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BSA was founded in 1861 by the Birmingham Small Arms Trade Association, who in 1880 as a result of the gun trade decline, began to manufacture bicycles. It was in 1903 that the company began to experiment with motorcycles and by 1910 had produced their first wholly made motorcycle, up until then BSA purchased their engines from other manufacturers. BSA’s vision was to sell affordable motorcycles with reasonable performance to the average user.
WW I and WW II saw the company return to arms manufacturing, resulting in a great expansion of their operations, producing rifles, guns, shells, motorcycles and other vehicles. Unfortunately it was during the Second World War that BSA was heavily bombed by German forces, making production difficult; resiliently they continued to produce large amounts of bikes and guns.
It was Sir Bernard Docker who headed BSA until 1951, after which Jack Sangster became Managing Director. Post-war, BSA continued to expand their range of motorcycles and went on to purchase the famous Triumph Motorcycle Company, making BSA the largest manufacturer of motorcycles globally. The cycle and motorcycle interests of Ariel, Sunbeam and New Hudson were also acquired, most of which had belonged to Sangster.
By 1965 business took a turn for the worst, competition from Japan and Germany began to erode BSA's market share, poor marketing decisions and expensive projects contributed to substantial losses and by 1973 in a government backed move, BSA was absorbed into the Manganese Bronze company, Norton-Villiers, which in turn became known as Norton-Villiers-Triumph. Although BSA was left out of the new company's name, a few motorcycles were still produced carrying their logo, the final range consisted of four models: the Gold Star 500, the 650 Thunderbolt/Lightning and the 750cc Rocket Three. Unfortunately the plans to rescue and combine Norton, BSA and Triumph failed in the face of worker resistance. Norton's and BSA's factories were eventually shut down, with Triumph following shortly thereafter.
The Northern California BSA Owners Club was formed to promote the preservation and enjoyment of the motorcycles produced by the
Birmingham Small Arms Company. Founded in 1985, the Club now has over 500 members, and has since its inception produced a monthly
newsletter, the Bulletin. Technical help on BSAs is available from advisors listed in the newsletter, and advertising is free to
all members.
www.bsaocnc.org
The Dutch BSA owners club, are a club with about 700 members. Their goal: to bring together people with a common interest in
classical and veteran motorcycles, produced by the Birmingham Small Arms Company.
www.bsa-oc.com
The BSA Owners' Club is dedicated to the preservation and use of all BSA motorcycles and welcomes anybody who owns a BSA
motorcycle to join. The club has probably the largest library of BSA related information in the world.
www.bsaoc.demon.co.uk