SINGLE-MINDED

As a big fan of Triumph’s Tiger Cub, it naturally follows that the somewhat similar, BSA-made engines of the same basic shape and design – but bigger and bigger aaaaaannnnd bigger – also caught my eye. The final incarnation of the design was a massive 620cc beast of a motocross machine built by CCM, but I only got as far as a BSA B50MX. Most of my BSA unit singles have been in the 250-441 cc range and all – apart from the B50 – were pre-oil in frame.

My first encounter with a 250 BSA would have been a trials C15T when I was approaching 13. I needed more power than my tired Bantam field bike had to offer. The C15T looked quite big and heavy compared with the Bantam, with lots of sharp potentially hurty things sticking out from it, including bare, non-folding footrests. It was available for £50. So was the Tiger Cub that I wimped out and bought instead.

I briefly owned a slightly poorly C15 road bike a few years later, and then a very pretty but rather slow C15G-engined trials type machine.

I’ve become more involved with unit singles over