Birmingham Small Arms Co. started making motorcycles around the turn of the 20th Century, reportedly the same year that Harley-Davidson offered their first motorcycle in 1903. The seller has this fully-restored 1967 BSA Spitfire Mark III posted here on Hemmings. They’re asking $13,000 or best offer and it’s located in Montrose, Colorado.
BSA has also been making motorcycles as long as Ford Motor Company has been the Ford Motor Company which is just another way of showing how incredibly long this company has been making motorcycles. They made bicycles first going back into the late-1800s. At one point in the 1950s, BSA reportedly had the widest range of motorcycles of any company on the globe. I know that there are a few readers who are into British bikes, I hope they’ll share their stories in the comments section.
They mostly made single-cylinder models after WWII but two-cylinder motorcycles were becoming popular, especially among motorcycle racers which was a market that BSA knew they had to be involved with. The Spitfire was considered a high-powered twin motorcycle and they were made for the 1966, 1967, and 1968 model years. Oddly, there was no Mark I, the first year of this model, 1966, was considered the Mark II.
This example has been fully restored according to the seller, and it looks like it’s in amazing condition. Again, you British bike experts and present or former BSA owners, let us know your thoughts on this particular bike and the restoration, please. The only thing I noticed was what appears to be a little waviness in the black paint on the BSA badge on one of the side covers and that’s the very definition of nit-picking. This looks like one very nice restoration overall.
The engines in the Spitfire bikes were BSA’s 654 cc twin-cylinder four-stroke overhead-valve model which had about 53 horsepower. This is a home-market bike and in Britain, buyers could get a five-gallon fuel tank which is what this one has. This bike has had 1,000 “careful” break-in miles put on it since the restoration in 2019. You can find more photos here on Barn Finds Classified. Have any of you owned a BSA Spitfire?
This was my dream bike in ’67, but I never even got the chance to ride one. I would probably be scared to ride it on the street these days.
In the early 50s, BSA was really pushing the twins. Actually, it offered a V-twin back in the 20s and 30s. But BSA came out with the Golden Flash which was a success. I might add that it went quite well too. I had a ’59 Sportsman, a 500cc single, and a friend had a ’59 Golden Flash. They both weighed in at 450 lbs so they were far from a small bike. I remember the Lightning and Thunderbolt in around ’63 and the Hornet (off-road) in ’65. The Firebird was essentially a Hornet with lights, mufflers, and speedo for the street, and this must be another version of a street-legal Hornet. A tester (Cycle?) said that no speedo was provided for the Hornet because if you were riding it as fast as it could go you didn’t have time to look at it. Another friend had a Firebird and that DID go. Whatever the case, I sure wouldn’t mind having this parked on my driveway. Of course, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to kick one over again because of my ankle. Maybe get some good friends to give me a push…
I never got into British twins because I was spoiled; my first big twin was a Laverda 750SF. Everything else was disappointing and vibratory after that – apart from the Ducati 900 S2 that came along some years later.
I spent a long time with an M20, though; what a fun bike that was!
Having said that, a pal of mine has an oil-in-frame A65 which he’s very fond of. He’s had it a long time, and it’s now over 900cc (courtesy of SRM, I think) and goes like stink.
Ah, brake pedal on the left, shifter on the right. I rode a couple of Italian imports (One had the Montgomery Wards name on it) that were set up that way.
My dream BSA is the 1959 Super Road Rocket but I wouldn’t say “no” to this.
Keep the bikes coming…
I had a 1956 BSA Gold Star and much later a 1961 BSA Lightning. The Goldie was a brilliant bike, the Lightning not so much. About 6 years ago I restored a 1952 Golden Flash, rode it twice and sold it asap, just didn’t float my boat as good as it might have done back in the fifties.
I well remember Sammy Tanner (Slidin’ Sam) on his Gold Star on the flat tracks back in the 60s. I always liked the Gold Star. It had a tremendous edge over the cast iron Sportsman. But the venerable B33 did everything you wanted it to. I have to say that it was the only motorcycle I knew of that could Vapor-Lock…
A friend bought a new Spitfire, and he kept it chained to a column in the garage of the apartment complex where he lived in Yonkers, NY. One night somebody stole it by cutting the frame to release the chain. (It was a good chain!)
I was a motorcycle guy for a number of years. Quit riding 2 years ago for a number of reasons. But, this ad doesn’t even ell us what size engine… Gee, all the cars we see listed here tell us the engine size. Just how many cc’s does this little thing have? Btw, for those who think this is a big bike, it might have been many years ago but, one of my last motorcycles was a Honda Gold Wing,1984, with a 1200cc engine. A real road traveler. Best motorcycle I ever owned.
“The engines in the Spitfire bikes were BSA’s 654 cc twin-cylinder four-stroke overhead-valve model which had about 53 horsepower. ”
Right there in the write up.
Almost totally off topic.
I own an unrestored ’67 with the smaller tank.
These bikes routinely came with fiberglass tanks and modern ethanol fuels WILL DESTROY them in short order.
Seller states this bike’s tank was lined with Caswells, but buyer beware.
Lining these old tanks with epoxy is still no guarantee that they will be impervious to the effects of modern fuels.. SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE.
Better to buy an Indian repro tank in steel or alloy and save the original.
Very few things are more exciting than a zenier diode failing and dumping full voltage into old Lucas wiring causing one to be tossing handfuls of dirt at sparkling wiring under a fiberglass tank on the side of the road. A fuel weeping soft bottom tank would have added a whole new level of excitement. Making a new harness with tympanium replacement moved to the top of the to-do list for that particular B44SS.
Even though I ride (and love) Harleys, to me, this is what a real motorcycle looks like. What a beautiful bike, and I bet it sounds just a good as it looks.
BSA twins can spin bearings real easy. I had a Spitfire just like this one. There was/ is a firm in the UK that offered a conversion. Maybe they still do?
Richard, I believe you’re thinking of SRM in the UK. They offer a conversion from a timing side bushing (which spins) to a needle roller bearing.
Not cheap, but if you’re serious rider it’s probably worth it.
For casual riding, I’m not sure it’s necessary so long as the bearings are in good condition.
SRM and yes, they do. The last I looked they have authorized a few specialty shops on this side to machine the conversion. That main bearing thing was from 1966 to the end as the drive side bearing was changed from a ball bearing to a roller, losing the crank positive location. The crank walked, tore the timing side shim allowing oil to bleed into the crankcase. BANG! Left con rod. Put together with a new style bush and attention paid to clearance (probably somewhat lacking back at BSA which didn’t help) the A Series will happily spin to 7000 and live to tell the tale.
Hey Abbot !!! I’m a SPITFIRE ! PTU! PTU! PTU!
(from the cartoon: A tale of two kitties)
As I remember, tri-color decals on ‘67 side covers, metal emblems on’66. Also tach and Speedo had ‘dime’ size silver dots to which the needles attached. K90 tires?
this model was one of those seen during the bike ownership explosion that turned Japanese just a few yrs later. 1 of my 1st jobs wuz a re-wire ofa grand dad to this (a ’57 Thunderbird) owned by the oldest of the Boomers (77 y/o now but still ridin the same bike).
My friend had one and it was chopped. We were 14 years old and joy-rided it all over our back woods town. a lot of fun but scary.
I had a 1967 Hornet and still have my first bike, a 1952 Goldstar. Both of them were intended for racing but I did register the Hornet for the street. The Hornet had no electrical system nor a battery, but I wired up a Bates Headlight, taillight and brake switch, clamped on a mirror and a bulb horn and they signed it off. There was a tach but no speedo and it had a close ratio gear box set up for flat tracking, which it would do on long wet pavement curves with no problems. The Spitfire has essentially the same engine but is a street legal version.
College Roommate and I bought a used ( 50’s ) model like this, it was fun and fast. Later, I bought a 1969 441 Victor and ran it for awhile. Put a different sprocket on it for off road. Wasn’t as zippy off road as the 250 Japanese bikes, but lots of slow torque.
I worked at a shop that sold BSA’s when these came out….they were great looking bikes that handled very well. Powerful enough for their day too. Of course, we were all familiar with Lucas electrics on the Brit bikes…used to call Lucas ‘the British God of darkness’! Brit bike fans will understand that. :)
Our shop also handled some maintenance on Dick ‘Bugsy’ Mann’s BSA Victor too.