxton R.
All the other BSA cool aside...chrome tank panels for the win
Yes! I've been waiting for those to come back ever since....ummm..1969?
I'm actually surprised that Honda hasn't had chrome tank panels on a retro model yet, with a few exceptions, they were a dominant feature on damn near every bike they produced from the very late 50's until just about 1970, as did the other main Japanese manufacturer during that period. Of course, they mimicked the fully chromed and painted gas tanks of the BSA's of that time with attached chrome panels.
A beautifully restored mid-late 1960's Honda S90 exactly like the one I had back then. Love those tank panels!
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One of my Dad's employees had a BSA in the late '60s. I have always wanted one as a result (ahhh, impressionable youth). I definitely plan to go and "look" when someone around here gets the franchise.
You should get a side car for your Tele
johnnylaw
Friend of Leo's
Check out the new Enfields too. Nice bikes!
I got a test ride on their relatively new 650 Interceptor vertical twin about two years ago when they first came out, and for a couple seasons, I owned a 2017 Royal Enfield 500 thumper...all 27 hp of it, the 45 hp BSA 650 single would be a rocket compared to my RE 500, but it definitely was a pretty thing.
If it had put out another ten to fifteen hp, I would probably still have it.
Same deal with the 2015 Yamaha SR400 I owned at the same time I had the Royal Enfield. It was another 27 hp single that just didn't have enough snot to keep me interested, and both vibrated like paint shakers much above 60 mph.
The Yamaha was MUCH nicer in build-quality than my Royal Enfield was, however. The Yamaha was a jewel by comparison...
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johnnylaw
Friend of Leo's
The narrow stature of the single is really appealing.
Even the “underpowered” ones serve well in the right application.
Lately, I’ve been pondering a tenor guitar.
Even the “underpowered” ones serve well in the right application.
Lately, I’ve been pondering a tenor guitar.
Bikes, my second big passion in life. I’ve got a Husky 510 (thumper) and a Husky 701 (thumper too) and both weigh less than 400 Lbs and make more HP than the Brit single. Not to rain on anyone’s parade, but I just don’t see the appeal of re-issues of vintage Brit-Bikes except as a nostalgia thing. I did have a Triumph Tiger 800 XCx, a great bike, but sold it because it’s so damned top heavy. Unless you’re a Paul Bunyan type, you are s**t out of luck trying to pick it up if it tips over.
Singles are great for riders who like tight twisty back roads. I used to be a club racer, but I’m all over going crazy fast, and the single is great for those who are concentrated on finesse as opposed to raw speed.
Singles are great for riders who like tight twisty back roads. I used to be a club racer, but I’m all over going crazy fast, and the single is great for those who are concentrated on finesse as opposed to raw speed.
It's a bit of a nostalgia thing, but even without that as a factor, I simply find the general styling of bikes of the 60's more appealing visually than most contemporary machines. I also only use my bikes as rolling pleasure tools, I don't do any seriously long distance rides anymore, and mostly just run around the Black Hills on them at something less than 100% effort. They're just toys to me these days, and their performance only needs to be 'good enough' to provide a pleasurable experience.
I'm a pretty visual guy, and a bike's appearance is what initially attracts them to me, then I'll determine whether it's performance is at least adequate for my intended purposes.
That doesn't mean that I still don't occasionally lust over some 200 hp monster bike, though. I sometimes really miss the easy power and outrageous acceleration of a ZX14 or Hayabusa, but I can be pulled back from that edge by a visually stunning (to me) bike. That's how my Triumph Thruxton R, R18 BMW, and Kawasaki W800 found their way into my garage, I first just liked their looks, their performance was secondary.
ejphotos
Tele-Holic
Nice looking exhaust pipe on it.
bottlenecker
Poster Extraordinaire
I love the 701s. I would like to get one when I can budget it.
I've seen small ladies pick up 600 lb motorcycles with correct technique. If you're strong, you may have gotten by without having to learn the technique. But it can be done.
teleforumnoob
Friend of Leo's
Very cool retro vibe. Would be a fun around towner.
I have a RE Cont 650 that I love. I ride it more often than my big Harley.
I have a RE Cont 650 that I love. I ride it more often than my big Harley.
The odd juxtaposition of a giant India-based tractor/auto company building a classic British motorcycle in Birmingham, England, while Triumph motorcycles are being built in Thailand by a British company, is not lost on me.
As for the Mahindra BSA 'resurrection', It's a dirty, thankless, job....but somebody's gotta do it.
KyAnne
Tele-Afflicted
650 is a LARGE thumper!
It is, and I sense that, depending on it's price, should be a fairly good seller in the US market. It's different enough to separate itself from the Royal Enfield 650 Interceptor (I know it's a traditional name for the Royal Enfield, but I find it somewhat amusing to refer to a 500 pound, 47 hp machine as an 'Interceptor'), and even at only 45 hp, it will be hugely superior in engine performance from the 27 hp RE 500 single.
We've owned a few other large singles over the years...my wife's Yamaha SRX600 that she road raced for three seasons, my '83(?) Yamaha XT550, '91 KLR 650, 2011 KLR 650, Royal Enfield 500, Yamaha SR400, BMW 650. All were fun bikes in their own way, and there's just something about a big 'thumper' under you....that is, if it doesn't shake your eyeballs out.
eddiewagner
Poster Extraordinaire
That as a scrambler….
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