Gold Rush

WE PUT A 1954 BSA A10 GOLDEN FLASH THROUGH ITS PACES

- Karl Peters

When Edward Turner unleashed the Triumph 5T Speed Twin in 1938 on to a gobsmacked and awestruck world, it is doubtful that he knew of the immense implications his actions would have in the future. The Speed Twin did pretty much what the Honda CB 750 would go on to do several decades later; smash the norm to smithereens and usher in a new motorcycling benchmark. The Speed Twin would go on to define what the quintessential British parallel twin would become, forcing the competition to scurry back to their drawing boards to sketch up a worthy contender.

Although BSA was known for its line-up of honest, working men’s steeds, the heat from the 5T was felt in the boardroom at the marque’s Small Heath headquarters in Birmingham. So much so that a 500cc parallel twin, designated as the A7, was quickly cobbled up and launched into the market to help draw a few of the faithful away from the Triumph dealerships.

But, the power-hungry American market– the biggest in the world at the time for the British motorcycle industry – wanted more than the mediocre 26bhp that the A7 provided. Triumph’s 6T Thunderbird 650 had answered the call and the Americans, who firmly believed (and still continue to do so) that more is better, lapped up the machines by the ship load. Alarm bells at BSA were ringing incessantly, and a mad scramble was on to develop a worthy contender to the 6T.

Bert Hopwood was the man chosen for the job. He had worked with most of the big names in the British motorcycle industry, with Ariel, Triumph and Norton being his previous employers before he moved to BSA. In fact, he assisted Edward Turner with the 5T and so naturally, BSA thought he was a great resource to build their next big twin.