Royal Red! Gold-lined tank panels! This latest acquisition by fowl fancier Alex Taylor certainly looked the business. We’d tested Alex’s trusty Bantam 125cc D1 and 150cc D3, and narrowly missed trying his 1958 D5, the first, rare, one-year only 175cc variant, when Alex hadn’t got along with it and sold it on.
So this D7 was the model’s next evolutionary step, still three-speed, but the 1959-on 175 featured a new swinging-arm frame, hydraulically damped front forks, 18 inch wheels, a dualseat as standard, better brakes, raised handlebars, and a complete restyling, said to have been overseen by Triumph’s Edward Turner, by then head of the BSA Group’s Automotive Division.
Talking chicken
Alex sourced this 1965 D7 Super from a dealer in Lincolnshire. The engine is from an early 1966 D7 Silver Bantam, an economy version but mechanically identical to the previous Super (the flagship version for 1966 was now tagged De Luxe).
And Alex likes it. “It’s very easy to start,” he said. “Which is good, because you can’t bump-start a Bantam easily, the six-spring clutch slips. You end up needing heavy-duty springs, which I fit to all my Bantams anyway; there’s a kit from Bantam specialist Rex Caunt Racing (Tel: 01455 848287), it’s only £16.50.”
As is his custom, Alex has had the D7 apart. “I reinforced
