13 replies to this topic

[dapleb]

I did not know abooot this.

https://www.bbc.co.u...ingham-59509804

[Gdogg]

Oh dear !!
Good to have the marque back in production Ill agree but did they (BSA) not learn a lesson in the sixties / seventies about producing the same old style of bikes and relying totally upon sales from the British & American bikers being all nostalgic and not produce something dynamic and fresh when they had the chance and the technology 🤷‍♂ , thats just my first thought but hey good luck to them though, hope it takes off and we see more from them in the future 🤞

[drewpy]

saw it on TMF

[Snowbird]

Looks pretty for sure.

[Matlock]

I've never understood this desire to resurrect old brands that expired due to lack of development and lousy products. The last BSA was made in '73, which means a BSA customer who was 25 years old then is now 73 himself! All the people who remember riding new BSAs back in the day will be dead soon! I doubt many of them will be buying motorcycles these days. So why bring back the brand and styling for a modern Indian manufactured motorcycle that nobody who rode BSA's back in the day is likely to buy? 

[Quartermaster]

I've never understood this desire to resurrect old brands that expired due to lack of development and lousy products. The last BSA was made in '73, which means a BSA customer who was 25 years old then is now 73 himself! All the people who remember riding new BSAs back in the day will be dead soon! I doubt many of them will be buying motorcycles these days. So why bring back the brand and styling for a modern Indian manufactured motorcycle that nobody who rode BSA's back in the day is likely to buy? 

I agree, my first real motorcycle was a C15 and it was a pile of unreliable crap it was disappointing. However, I am a convert to the recent well made Indian offerings. I bought my Enfield Interceptor this Summer after riding a friends machine and instantly fell for it as a foil to my Tracer. Ideal for days when I just want to potter. The build quality is excellent due no doubt to the improvements in metallurgy and investment in up to date machinery, neither of which were available to the cash-strapped British Motorcycle Industry of the 1950s and 60s. Hopefully the BSA will delight in the same way as my Interceptor.

[Favs]

Heavy for what it is & underpowered too = just like the BSAs I had as a kid

[LAURENCEAUX]

If it's not made in this country it's not a British bike - it's a nostalgic pastiche.

 

Royal Enfield have the truest continuous lineage but they validated a business model that many a johnnie-come-lately now freely milks; they buy a defunct British brand/marque of old and tell us they are back. They are not. The brand alone is back (via China, Indonesia et al ) and those nostalgic enough to buy into this cynical marketing ruse are happy.

 

Norton, BSA, AJS, Brough, Matchless, Francis Barnett are "back" but for me they are not British bikes. Triumph qualify but even they are drifting to Indonesia.

 

To my mind Ariel, CCM, Hesketh and Matisse are British bikes because they are made here (though there may be more hopefully).

 

https://www.bennetts...torcycle-brands

Edited by LAURENCEAUX, 09 December 2021 - 02:07 am.

[PICARD]

I've never understood this desire to resurrect old brands that expired due to lack of development and lousy products. The last BSA was made in '73, which means a BSA customer who was 25 years old then is now 73 himself! All the people who remember riding new BSAs back in the day will be dead soon! I doubt many of them will be buying motorcycles these days. So why bring back the brand and styling for a modern Indian manufactured motorcycle that nobody who rode BSA's back in the day is likely to buy? 

You're just a hopeless old romantic Chris!!

[Robodene]

I started on a 1940s Ariel and I wanted one of the new ones especially with the 'funny' front end which mine had. The new operations are simply using old British names to get a leg up. In a way it is surprising how failed British marques carry so much marketing heft. Bad memories dim, I suppose, and an aura somehow remains. 

[dandywarhol]

F'ugly radiator from a Reliant Robin, interesting that Kawasaki have managed to still produce the W800 still in aircooled form and be Euro5 compliant.

[wicklamulla]

If it's not made in this country it's not a British bike - it's a nostalgic pastiche.

 

Royal Enfield have the truest continuous lineage but they validated a business model that many a johnnie-come-lately now freely milks; they buy a defunct British brand/marque of old and tell us they are back. They are not. The brand alone is back (via China, Indonesia et al ) and those nostalgic enough to buy into this cynical marketing ruse are happy.

 

Norton, BSA, AJS, Brough, Matchless, Francis Barnett are "back" but for me they are not British bikes. Triumph qualify but even they are drifting to Indonesia.

 

To my mind Ariel, CCM, Hesketh and Matisse are British bikes because they are made here (though there may be more hopefully).

 

https://www.bennetts...torcycle-brands

 

 

i've never owned a classic British boike but i agree with Larry here. After reading Lee Henty's comments about the out of true / slightly oval headstock on one of those great looking Norton 961's it made me ponder just how good is some of the engineering processes are even on a premium brand bikes?

[Snowbird]

Slightly oval would be a damn good feat of engineering if deliberate, but as a cockup is complete ineptitude.

And I don't believe it's deliberate for one second.

[wicklamulla]

Slightly oval would be a damn good feat of engineering if deliberate, but as a cockup is complete ineptitude.

And I don't believe it's deliberate for one second.

 

 

weld distortion iirc