I know very little about these bikes which I believe were ridden by Dave Rowlands and Mick Bowers, do any of them remain, were they very special. If BSA had perseverd with them might they have had a Bultaco beater?

they didnt 'persevere' with them as the british motorcycle industry believed that big bikes were the only bike real men wanted to own. that and the fact that british workers didnt want to make any kind of bike unless they were paid more and when they did make them the quality was awful.

 

 

As I recall the "works" Bantam was anything but, ie it was conceived by the enthusiasts in the competitions department away from the disapproving glare of the boardroom who would have seen the project as pointless. As such there was no chance of the bike becoming a production model, never mind a Bultaco beater.

Edited November 1, 201510 yr by cleanorbust

As a young man in shorts I can still remember the heady days of the Austin Allegro, Maxi and the Morris Marina, the four wheeled version of the the motorcycle industry at the time. I can also remember the fledging Honda dealer ships and drooling at the first XL range as well as having to step into the road to get passed the rows and rows of sold Honda step thru's,. The world and his brother very soon had one to start first time and get him to work. Fast forward to now the gleaming Honda range in both motorcycle and cars for sale in the glossy showrooms and where is the British motor trade, the same place as the BSA bantam, being fettled and kept running in garden sheds. 

Interesting comments but the works Bantams ? anybody???

Is it true that the BSA Bantam engine (ex German DKW design, handed over through WW2 war reparations deal) was designed by the same bloke who did the V1 flying bomb? No relation between the two I assume!

BSA mirror engineered the DKW design to get a right hand side gear change, left foot rear brake, this redesign obviously moved the final drive chain from right to left as well. An original DKW was on show at the Stafford Classic bike show.

No idea about the V1 I thought that all of that stuff was a product of the Peenemunde research facility where scientists worked who after the war ended moved to the USA and started what turned into the Apollo missions.

 

 

Hi Guy's ,

 

Hi,

Trials R fun.

 

Yes I have the story about the Redditch BSA "Works" BSA Bantam's.

 

But I am still working on the story to get the True facts before I finally put the page up on my web site.

 

You know I have put bits onto TC and my own site, but the more I look the more I find out, so you will have to be patient, for now. 

 

Until  I have all of the known facts, and with the help of Deryk we will get there. OK .

 

Regards Charlie.

 

Hi Metisse, I too well remember those rubbish cars which on a certain tv programme always seem to finish underneath a piano but I have always had more respect for the bikes which when fitted with a decent ignition and carb perform rather better than they used to.

True story, our neighbour who was and still is a real car enthusiast back in the day purchased a new Austin Allegro in grey with square steering wheel  which he used to commute to work, one morning he found it had a flat n/s rear tyre so out with the trolley jack but when he raised the car from the ground three windows popped out of their rubber seals due to body distortion, the car was gone faster than fast.

Edited November 3, 201510 yr by trialsrfun

for DKW  Peenemunde see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/walter_kaaden  

Edited November 2, 201510 yr by esuark

charlie prescott, on 01 Nov 2015 - 11:09 PM, said:

Hi Guy's ,

 

Hi,

Trials R fun.

 

Yes I have the story about the Redditch BSA "Works" BSA Bantam's.

 

But I am still working on the story to get the True facts before I finally put the page up on my web site.

 

You know I have put bits onto TC and my own site, but the more I look the more I find out, so you will have to be patient, for now. 

 

Until  I have all of the known facts, and with the help of Deryk we will get there. OK .

 

Regards Charlie.

 

Hi Charlie,

 

Please post when the info is available.

the japanese motorcycle outsold its english rivals not because the english product was built to last and be maintained over its lifetime.. but simply because it didnt need the level of maintenace and its size and simplicty meant it became a staple of the ride to work working man. my grandad rode a velocette first a big banger  with sidecar then a noddy bike finally selling out to a little honda as all he had to do was put oil and petrol in it he had a big wooden box on the back for his butties and overalls and rode to work on it till he retired at 65 ( that was almost 40 years ago..) 

 

british automotive quality was awful my father bought an daganham rust bucket in new in 1963. within the year it was scrapped as it was a common jest to blcck the rainwater channels with chewing gum on the production line.. 

Not confined to the cheaper models. I recall the story of a Jaguar plagued with an untraceable rattle from new. It was not until the chassis was cut open following a prang that a load of washers strung together with a note from the apprentices about how long it must have taken to find was discovered.

Starting in gear was a great advantage of the Bantam but without a five speed box it would never have been a Bultaco beater in terms of sales.