Why do you ride an A7/10?

[Ethelred]

When I did a paper round aged 13, I'd be at the newsagents loading up and in would come three young men on British twins to buy their fags and newspapers. I'd stare in awe at the red BSA star badge on a gleaming chrome tank and watch them roar off down the road. I was hooked. It only took 46 years to fulfil that dream, mainly because I also saw Easy Rider at an impressionable age and had a few other fantasies to work through.

[chicago]

Hi there Ethelred and welcome to the forum wink2.
For me it was the looks closely followed by the fuel economy and reputation for reliability, all the best fella, Chicago.

[metalflake11]

I bought a moped at sixteen purely for transport, I liked it, and got a 250cc as soon as possible. All I could afford was a Japanese 2 stroke, it was knackered but very cheap. (It had been raced). About this time a fellow apprentice bought a C15, all shiny and black and it became the object of my desire immediately.  The noise and the commotion.........Wonderfull!
I too went to see Easyriders about 1977, and without doubt that corny old film changed my life,........ I had to have a bike like theirs, only British!
So I bought my A10 chopped it, and then came accross a rusty and long neglected A10 chop that had been done in 1968 but not finished properly. I got it off the owner, and put the two together usng the best bits in 1979.
The sound, the smells, the history, the foibles, the beauty of the engine all add up to a bike without equall in my opinion. When they find their stride on a long run it is poetry in motion, literally. I've ridden lots of bikes since '79, but none seem to have had that all round grin factor that an A7/10 gives you.

[metalflake11]

Off Topic: Why is there a huge gap at the bottom of my post above? ..........Sorry!

adm edit: there was a bunch of line shifts after the last word, did you fall asleep with your nose on the enter key? lol, anyway, fixed it

[Angus]

I bought the A7 in 1978. I had the choice between it and a Tiger 100, the BSA looked better, sounded better and rode better.
After six months of ownership I broke up with my fiancée and subsequently did a lot of miles on the A7 travelling to jobs around the country and having a good time. I give the bike the credit of putting a smile back on my face. Then it went into boxes as many things stopped me rebuilding it. The super profile book was regularly thumbed through during this time with my young children being told that is what your dads bike will look like when it is done. Well it is done and is yet again putting a smile on my face 
So I ride an A7 because it puts a smile on my face.

[madsens]

HI

For me it was sheer coincidence...

In my youth I drove some mopeds and then upgraded to  an MZ 250 trophy sport  , then along came a girlfriend, later to be my wife, after a few years on the MZ it was kids and cars, the MZ in a corner and eventually sold of. My older brother had a Triumph Tiger 500 around same time, he also went the wife, kids and cars route.
Thirty years later and the bike bug was still nagging, and I began to end all conversations with the wife: "I wish I could afford a motorcycle". She finally got tired of this  , and suddenly told me that one of her collegues had a motorcycle for sale and did I want to have a look at it?. We went around to his place, and there it was, an A-10 Golden Flash, love at first sight and first try!  Not quite original, but quite useable...

I had absolutely no preference for BSA, but after getting active in the Danish BSA Club, and local Uk bike club I enjoy it very much - and have a preference now.
By the way my older brother and his wife are now into Virago'es, not my cup of tea, but always makes for some good conversation between brothers 

regards
Joergen

[Billybream]

I started off in 1964 with a BSA 1960 C15 (Registration no ABC 151), transport to work use mainly, but at work during my apprenticeship, my foreman was selling his 1960 Super Rocket, so in 1966 I sold my C15 for £50.00 and paid £60.00 for the Super Rocket, and still have her now, so for me is was fate.

[muskrat]

 All by chance for me. In '78 I was offered a '72 A65L in bits for $100 and over a year or 3 got it together. In '80 a mate found my '51 A7 in a chook shed and told me about it. I got it for a tank of fuel and a box of beer. Took a year to restore (no net then) and has done countless miles and smiles since. I lost my licence for a couple of years (naughty boy) so my need for speed was focused on the track. I picked up the '57 A7SS to race in the classics. Did OK coming first B grade in '96 & '97 NSW Champs. Twelve years later she's on the road as the cafe.
 I get a lot of smiles from all my bikes but the A7 & A10 make them wider.
Cheers

[metalflake11]

To add to my earlier post,....... it's because I fancy a pint or two, and the boozer is too far to walk! See you later

[morris]

Off Topic: Why is there a huge gap at the bottom of my post above? ..........Sorry!

adm edit: there was a bunch of line shifts after the last word, did you fall asleep with your nose on the enter key? lol, anyway, fixed it

*smile*That's usually what happens to me after a pint or two........

I started my bike career on a Yamaha moped in '78. had hours of ferocious fun with it, went like stink.
Then she who makes the decisions came along, and as she was convinced I was going to have a deadly accident if I was going to continue riding bike, and was even more convinced when somebody we knew had one, so I got the nay.
But, as love conquers all, after 30 years she gave in (how does that count for patience and perseverance?).
When I went out looking for one, the only thing I knew for sure was that it had to be a '55-'65 British 650 twin.
Then I came across a tatty looking BSA A10 for sale in the neighbourhood, fell in love with it, and the rest is history...
Since then, nothing but sunny days, oily fingers and grins from ear to ear!
 

[gavinoz]

My mates and I all started with Bantams, mine the bosses "as long as you want it if you look after it" D14 working on a farm in Dorset, UK. in the beautiful summer of 1976. Bliss and 2-stroke smoke belting flat-out past Stonehenge at 50mph on road trips round the countryside. Then a 'ceefer' (C15) done up like a Starfire scrambler. then went bush with a Honda 250 (shortlived: head-on at Intersection!) Then a Triumph Daytona 500. Nice little bike but just couldnt get into it. Then a late night visit to a dodgy farmhouse after reading an ad. And there it was! For 180 pounds, an ugly oily A10 rigid rat with siamese pipe and reverse cone mega, the most noxiously beautiful sound I had ever heard! It had a large back sprocket, so it went like the clappers away from the traffic lights, but topped out about 60mph! I fell in love! I still have it (just remembered: temporarily had a maroon A50 but like the trumpy, just didnt warm to it; lost it on a coner outside Berkhamstead and sold it soon after slightly bent.) but its now an A7 Star Twin, (Like my favourite Axe, three new handles and a new head, but its still my favourite axe!) Then it was crated to Aus with me and its sat in a shearing shed untouched for 25 years, and I havent started on it yet, as im slowly collecting parts for the '57 S/A in pieces that sat in a different crate for the same 25 years. Slow but steady, one day.....   gav
http://i1059.photobucket.com/albums/t432/gavindally/JER6081976_zps74a95ca7.jpg

[fido]

I was destined to have 2 wheel transport because I left school at 16 and had to get a job. We lived in a place with no buses and were several miles from any places of work and I was not old enough to drive a car. I could not have run a car on my take home pay of less than £13 a week anyway so I had a Honda SS50 moped. A few of my mates from school also had sports mopeds so we went around together at weekends. One lad was a few months older than me and as soon as he was 17 he took his bike test and got a Royal Enfield Clipper 350. I was really impressed by the sound this made and its solidity. This got me hooked on British bikes and I've not looked back since. I had a couple of Brit bikes after that but they were not too reliable so I mainly stuck with Japanese stuff for getting to work. Things changed when I bought my own house in Coventry and a year later started a degree course at Coventry Poly. A friend on my course bought an A10 basket case and started rebuilding it (he is also a member of this forum) and this got me interested again. I had looked at the odd bike for sale, including an Enfield Continental GT and a Triumph T100 GP but now I wanted a BSA and found an unrestored 1959 A7SS which had sat unused for many years but was complete. That A7 was the only bike I've ever fully restored and I think I would still have it now if it had not been stolen. When I had the Shooting Star I joined the East Mids BSAOC and I carried on going to meetings after I no longer had the bike. I didn't want to get another BSA until I had somewhere more secure to keep it. When I moved to Nuneaton I had now had a garage and I got myself a 1954 B31 swinging arm. I used that a lot but it was a bit slow compared to the A7SS so I put a 500cc top end on it but that made no difference. I had a 1960 BMW R50 for a while but could never stop the carbs from leaking so that got sold on. I continued with the BSAOC so that introduced an element of brand loyalty and I went for the 1948 A7 because I had a hankering for something a bit older than the rocker era bikes. I would like another A7SS but prices have gone silly since I got the last one for £200 in the mid '80s.

[Seabee]

Well, I guess I'll add my story too!  It all started with a Honda 65 at age 6!  Of course I had to take it all apart to see how it worked.  A sickness I've never recovered from.  MANY bikes along the way to a 1968 Bonneville as my first road bike.  I loved the performance/sound and learned to hate Lord Lucas.  In 1997 a friend gave me the 1961 Golden Flash in boxes for painting his pickup.  He brought it back from Scotland in 1981, took it apart to restore it, and there it sat since.  I got around to restoring it in 2002 and have loved it ever since.  I'm as much a tinkerer as a rider (can't shake the sickness) so I spend a lot of hours "making it better."  I just finished my new pride and joy, a beautiful 1957 Road Rocket.  I'll post some pics soon. It's too pretty to ride a lot, so good thing I have the 61!  My Harley friends always want to call me a "biker", but I always rebut that with my choice of "motorcyclist."  My collection of bikes bears this out, in that I love almost all bikes!  Just can't beat the sound of a British twin!

[bsa-bill]

I was destined to have 2 wheel transport because I left school at 16 and had to get a job

me too, however it turned out to be a Raleigh with three gears by Sturmey Archer
Next upgrade  was by NSU (quickly HA) still tree gears no faster than the Raleigh but easyier
Following the slow but constant disintegration of the Quickly (I once found myself riding along gripping handlebars that were no longer attached to the forks !) I got myself a real bike - an Ariel Golden Arrow, I loved that bike, handled like a dream.
I tried to attach a photo but had no success, can't believe it's because it's not an A , probably something to do with .jpeg even though I saved it as .jpg (could it be the file was to small ?)
Sadly though the gallant Arrow could not keep up with my mates A's on the Saturday run to Alnwick picture house (followed by a visit to the Alnwick "George Inn" and back and peer pressure  guided me to Darling and Swinney's at Scremerston were a Black Flash had just been handed in by a chap renown for looking after his bikes, the deal was done, I stood astride this black beast as a crowd watched, and all ten and a half stone of me kicked it into life first swing, Barooom this was not an Arrow, nonchalantly ignoring the applause I rode off down the A1 - and I still love that Barooom

I later bought another vehicle handed in from the chap that kept his stuff good, it was a Regal of the Reliant variety, a great deal of fun but more grimace than grin

[Spitfiremk9]

morning everyone, some interesting stories in this post which will ring many bells for many members. Just to digress, this should be on in name of topdad but this is my home pc whereas I normally post from work and couldn't sign in on the forum with anything like my old password etc plus have disturbed the admin people enough.
My reason is simply a love / facination for motorbikes since a very young age with no previous family connections ( Dad was resolutely a driver even in the 50's we had a car ) on moving to Liverpool and meeting a group of likeminded guys (who mostly were friends for life ) it became accepted that at 16 I'D get a bike.The old man though was determined that i wouldn't get a 250cc ,too many acccidents so it had to be a combo until i passed my test. With the help of another family friend it became either Trumpet or BSA ,i fell for the shape of the A10 engine also the sound and that was that. The only other model later that came close was a goldie and Spitfires but thats another story anyway by then the  family came along etc, The smile factor as remained constant 16yrs TO 63yrs which is not bad!!! best wishes Bobh