BSA Super Rocket
IT WAS QUITE A STUNNER, THE BSA SUPER ROCKET glinting in the spring sunshine. Perfectly proportioned, classy as heck, and in astonishing condition for a motorcycle that had been turning its wheels for as long as I’ve been on the planet. I can only dream of being so well preserved.
This 1961 A10 Super Rocket at Russell James Motorcycles had already been sold, to a reader of this very magazine no less, who kindly gave us permission to try it out before he came to collect it. Things were set for my first ever ride on a pre-unit BSA twin, on what was the first perfect day for motorcycling in 2021. Perhaps it was the quality of preparation, perhaps it was the circumstances, but I’m going to gush a bit about this one.
Before taking it to the road Russell gave me the low-down on what to expect; how to start it, how to handle the gearbox, and so forth. A little choke, a tickle of the carbs, and it started first kick, settling down to a full-throated rumble. I mounted the A10 as it ticked over and familiarised myself with the controls, which, to use the well-worn cliché, “fell readily to hand”. First gear engaged, I pottered out of the industrial estate into the sunshine and onto the Somerset Levels. It’s not often that you feel instantly comfortable on an old motorcycle, but the
