Old smoothie
What with the current and entirely entertaining trend for bobber bikes built with big fat front tyres, this seemed like a good time to remind myself that … well … there’s nothing new under the classic sun. Take the Sunbeam S7, possibly the world’s original gentleman’s bob. Except … it’s not a bobber at all. Bobbing refers to the mudguards, mostly to the rear, and the S7 was constructed with seriously generous mudguarding. I have seen a couple of chopped Sunbeams, a remarkable thought in these restorative days, but never a bobber ’beam. This is possibly just as well.
Sunbeam’s misty green machine (OK, so they also painted them black, but green is so much more … green) was never the glorious success its builders had hoped for. You almost certainly know the story. BSA – owners of the Sunbeam name after buying it from AMC in November 1943 – were intent upon producing a high quality motorcycle, aiming for that elusive high quality rider, I suppose. They took a long, calculating look at a current BMW, with telescopic forks, wide cradle frame and sprung rear end, and presumably pondered.
It was presumably pretty easy in 1943 to calculate exactly how well an obvious replica of a German motorcycle would sell to British motorbicyclists, come the inevitable cessation of the current hostilities, so powering their new up-market bolide with a sweetly-balanced and mechanically civilised flat
