Britbike forum Forums General discussion The Rod and Tappet BSA is back - Return of a legend

I don't believe most riders who would buy the Mahindra bikes care about brand names.They may consider where it's manufactured because they read Japanese vehicles can be more reliable.
I hear nothing but good about the RE 650 twins...I suspect the BSA badged model will be the same basic design with some different styling clues...
What is the difference between vintage Brit 650 twins, they all vibrated, leaked oil and shared many common parts...

...vintage Italians and from other Countries leak oil and vibrates too.

Sounds very promising indeed. Out-British Bloor's Triumph? Ye gads!

That makes sense, after all BSA & Triumph ended their past lives joined at the hips...

Another poke in the eye for Bloor? hee hee

Spirited competition can be a VERY good thing...

I looked at the "small" Harleys that were being marketed some years ago.

The hoglet: Harley-Davidson's Street 500 "learner bike"
https://newatlas.com/harley-davidson-street-500/34997/

Went down the memory hole.

Harleys problem is they are a victim of their own image, just ask Eric Buell. Those that would venture into an HD dealer are not interested in anything but "the real thing". Triumph/Mahindra/RE, while somewhat constrained by the old image won't really have that problem.

It seems BSA is to be an electric bike producer, but they are making bikes in Birmingham and will be opening a research facility near Banbury Oxford.


https://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/bsa-return-electric-motorbike/

B-attery powered
S-olar refuel
A-mps for the masses

The new BSA?

They are splashing about cash if you build electric. And in the USA, I heard up to a 7.5K$ USD tax credit if you buy an electric motorcycle? BBB vote pending.

What would a smart businessman do?


https://electrek.co/2021/11/20/tax-...ic-motorcycles-in-build-back-better-act/

I bought a small E bike.

(I do alot of small low cost experiments..)
I like it. two wheels, 'electric start'. Hauls my fat old ass around locally.

Not a motorcycle.

The recharge time is a deal breaker.
5 minutes including chat, and I am away with an ICE machine.

SICKENINGLY, some of that money that "they" are 'splashing about' came out of MY POCKETS, WITHOUT MY PERMISSION.

No thank you. No, I thank you.

Again, I thank you, NO.

Advertising agencies, PR compaies, Marketers accounted for about 1/3 of our customers so as per the previous post , nothing has changed in my mind.
I have sat in their offices waiting for copy night after night and had some of the boffins bounsing total BS like this off me for hours while the art staff tried to get the impossible images to work.
When I hear that it made 0 sense.
The UK is a tiny market as opposed to India , Indonesia , and all of the rest of the rapidly developeing third world countries.
So launching into a small overcrowded market is a non event unless there is BIG tax incentives or even Government subsidies and from memory, tucked away in line 756 printed in 2pt type was a line about a UK government developement grant .
I can not see it being a market success unless there is somthing more than using an old name to make it stand out from the crowd of "retro" styled bikes .
kawakasi apparently has done well from the revamp of the Meguro model W ( A 10 look alike ) .
But Honda tried it with the FT singles paying "homarge" to the Manx and gave up pretty quickly .
Quite a few younger riders pop in from time to time and they want exactly what we wanted when we were young SPEED speed & more speed.
Stying mostly mimicking the race bikes they see on TV
The other group , the "pretenders" want some thing that looks & sounds like HD because they are already hooked on the "rebel Image"
And the market is already saturated with both of those because they are what sells for road bikes
The young Enfield riders are largely the "Look at me I am really cool" group who are more interested in their reflection in the shop windows than the actual motorcycle so just want something that is different so they get noticed .

All it has to do is catch your fancy... for any reason... If it catches enough fancies then boom .... success .... When I first realise the huge bike scene in NYC I got talking to the guy on a modern Triumph and he was admiring mine... I asked why he chose the modern one over the vintage one if he like the vintage so much... His answer was simple... He didn't want the maintenance....

So I think beauty and styling win out more than you think... And if they don't want the perceived "headaches" , then they buy a modern version of an old bike..
BSA just needs to make a bike with the right vintage look... Sod the crotch rocket guys, they are a breed onto their own and the rest of us get painted with their recklessness and ill manners... Ever since that gang of sportbikes harassed that guy on the FDR (one of them was a cop) the rest of us have to worry about checkpoints and bikes being towed for no reason (or very little reason) but I digress ... Motorcyclist are better off not in the news unless its for a good deed or something....

To me, it's sort of like this:

THE AUTOMOTIVE WORLD CELEBRATES THE RETURN OF AN AMERICAN ICON - THE PIERCE ARROW!



THE AUTOMOTIVE LEGEND RETURNS AFTER 70 YEARS!



Celebrate with us as we welcome the rebirth of one of the most luxurious, trend-setting, and beloved automobiles in American history, the Pierce-Arrow!

This revival of a legend is faithful to its namesake, with the same four-wheel layout, the same six-cylinder internal combustion engine, with the advantage of modern reliability and amenities. Since the halcyon days of the Roaring 20s, NO ONE has been able to experience the power, the cachet, and luxury of this iconic brand. NOW it can be YOURS! Place your order today!

Signed up. Seen the pics. Await the future...

For a BSA or a Pierce Arrow?

hee hee

Times flies faster when you'er invited.. just saying.. 👍

"Pierce Arrow?'

It looks just like about two dozen SUVs made by as many manufacturers!

Put a Cadillac grill badge on a Chevy and who would know the difference?

Yes, looks like the departed Saturn SUV.... Reports from auto enthusiast journalists and testers say new Caddys exceed the performance of Mercedes and BMV at less cost...The large Caddy SUV is a worked over Chevy Suburban..

All of the GM "child" divisions share parts, sometimes all but trim & badges. Long time since they started doing that for economy of scale.

Cars have been the same underneath for years.
The ford galaxy/ VW sharan / Seat something are made on the same line.
Just a badge change

I don’t think the Ariel huntmaster fooled anyone.

The “BSA” T65 was forgivable given the demise of BSA

My Volvo has a Mitsubishi engine and (I think ) Renault gearbox on a floor pan shared by about 5 brands

Well, that was sort of the point of the satire. It's some unnamed Chinese car which has nothing more to do with a Pierce Arrow than my Aunt Nellie. And the "new BSA" will have nothing more to do with an original BSA than this car does, except it will be made in India instead of China. Just a few words on paper is all it takes to create " THE RETURN OF A LEGEND" .

Didn't I see a photo of your aunt Nellie driving a Pierce Arrow?

According to what I’ve read , The new BSA‘s are designed in England and built in Coventry. So they are actually British bikes. The only difference is Mahendra actually cares about about motorcycles unlike the BSA board did back in the day.

You know, Wade, that is an interesting thought. Having read about the many acquisitions of Mahindra in the motorcycle field, I think you have quite a correct statement there. Yes, there is a lot of money to be made off of motorcycles by the Mahindra group, but they could just as easily aimed their focus toward lamp manufacture......gotta be some love of motorcycles in the upper management.