BSA 1969

Four postcards from the stateside BSA advertising department. Get the bike, get the girl, have the lifestyle. The '69 BSA range did indeed look pretty awesome but the looks belied designs stretched to the limit, iffy reliability and heavy vibrations. To me the '69 Lightning was a massively iconic bike, I mean Hunter S Thompson has one and it also starred in the public school counter culture revolution film, 'If'. I too had one for a while, it wasn't a great example and maybe had it been fully sorted I would have loved it more. In the end I sold it on to a friend (and almost lost a friendship over it!), he sorted it out with much time, effort and money and then also didn't particularly bond with it and in turn passed it on. Stunning looking bike though....

Captions under the postcards are copied verbatim from the spiel on the reverse.

BSA Sptifire Mk IV Special
650cc Twin with dual carburetters
This is the super-sport tuned for performance. This is the
one described as the 'fastest road machine under 750cc'.
This limited-edition bike has racing parts and the new twin
leading shoe racing front brake and has been timed at an
actual 120 mph, but canters along at top legal speeds like
a well-mannered thoroughbred.

BSA Starfire 250 250cc Single
This is the lightweight with the heavyweight performance.
Four-stroke ohv power makes this one look and act like a
bike with twice the displacement.

BSA Lightning 650cc Twin with dual carburetters
Acceleration to match its name, sport bike stop-and-go power.
This is the thriller, scaled up to highest highway performance.
This is the BIG dual twin: twin carbs, twin cylinders, new twin
leading shoe racing front brake. This is the one with the revs,
the full race camshaft, with the 53 long-legged horses. This is
the best in super sport.

BSA Royal Star 500cc Twin
All the power you'll ever need to flatten the steepest hills,
even with two up. Easy starting, easy riding, easy to look at
and the lowest-priced, full-sized Twin in the BSA line.