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BSA B50
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1971-72 499cc (84x90mm) OHV single 34hp, 95mph, 310lbs |
| The BSA B50 was the last in a long
line of successful bikes, although it also spelt the end of an era with the ensuing
domination of the Japanese Motorcycle Industry. It was manufactured for two years between
1971 and 1972/3, when the BSA marque left the forecourt and only the Triumph and Norton
were left. Following success on the track the B50 displayed innovative new features which manifest themselves in the form of Oil in the Frame (OIL) technology, improved swinging arm adjustment, beefed up engine, box type (waffle) exhaust, electric's contained in a single removable pod and better stopping power at the front wheel. The design was radical,
The Honda CB250RS (1982 pre-electric start) which I had was a good piece of engineering with exceptional reliability, counter rotating balance shafts in the engine, automatic valve decompressor and a four valve head feeding two megaphone exhausts.
Because of the Japanese influx into England at that time there are only a few of this marque on the road. This makes it quite a desirable model and it is well loved and sort after in the Scandinavian countries. |
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B50SS - GOLD STAR 500
A Gold Star 500 won the 500cc class in the Thruxton 500 miler*, and the Barcelona 24 hours* and won the Zolder 24 hour Race* outright. A tough no-nonsense street scrambler which is as much at home off the road as on it. Gold Star 500 has an extremely rugged race-proven frame, a willing 4-stroke power unit giving tremendous torque at low rpm. - the right power at the right time. New colours for 1972 with polished front forks and hubs, make the 500 Gold Star a machine that looks good and works hard. *Entered by Mead & Tompkinson of Hereford, England and ridden by Nigel Rollason and Clive Brown. |
which did not go unnoticed by the Japanese who some years later
manufactured both small and large bore single cylinder street scramblers, by then known as
trail bikes. Typically the 
The BSA street scrambler was available in 250cc and 500cc versions. The European models
were available with 3 gallon steel tanks, whereas for the American market a smaller 2.5
gallon alluminum tank was standard. The bike was also available in Trail and Scrambles
versions. By this point in the history of BSA most of the production was aimed at and
subsequently sent out to the USA. The Japanese had all but taken the English market and
the sowing machine era had dawned, so called because the throaty boom of the British
exhaust note had been replace by the quiet sowing machine noise of the Japanese models.
Ironically, riders of these machines would quite often swap the silencer for a short
megaphone type to increase the noise, and hence their presence.