Let’s go back in time nearly 70 years to the late 1950s. Imagine you’re in the boardroom of BSA, the biggest motorcycle manufacturer in the world, a manufacturer who can proudly boast one in four motorcycles sold in the world are made in its factory… The press of the day carries reports of the company’s sporting successes in trials, scrambles, the ISDT and even those sports where motorcycles have funny smooth tyres rather than proper knobblies. The Docker family has gone and the company is under the guidance of JY Sangster. All appears well in the world until the competition manager announces there is a problem. Silence ensues, then the comp manager explains the flagship Gold Star model – which had dominated racing and off-road sport for years – was on its limit. Voices chirp up: “But we’re still winning championships, races, trials and we can sell every motorcycle we make…” All true, confirms the manager, but adds: “The wins are due to the calibre of rider we can afford and they’re finding it harder and harder to succeed.”
The revelations get worse: lightweight machines with less power but a better power-to-weight ratio are besting the Goldie and the word on the company grapevine is the B31/33 range from which the Goldie is derived will soon end. Something needs to be done… and done quickly.
The competition manager offers a ray of hope: “My deputy Brian Martin has had a look at the new C15 roadster and made a trials bike out of it. It went rather well too and he was within a whisker of winning the premier award in his first trial on it when he stopped to help a fellow competitor and accrued one extra penalty point.” The manager carries on by saying: “The comp shop feels there is scrambles potential in the little 250 too and of course the Government is going to impose a 250cc limit for learners from 1961 so
