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  #1  
Old 15-04-03, 00:07
Keith Webb's Avatar
Keith Webb Keith Webb is offline
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Default BSA bicycle identification please

Many years ago i bought this bicycle which was painted in an army colour.
When I disassembled it I discovered it was practically unused. What i don't know is just what sort of BSA it is, when it was manufactured and what is missing apart from parts of the brakes and a toolkit.

Any ideas, please?

http://www.oldcmp.net/Images/misc/BSA_bike/BSA_1.jpg

More pictures here in case this one doesn't post properly:
http://www.oldcmp.net/BSA.html
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  #2  
Old 15-04-03, 10:07
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Hanno Spoelstra Hanno Spoelstra is online now
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Default

Keith,

Try the warbikes mailing list - someone out there should know more about your BSA.

Cheers,
Hanno
The Dutch army bicycle
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  #3  
Old 15-04-03, 20:54
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Martin IJdo Martin IJdo is offline
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Default Army bikes

Hello Keith,

I hate to dissapoint you, but i would not bet my money on this particular bike being a wartime army bycicle.
BSA is a very well-know name in the "bike-scene" for their famous and much wanted folding bikes. So called "heavy duty" bycicles however have not been manufactured by BSA under their own brand name during the war. These where army types IV and V, and most common are New Hudson and Phillips. It must me noted though that BSA was the main suplier of hubs, wheels and other accesoiries.
Does your bike have any other BSA markings besides the main cranck wheel? This may have been added later.
A clear giveaway for HD bikes is the thick frame pipes, off-set luggage rack (for the Lee-Enfield) and unuseually long wheelbase, due to the steep inclination of the front fork.
The best place to find a clue about a possible wartime identity is on the onderside of the tube that houses the crank. New hudsons are useually marked there as such.
If i can help you with any specific identification let me know.

Martin.
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  #4  
Old 15-04-03, 21:14
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Martin IJdo Martin IJdo is offline
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Default Just saw the pictures on your site...

... and these gave some clues.
The frame of your bike has too much "fancy" bits for it to be a purpose built HD bike. Especially the detail around the ball-head and the subtle sopport running from the rear axle up to the sadle. Furthermore there should be mounting brackets on both sides of the handlebar to attach the rear brakes to. Yours obviously has a fixed rear hub with kick back brakes, right?
This however does probably make it an "old" bycicle, and as such very well useable as wartime transport. It is genarally very hard to actually date a bike, because the frames themselves have changed little over the years, and accesoiries are easily replaced/added over the years.Try cleaning the rear hub, this normally hides some info on the manufacturer.
Besides a New Hudson HD bike i also have a pre-war civil bike, now in use as a RAF arfield runnabout. It is actually quite special as it has a Sturmey-Archer 3 spead K-type hub, from the early thirties, cable operated with this tiny lever on the horizontal tube of the frame.

This is a rather pour picture of the New Hudson, but you can just see the connecting rod for the rear brakes below the frame. The lamp is a late twenties candle stick lamp.




Martin.
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  #5  
Old 15-04-03, 23:11
Keith Webb's Avatar
Keith Webb Keith Webb is offline
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Default Thanks, Martin

Clearly this is a subject I have a lot to learn about...
I recall seeing the BSA crossed rifles on many parts - and the fact it was in the right shade of paint when I bought it from a junkshop in the late 1970s made it look like it had had military use.
And yes, it does have a kick brake on the rear hub.
I only rode it a few times - it must weigh at least as much as two or three modern bikes!
Thanks for the info..
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42 FGT No8 (Aust) remains
42 FGT No9 (Aust)
42 F15
Keith Webb
Macleod, Victoria Australia
Also Canadian Military Pattern Vehicles group on Facebook
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  #6  
Old 16-04-03, 09:31
Keith Orpin Keith Orpin is offline
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Default Bicycle I.D.

Hi Keith,
May I suggest that this particular bicycle could date from as early as WW1 or just after. As Martin has spotted it has a rear hub brake,if you take this apart, you should find the BSA logo inside on the brake shoes. Many years ago I had a similar machine, which folded,with a central tube running from the cross bar down to the bottom bearing housing. As you have already stated, they are heavy, so to have a folding varient and have to carry it means these guys must have been built like an carthorse! I'll see if I can find the pictures, and drawings of it.
Cheers
Keith
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  #7  
Old 16-04-03, 11:09
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Hanno Spoelstra Hanno Spoelstra is online now
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Default Re: RAF airfield runabout

Quote:
Originally posted by Martin IJdo
... a RAF arfield runnabout.
Like these? http://www.303rdbga.com/veh-bikes.html
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  #8  
Old 17-04-03, 20:11
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Martin IJdo Martin IJdo is offline
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Default Thnk you Hanno!

Great pictures of the byciles! You can clearly tell the civil bikes by their chrome handle-bars.
Even better info to me at the moment, on a different picture page of the same site, NAAFI pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!
These are so rare!
A good example of how one thing can lead to another.
Cheers,

Martin.
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