Riding along the Suffolk back roads on Andy Tiernan’s circa 1958 swinging arm BSA B33, my mind started to ponder the question: “Is this the best old British motorcycle of them all?” My case for the possible affirmative answer to that question, comes from multiple sources.
As many will be aware, Andy Tiernan is one of the longest-serving, successful classic motorcycle dealers in the world, who has a fine collection of classic machines himself; anyone who buys a copy of Andy’s annual, all-for-charity (The East Anglian Air Ambulance) calendar will appreciate that there’s often a little note saying ‘from Andy’s private collection’ on some particularly tasty tackle, though, for the most part, that’s what the collection remains – private. But what does Andy ride if you see him on the road? Invariably, it’s a BSA and, more often than not, it’s this very example.
That this particular machine has an added story and poignancy to it can’t be ignored, either. For many years, a fixture in Andy’s shop was mechanic Dave ‘Beret’ Berry, who, as well as being Andy’s ace spanner man and friend, was a well known figure on the classic scene in his own right. Poor
