Bsa Victor Special
BSA VICTOR SPECIAL
A 441cc TWO-FIFTY.
BIRMINGHAM SMALL ARMS have been building race-bred single-cylinder motorcycles for sale to the public for as long as most of us can remember. Since production of the famous Gold Star ceased in 1963 their efforts have been concentrated, like most of the British factories, on large displacement twins, which are totally unsuited to motocross and European-style scrambling. However, BSA had always enjoyed a fair share of success in this form of competition and with a rider of Jeff Smith's caliber under contract it makes sense that they should want to develop an engine for racing in the 500cc title series. The only proven four-stroke single engine the factory had at hand, other than the heavy, obsolete Gold Star, was a 250 we know as the C-15.
While all these plans were going on, some European factories were winning races all over the place on overbored 250cc two-strokes, most of these in the 360cc displacement region. They were almost as light as a 250, and had handling as quick and responsive. In capable hands they were a match for most of the existing 500s.
Jeff Smith reasoned that an over-bored C-15 could beat the Europeans at their own game. Displacement was gradually increased in stages until a practical maximum of 441cc was reached. At this point Mr. Smith became the man to beat. He has been 500cc Moto-Cross World Champion for two years against all comers; his big-engined lightweight has been named the BSA Victor and everyone interested in scrambles has been waiting for the factory to build and market replicas of what must surely be the world's most famous scrambler.
At last a Victor is here, or a machine that has been given the same name anyway. It is especially designed for the American market and is to be known as the Victor Special. In England it is called the Victor Enduro Trials and, except for displacement, bears little resemblance to the machine that has won two world titles. At least one duplicate of Jeff Smith's bike has been sold in England, and there will be more. Over there it is to be called the Victor Grand Prix. Obviously, the designation "Grand Prix" has been hung on the end to differentiate between the "Real Thing" and the American model. The real Victor has such things as oil in the frame (to eliminate the oil tank), very lightweight alloys in various places to keep the weight down to 255 lbs., 7-inch rear brake, a 20-inch front wheel, and a special scrambles frame made from Reynolds 531 tubing; all these things our test machine did not have. However, if the Victor Grand Prix is brought into this country it will have to sell for almost $1400, whereas the Victor Special does sell for a good deal less than that. Although we were somewhat disappointed at first to find that we did not have a true-to-life replica of Mr. Smith's motorcycle, it is probably a wise decision on the part of BSA to produce an "everyman's" machine. The Victor Grand Prix is a full-fledged racer built for a very single purpose in llife to go full throttle in motocross.
On the other hand, the Victor Special is a modern 500 class machine that can be used in several forms of motorcycle competition and even ridden to and from the event if one so desires, thanks to full lighting system, a full chain guard and a muffler; everything needed to be perfectly legal on the highway or city streets. In standard trim the engine is fitted with a compression plate under the cylinder, giving a compression ratio of 9.5:1. For our test the plate had been removed to permit the racing compression ratio of 11.4:1, which made the machine a beast to start, even with a compression release. We imagine that most owners will rather quickly put the plate back in if they do decide to take it out. The engine clearly has enough power with the plate in to suit anyone in their right mind.
In riding circles the Victor would be referred to as a "torque-er." The engine pulls eagerly from what appears to be zero rpm in a way that only a good five-hundred can. An Amal Monobloc carburetor is used on the Victor Special, an instrument that works well at low revs, but to compound the low end response effect, BSA has fitted the new Amal molded nylon quick-throttle, and the result is instant power at the first tweak of the grip.
Horsepower is rated at 34 bhp with the plate out and this is, if anything, a rather conservative figure, as there is a constant tendency for the front wheel to be in the air. While this condition does exist (front wheel in the air), everything is fine and one can go bounding off across the meadow like a jack rabbit. But all good things must come to an end; the front wheel has to come down sometime, and when that happens there is apt to be a problem to say the least.
The problem is the direct result of loads of horsepower in a rather small motorcycle and a steering geometry better suited to trials than scrambles. Mr. Smith's BSA Victor is a very different kettle of fish; it has been, as we pointed out earlier, designed for scrambling only. Differences in design that help in pure scrambles racing are a very real handicap if one wants to use the machine for street transportation or off-the-road low speed work. The front forks have the new BSA two-way damping, where there j5 damping action both on impact and re bound, and the forks themselves did seem up to the task, although 5¼ inches of travel is a bit limited for fast, hard going, but there were no signs of bottoming the suspension. The swing-arm rear suspension is controlled by 3-position damper units that worked very well.
CYCLE WORLD ROAD TEST
The handlebars were close to being the worst we have ever tried to ride with in the dirt, although they were quite comfortable for street use. We have been assured that these will be changed to the flatter, scrambles-type bars on all Victors to be sold. A Smiths speedometer, mounted in rubber, is fitted which has an odometer and a trip odometer that can be set to zero; very handy for those who ride enduros. Although the headlight unit is small we found that it met all our requirements for night riding and the tail and brake lights were quite adequate. There is a horn, and except for the knobby tires we had a rather nice street bike, with a very effective muffler.
The Victor engine is not tremendously new other than displacement. The camshaft is designed to give a flat torque curve, spreading the power over a wide range of engine revs, hence the low end power we mentioned. Stroke is unusually long, relative to the bore, by current design trends where these figures are more usually al most reversed. A three-ring full-slipper piston is used in a cast iron cylinder bore. The connecting rod small end uses a bushing while the big end has double -row rollers in an alloy cage. The rod is an I-beam forging with a single reinforcing rib around the small and big ends. The top portion of the gear-type oil pump feeds the big end and external oil lines to the rocker boxes, while the lower, larger portion returns oil from the dry sump back to a rubber-mounted oil tank. Although the crankcases are similar to those on the 350cc engine, they are in fact more generously webbed for added strength. Sealing appears adequate as there were no oil leaks during our lengthy test period.
Drive to the multi-plate clutch is by duplex "-pitch chain. The clutch hub has a built-in synthetic rubber shock cushion, and gearbox shafts are relatively short and beefy; particularly the layshaft. Gear selector mech anism is of the conventional BSA pattern; down for low on the gear lever. Gear ratios are well spaced. Low is higher than on the Enduro Star but added displacement permits this, and as a result the gap between gears be comes smaller.
We have indicated many times in the past that we still like big singles; there are altogether too few on the market, and we are rather glad that BSA has decided to sell the Victor because it has the weight and general handl ing usually associated with 250s, while it does have the urge of a five-hundred. No motorcycle is perfect, but everything considered (especially the price) the Victor is very appealing.
BSA
VICTOR SPECIAL
SPECI FICATIONS
$895
PERFORMANCE
