Beautifully preserved

It’s a hot August day in 1926 and at Arch Jones’s motorcycle dealership in Barnstaple, North Devon, a brand-new 250cc BSA B26 De Luxe – wearing the Devon number plate of TT 9404 – is fired into life. The proud owner is Edith Todd, who rides away down the high street of the seaside town towards her home at Torrington, some 12 miles away. At the time, little could Edith have imagined that both she and her sister Phyllis would own the bike for over 30 years or that nearly a century later, the same machine would be still running in its original all-black livery. Today, the BSA – which still shows just under 9000 miles on its rare, attractive Cowley speedo – is owned by West Country enthusiast Steve Morris, who invited me along to take his lovely-looking single for a ride through the leafy lanes of West Wiltshire.

Steve is no stranger to regular readers of the magazine, as I’ve previously featured both of his S7 and S8 Sunbeams and a Vincent Comet in print, but before I fire the side-valve Beezer into life, we’ll take a brief look back at the launch