Brum bike maker, Birmingham Small Arms or BSA survived the 1930’s Depression in better shape than most of their rivals and, during the Second World War, prospered by being able to supply plenty of rifles as well as motorcycles to the British Army. Post-war - having absorbed Sunbeam, New Hudson and Ariel - the BSA group of companies was actually the world’s largest motorcycle manufacturer…albeit only for a while…before the defeated Japanese rebuilt their factories so they were able to overtake and conquer the British motorcycle industry in peacetime.
The Bantam being auctioned here first left BSA’s once giant-sized Small Heath factory, where they could turn out over 75,000 machines in a good year, in 1953. The 125cc machine, which is actually powered by a 123cc capacity, single-pot two-stroke, is finished like most of the smaller, non-GPO issue BSA Bantam models were in Bantam green and has the benefit of the user-friendly Lucas key ignition system.
With a V5 registration document confirming the current registration and being really easy to handle, this classic lightweight, which was so popular with 1950s Britain commuters, would make an ideal sub-125cc learner machine today.
All successful bids must be paid in full by midday the day after the auction at the latest.
You can collect your new pride and joy from our venue until 1pm the day following the sale or our partners are on hand to help arrange safe transportation:
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