Britbike forum Forums British motorcycles in general Britbike gallery 71 BSA, big bore,short forks, 5 gears

A65L with years of mods, end feed etc.

Your seat cover is excellent. Is that a pattern piece or a custom?

Leightons did it, recovered , refoamed , old base. V Comfy. I told them the tank I was using and they cut the foam to suit. They will do what you ask for , I wanted the chrome edge and the logo. Originals were plain black edges.

I always wanted a Euro tank on my A65. I never did understand why we Yanks got small tanks with the greater distances we cover.
The five speed is a nice addition. I guess it fills in the gap between second and third on the stock box.
Beautiful bike.

It's been like that for many years ... big practical "Home Market" tanks, little 2 gallon peanut tanks for the Yanks.

Probably because the Brits had a tradition of actually using their motorcycles to commute, to travel, go to the beach, etc even though you can cross the country coast to coast in a day, it's nice, in those conditions, to have a reasonable sized tank.

As opposed to the USA, where (since the Model T came out) motorcycles have never been anything but a toy to 90% of the riders, used to ride on a sunny Sunday, or run from bar to bar on a Saturday night showing off. A 90-mile ride was all anyone was going to take, and 2-1/2 gallons would leave room for lots of style and sleek looks.

So that's what the dealers asked for, and that's what sold .....

Lannis

I suppose that we also have petrol stations in more locations, unless you find yourself next to nowhere on a Sunday or late at night.
Doesn't really matter, after 100 miles I'm ready for a break. I just wonder why Triumph put the big tanks on the single-carb models.