Bsa Back In Business?

BSA BACK IN BUSINESS?

A new chapter in the BSA story has begun with a 1000cc prototype that harks back to the golden era of the British biking industry. Built by BSA-Regal, the Southampton-based company that owns the rights to the BSA name, the Tempest is a back-to-the-future Superbike powered by an air-cooled parallel-Twin with dual overhead cams and four valves per cylinder. At the moment, the ex-sidecar-racing engine runs a 360-degree crank, a configuration the British industry has favored since Edward Turner’s seminal 1937 Triumph Speed Twin. Styling is pure 1960s, with more than a touch of Norton. The steel frame, for example, uses a double-cradle, twin-shock design based on the legendary Featherbed, but equipped with the adjustable rubber of the Isolastic anti-vibration pioneered on the 1968 Commando. If all goes well, the Tempest will be the first step in a proposed 10-year resurrection plan.

Brian Tarbox