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Re: BSA at Isle of Man.
[Re: Alexp]
#761932
01/08/19 4:46 pm
01/08/19 4:46 pm
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 13,191 Central Virginia
Lannis

Well'ard Rocker
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Well'ard Rocker
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 13,191
Central Virginia
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Sorry! I should have been clearer!! Early 70s is what I was thinking. Specifically the 250 class (if they had entered a machine into that class).
Alex In the 70's, there was one rider each year 70 - 71 - 72 on a BSA Triple (2nd in 1971/Ray Pickrell). BSA had nothing else that would even come close to competing with any other bike, much less in the 250 class, by that time. They'd be running against TD3 Yamahas and such, which would literally be twice as fast .... Lannis
You should have to pass a drug test to receive a welfare check... because I had to pass one to earn it for you.
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Re: BSA at Isle of Man.
[Re: Lannis]
#761944
01/08/19 6:55 pm
01/08/19 6:55 pm
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Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 1,874 Pacific northwest
quinten
BritBike Forum member
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BritBike Forum member
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 1,874
Pacific northwest
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Not bsa factory but .. privateers riding a BSA ... kind of as a last gasp In 1975 ... Phil Gurner created a sensation on the Mead & Tomkinson bike at the Isle of Man. He broke the 500 Production TT lap record at 95,66 mph with a four year old bike. But the dream was short-lived. Phil was leading the race when he crashed at Ramsey Harpin. Phil continued the race, after several pitstops, and finished 12th at 87,37 mph. http://www.b50.org/mead.htm
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Re: BSA at Isle of Man.
[Re: kommando]
#761954
01/08/19 7:38 pm
01/08/19 7:38 pm
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 3,575 Orygone
Boomer

BritBike Forum member
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BritBike Forum member
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 3,575
Orygone
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The IOM Clubmans races were abandoned because the Gold Star was the only bike being entered according to stories being told. Hardly unsuccessful if true, and they did win most of that race category. For the last Senior Clubman race in 1956 of the 28 entries, 16 were Gold Stars. The other 12 were mostly Triumphs with maybe a couple of Nortons. The top 10 finishers were all Gold Stars except for 7th which was a Triumph. In other words the Gold Star dominated and really had no competition. Bill B...
Boomer
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Re: BSA at Isle of Man.
[Re: Alexp]
#761957
01/08/19 8:44 pm
01/08/19 8:44 pm
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 4,347 argyll. scotland, uk
gavin eisler
BritBike Forum member
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BritBike Forum member
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 4,347
argyll. scotland, uk
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Clipped from elsewhere after googling "BSA TT knife edge rocker failure", its the way I recall it, fingers burned, they didnt like the embarrassment. stayed bread and butter , later on the MC2 wasnt good enough to guarantee a victory so it never went out, according to Roland Pike it was under cooled , wouldnt last the pace. "Although BSA amassed an enviable competition record in the worlds of trials and moto-cross in the 1950s and 1960s, dominated the Clubman’ s TT with the Gold Star, and scored some notable successes in production-based circuit racing in the 1970s, it only once mounted a full works effort at the highest level. That was back in the early 1920s, when ‘highest level’ meant the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy races, acknowledged as the most demanding motorcycle competition environment in the world. BSA had first dipped a toe in TT waters in 1913, entering a team of essentially standard roadsters. For the first post-war TT of 1920 a full works effort with purpose-built racers was planned, but the prototype did not perform to expectations and BSA went back to the drawing board. The 1920 bike had employed an aluminium-alloy cylinder head with four valves, but its successor reverted to a sparsely finned, cast-iron, two-valve ’head. Convention stopped there however, for the valves – vertical rather than inclined – were opened via un-lubricated rockers pivoting on a knife-edge. While its valvegear might have caused a few raised eyebrows, the BSA’s cycle parts looked altogether more promising, the inclined engine being housed in a stylish tubular frame with sloping top tube. Although tested briefly at Brooklands, the new BSA was immediately found wanting in the steering department once practice began on the Island, resulting in a switch to a larger-diameter front wheel. Engine problems dogged the team throughout practice, and in the Senior race itself all six BSAs had retired by the end of lap two. It was an embarrassing and humiliating failure that left an indelible scar on the BSA board’s collective psyche: never again would it put the firm’s hard-won reputation at risk in the unpredictable world of racing." Stolen from this Bonhams site, check out the front down tube, less than 2 grand for a vintaage GP bike. https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/15320/lot/524/"
Last edited by gavin eisler; 01/08/19 8:59 pm.
71 Devimead A65 750 56 Norbsa 68 Longstroke A65 Cagiva Raptor 650 MZ TS 250 The poster formerly known as Pod
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Re: BSA at Isle of Man.
[Re: Alexp]
#761995
01/09/19 12:36 am
01/09/19 12:36 am
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Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 4,329 Aus
NickL
BritBike Forum member
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BritBike Forum member
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 4,329
Aus
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Most people forget the huge competition success of the A65/70 as a sidecar outfit engine in the 60's and early 70's. All privately entered though, sidecars never had the glamour or marketing appeal of slowlo's. (solo's)
No-one expects the Spanish Inquisition................ Bring in the 'Comfy Chair'
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Re: BSA at Isle of Man.
[Re: Alexp]
#761998
01/09/19 12:49 am
01/09/19 12:49 am
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 4,650 Owego, NY, USA
Mark Z
BritBike Forum member
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BritBike Forum member
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 4,650
Owego, NY, USA
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Alex, a couple of years ago at Mid-Ohio, a chap from Canada came down with a very fast B25 flattracker that was beating out Bultaco Astros on the half mile.
I don't know his name, but I can find out - my engine man in Syracuse said he knows of him. Could be an interesting person to talk with.
Mark Z
'65(lower)/'66(upper, wheels, front end, controls)/'67(seat, exhaust, fuel tank, headlamp)/'70(frame) A65 Bitsa.
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Re: BSA at Isle of Man.
[Re: NickL]
#761999
01/09/19 12:57 am
01/09/19 12:57 am
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 13,191 Central Virginia
Lannis

Well'ard Rocker
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Well'ard Rocker
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 13,191
Central Virginia
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Most people forget the huge competition success of the A65/70 as a sidecar outfit engine in the 60's and early 70's. All privately entered though, sidecars never had the glamour or marketing appeal of slowlo's. (solo's) I don't think most BSA guys who lived in that time have forgotten any of that. The A65-based outfits and flattrackers punched WAY above their weight for a long time, after they were supposed to be dead. But (per the original question) BSAs at the IOM in the 250 classes? No way no how .... Lannis
You should have to pass a drug test to receive a welfare check... because I had to pass one to earn it for you.
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Re: BSA at Isle of Man.
[Re: Alexp]
#762014
01/09/19 3:12 am
01/09/19 3:12 am
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 4,650 Owego, NY, USA
Mark Z
BritBike Forum member
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BritBike Forum member
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 4,650
Owego, NY, USA
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Ok, I'll chase that down and let you know. What province are you from? I'm pretty sure the guy I'm talking about is from Ontario.
Mark Z
'65(lower)/'66(upper, wheels, front end, controls)/'67(seat, exhaust, fuel tank, headlamp)/'70(frame) A65 Bitsa.
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Re: BSA at Isle of Man.
[Re: Boomer]
#762084
01/09/19 6:51 pm
01/09/19 6:51 pm
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Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 637
bon
BritBike Forum member
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BritBike Forum member
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 637
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The IOM Clubmans races were abandoned because the Gold Star was the only bike being entered according to stories being told. Hardly unsuccessful if true, and they did win most of that race category. For the last Senior Clubman race in 1956 of the 28 entries, 16 were Gold Stars. The other 12 were mostly Triumphs with maybe a couple of Nortons. The top 10 finishers were all Gold Stars except for 7th which was a Triumph. In other words the Gold Star dominated and really had no competition. Bill B... I was always surprised that the likes of the velocettes and ajs were not more successful.
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