Help to Identify Bike - Brighton Sea Front - Madeira Drive

[knoxie]

Hello

This is my first post on here, looks like there is a wealth of knowledge on here, I wonder if anyone could possibly help me with my question.

I would love to know the bike that my late father is sat astride here in the late 1950s on the seafront in Brighton, I have waived the picture at a few people who have clocked the badge on the tank and have instantly said it's a BSA Goldstar twin, now after a few hours of internet trawling I can see from the engine that its definitely not a Goldstar twin and is more likely an A7 or an A10.

A few facts I know about the bike, he bought it second hand in the 1950s, he used to take his mum around on the back of it (rules out a single seat bike) it looks like the cowling around the headlight has gone however it does have the headlight peak which I have seen on other bikes, I also noted it has engine bars which are likely after market and it looks like it had a pannier mount on the back as there are some bars curving up from the back of the bike again likely after market.

Now I do know the tank badges can be swapped, the tank badge is unusual in that it looks embossed, I did find a link to a similar one but this badge doesn't look very common, the tank does have knee grips though so that might help pin down the age of the bike, the number plate is LMB 322 which I think was registered in Cheshire from 1949.

I’m super interested in classic bikes and would love to find out exactly what my dad had here, I have some classic japanese bikes which I am going to sell and make way for a classic British bike and I would love to pick up much the same bike.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[KiwiGF]

Hi, I'm not sure how exact an opinion you want, but to me that looks like a very early A7. 1949 could well be correct. The right hand timing cover is very distinctive to the BSA "A" range.

On this forum the early A7s are are covered by the "longstroke" section, the longstroke bikes are much rarer than the later A7/10 models.

Good luck with finding the bike you want  all the A7/10 models are good bikes, longstoke, rigid frame, plunger frame, swing arm frame, 500 or 650cc.

[knoxie]

Thanks for the swift reply, I realize without other pictures its very hard to spot the bike exactly if anyone else would like to pitch in that would be great, i notice that there is a BSA logo on the right side of the engine but that doesnt appear to be there on this bike, dont know if this is relevant? The location where the picture was taken has hardly changed that much, I cant say the same about the rest of us ha ha although I wasnt even a twinkle in my dads eye when this was taken.

Thanks again, my mum never went on the back of this bike (or any bike), shes 77 now and she doesnt know it yet but im going to change that ha ha 

[KiwiGF]

Here is a early A7 brochure link, to me the Right hand side engine timing cover looks "flatter" than that on the later models, which is mainly why I think it is early A7 longstroke bike. The Frame is probably a rigid type, but I'm not 100% sure it is not a plunger framed, the rear of the frame is not in the pic.

Are you thinking of trying to find exactly the same bike to the same year?

http://www.a7a10.net/forum/index.php?topic=8655.0

[knoxie]

Yes I would love to find exactly the same year and type of bike if possible, I know this is a long shot? I may ask my uncle who took this picture as a young boy if he has got any other photos of the bike, he remembers taking this picture but wasn't sure what the bike was other than it was a BSA, I quickly knew it wasnt a gold star, I have googled the badge on the tank and that looks very rare indeed, some newer rebuilt bikes seem to have stickers?

I also noticed as you did on this engine that the right hand side engine cover does appear to be more flat in appearance than those on the later machines, again thanks for the reply :-)

[Topdad]

Thats a worthy quest if I may say so,Sir,   *clap*more power to your elbow and good luck. You have made a good choice to get a BSA and you'll enjoy whilst this forum will be able to help with most every question you can ask, best of luck Bob.

[Greybeard]

You can see the plunger frame just inside from his right ankle. Early mudguards. Probably did not have a headlamp cowl. You may be able to adjust the brightness in Photoshop Elements or similar to be able to see more details such as rocker box caps.

[beezermacc]

If you get in touch with the Cheshire Archive Department they hold all the old licensing records. This will tell you when the bike was registered and who the selling dealer was. I visited recently to check the details of a Rocket Gold Star I own and I found them very helpful.

[duTch]

 Yep I thought it is James Dean on a Longstroke, and as GB I saw the frame bit over the oil tank which I think is circled

[Greybeard]

Front tyre looks very square! Has he just unhitched it from a sidecar?

[knoxie]

Thanks so much all of you so far I am really pleased so many of you have commented, what a nice forum you guys have here, I have always been in to vintage bikes and joined the VMCC way back in 1987, another nice feature of the membership was cheap insurance which came in very handy for a 17 year old on a Yamaha 350 YPVS F2 powervalve :-)

We love this old picture of my Dad it really captures that era so well (he would have loved the James Dean comparison) although we always thought he looked like one of the proclaimers! ha ha dad loved bikes and although he never had another bike because we all came along he always figured he would when he retired, sadly Dad died in 2003 at the young old age of 66 from the big C, its part of the reason why I am not waiting around to have the toys I want (im just not telling the missus or the kids).

You people are all so nice, thanks so much.

[knoxie]

Front tyre looks very square! Has he just unhitched it from a sidecar?

Yes I noticed this and yes it had been part of an outfit so my uncle had said, the tyre looked in bad shape I dont know if he changed it at some point, so it looks like this is a pre fifties longstroke BSA A7 with a plunger frame, so would this bike have the sprung seat or the 2 piece seat (he used to take his mum on the back) or would it have a single long seat? I will ask my uncle the same next time I see him.

With this info in mind does anyone have any links to a bike that would look the same? some of the photos I look at are of restorations so not 100% sure if they are accurate, Im skilled mechanically and electrically and have lots of motorbike maintenance experience so I have no problems buying an old bike and restoring it, at least if you buy an old unrestored bike you can start from the right place.

As a side note my first bike at the same age was a Suzuki ZR50 and can I find anything near to what I had back in 1986 even an old barn find? nope! it seems now that many japanese bikes are becoming very hard to find and ironically I will have it far easier finding a bike my dad rode 30 years before! ha ha.

[JulianS]

I think that it is a 1949 season A7 Star Twin - the twin carb version. Note the carb float bowl visible. The single carb A7 carb would not stick out so far.

I think the tank is slightly later - you can see fixing screws on the badge and there are words beneath the BSA logo on the badge though not readable but likely says "Star Twin"

The reg LMB322 was issued by Cheshire between April and July 1949.

1949 brochure illustration attached.

[trevinoz]

The carby bowl appears to be sitting towards the front of the engine. There is no way that bike was a runner at the time of the photo, look at the throttle cable.

[Tomcat]

G'day Knoxie, and welcome aboard.    I see a Longstroke timing cover, a '49 and later front brake, a carby bowl sticking out which says twin carbs and probably a plunger oil tank. I would say it's a Star Twin. Not that easy to find these days but enjoy the journey. Be careful old British bikes are addictive 
Cheers Peter