1947 A7

[mrshells]

took a mate to get this today its very nice
2 owners from new
yes thats correct only 2 from new with all the history

[LJ.]

Thats very nice indeed! Bet he's pleased with that. Have you got a photo of the other side too? Nice to see the speedo in tank but I think I prefere them up on the handle bars for easier seeing.

Shame these were never sold with girder forks.

[mrshells]

Girders !
that would be the icing on the cake for me

[fido]

Does it have the strange centre stand with a hand lever?

[mrshells]

no it doesnt have ratchet typre cntre stand they stopped using them in mid 47

[LJ.]

I'd love to see a photo of this awkward sounding centre stand, does anyone know of any piccies anywhere?

While on the subject of centre stands... Obviously the bike here is a rigid end but were they sold with the rear pull? which is usually for stands that are seen on M20/21s... Obviously no good with the sort of stand we see here, that needs the person to be in the centre, pulling his guts out to get it to stand.  

I wonder why they stopped using them in mid 47?? It must have been better than what we are struggling with now. 

[mrshells]

Hi all, the bike came with a load of engine spares they may be of interest to some people I know its a ZA7 cranckcase number and they are matching my mate says there are some early long stroke barrels and pistons but they are on +60 if you want e mail him on   bnt.cycles@ntlworld.com   Cheers ]

[flatdeck]

I'll try and find a pic of the centre stand LJ but in the meantime I understand they required the rider to physically lift the bike straight up so the stand caught on the ratchet. Apparently this required you to be a weight lifter of some note. If the rear tyre was flat (reason for putting it on the stand) I hear it was virtually impossible. I do agree though that there is a bit of a knack to rolling the A7/10 onto its stand. Dave

[Brian]

Here is a scan of the device in question. I have not had the pleasure of dealing with one so have no experience as to what they are like. I did read that one of the problems was as the mechanism wore they had a tendancy to drop down while you were riding along.

Anyone who thinks putting a rigid or plunger A7 onto its centre stand is difficult should try a B33 or M20/21, real back breakers.

While we are on the subject of centre stands, the early ones dont have a "tang" on the stand to put your foot on to push it down which does make it more difficult. You could of course weld a piece of steel on to make one but the later plunger centre stand does have a tang cast into it and they fit straight on to the early frames. Nobody probably noticed in the photos but I put the later type with the tang on my Star twin when I restored it. It does make a difference as you dont have to dig around under the bike to try and put your foot on the edge of the stand plus the tang gives you something to stand on while pulling the bike back onto the stand.

[LJ.]

Thanks for that scan Brian, it was an interesting study. Thats it then... Exactly why BSA withdrew it if it fell due to worn ratchets, I'd hate that to fall while I was bombing along at 70mph! 

Actually my M21 is not so bad to pull on to its rear stand, the real art is balancing the bike as I make my way round to the back to get a good position to enable a good pull. I mostly use the excellent field stand that is brilliant on any ground. It's funny when I remember how I parked the bike on someones nice new tarmac driveway all nicely finished with white granite chippings etc. The field stand has a pointed end with a circular disc to prevent stand from penetrating the ground too deeply. It didn't prevent the stand from.... need I say any more? 

[a]

I know this is a very old topic, But had to do it...


The elusive center stand, with handle...only on the first 200 or so '47 A7's. Just piecing the bike together right now, and am doing a '49 at the same time, amazing how many subtle differences in the 2.
Cheers, Brett.

[fido]

It will be great to see that stand in action when you have completed the rebuild. A good candidate for a YouTube video.

[trevinoz]

Brett,
            You didn't dig that A7 out of old Arthur's shed, did you?
That's the only place that I have ever seen one.
          Trev.

[a]

I will post more pics of both these bikes along the restoration process, and no, it is not from Arthur's.
Never done a video before, but will give it a try once the bike is closer to completion.
Have searched high and low, and I too have never seen another '47 with this style stand, or the other slight differences that this one has, Should be a great piece of machinery to look at for the keen eye, especially in it's striking "devon red" painted frame.One very unique bike...

[terryk]

I got the one form Arthur's Trev. I bought it from the bloke that got Arthur's stuff. I have two 47 A7s and two 48s.