Blast from the past - BSA Bantam

[My First Suzuki]

The first motorbike I ever saw was a BSA Bantam. It was my old man's bike. It was maroon in colour & it was a swing arm model. I reckon it must have been 125cc because the old fella used to call it a 'one & a quarter'. I don't know how old it was, but the registration letters were either DIF or HIF (Cork reg.). I expect it came from the '50s. It was rougher than any bear's arse that I ever saw. The old fella was always fiddling at it to keep it going. Eventually he sold it for parts to somebody he knew who already had one. I knew a few other old-timers back in the day who also had Bantams. I remember one old lad who had a few of them back in the '60s/early '70s. I remember the last new one he got, I think it was in 1969. The Bantam seemed to disappear from the roads almost overnight during the early '70s. The Honda 50, Yammy 50 & Yammy 80 took over as the preferred bikes of the old-timers. Things like Autolube, four-speed gearboxes & leg shields made life a bit more comfortable for lads who weren't in the first flush of youth anymore. I expect that there are a good few Bantams still around. The UK is full of them anyway. They might have been slow, smoky & unfashionable but they were never intended to be anything other than basic commuter transport.


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[generalisimo muldoon]

Last time I saw a bantam on the road was one of the lads from Lee motorcycles flying down the south mall in a cloud of blue smoke. I think it was Pat Kelleher. That was a while back now. There's one in an engineers workshop over the road from me as well in a state of disrepair. I broached the subject of buying it about 10 years ago and was told no in fairly blunt terms.

[phoenix]

Originally Posted by My First Suzuki

The first motorbike I ever saw was a BSA Bantam. It was my old man's bike. It was maroon in colour & it was a swing arm model. I reckon it must have been 125cc because the old fella used to call it a 'one & a quarter'. I don't know how old it was, but the registration letters were either DIF or HIF (Cork reg.). I expect it came from the '50s. It was rougher than any bear's arse that I ever saw. The old fella was always fiddling at it to keep it going. Eventually he sold it for parts to somebody he knew who already had one. I knew a few other old-timers back in the day who also had Bantams. I remember one old lad who had a few of them back in the '60s/early '70s. I remember the last new one he got, I think it was in 1969. The Bantam seemed to disappear from the roads almost overnight during the early '70s. The Honda 50, Yammy 50 & Yammy 80 took over as the preferred bikes of the old-timers. Things like Autolube, four-speed gearboxes & leg shields made life a bit more comfortable for lads who weren't in the first flush of youth anymore. I expect that there are a good few Bantams still around. The UK is full of them anyway. They might have been slow, smoky & unfashionable but they were never intended to be anything other than basic commuter transport.


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designed by german dkw , plans brought to gb after war , my pal has a plunger 125 one had a few spins on and made up a few cables for him

[Vjmc.Cork]

I dont recall ever seeing a Bantam on the road,only at shows and such.
The Bantam was a copy of a DKW design liberated/stolen after WW2.
The same bike was copied by Harley D and provided the basis of the first Yamaha
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So theres the link from your da's bike to yours
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[My First Suzuki]

The old fella wouldn't look at any four-stroke bike, he reckoned they were too troublesome
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Also, he wouldn't touch any bike that needed a battery to run. A few years after the Bantam went to the big scrapyard in the sky he bought the Vespa 90. Same drill, two-stroke with no battery.

[allsorts&oddjobs]

mate of mine had one for sale a couple of years back but got no interest, i'll ask if he still has it if anyone is interested?

[bonny]

Originally Posted by Vjmc.Cork

I dont recall ever seeing a Bantam on the road,only at shows and such.
The Bantam was a copy of a DKW design liberated/stolen after WW2.
The same bike was copied by Harley D and provided the basis of the first Yamaha
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So theres the link from your da's bike to yours
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The design was given as war reparation, fook knows why they took it , the russians got it as well.

[speedy joe]

In their day they were as good as you got at that end of the market, took many a man to work and back dont think they ever ran as good as they could have because in those days you had no proper two stroke oil and that with heavily leaded petrol which they didnt need made them perform poorly with gummed up baffles and plugs always whiskering bringing you to a sudden stop. Your mention of one and a quarter makes me smile as a chap who is usually on the gate at the Carlow show always refers to his mount as a two and a half, but in my youth bikes were never referred to by ccs always by numbers. the last produced Batman the D14 shared the same frame as the Triumph cub, keep them coming Suzuki they are very nostalgic
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[phoenix]

Originally Posted by speedy joe

In their day they were as good as you got at that end of the market, took many a man to work and back dont think they ever ran as good as they could have because in those days you had no proper two stroke oil and that with heavily leaded petrol which they didnt need made them perform poorly with gummed up baffles and plugs always whiskering bringing you to a sudden stop. Your mention of one and a quarter makes me smile as a chap who is usually on the gate at the Carlow show always refers to his mount as a two and a half, but in my youth bikes were never referred to by ccs always by numbers. the last produced Batman the D14 shared the same frame as the Triumph cub, keep them coming Suzuki they are very nostalgic
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you brought back memories , i worked in a service station in the 60`s and we had a two stroke pump , you set the hand on a dial for the mix 20:1 25:1 33:1and pumped the mix by the pint , filled puch 175 splt singles , arrows 250 twins , lambrettas , villers , greves , normans , nsu , mobyletts , velo solox , francis barnetts , adler , dkw twins ,to name a few , you knew a quick bike the lad would have goggles

[Vjmc.Cork]

Originally Posted by allsorts&oddjobs

mate of mine had one for sale a couple of years back but got no interest, i'll ask if he still has it if anyone is interested?

A friend of mine is mad looking for one for a while.
Has to be the green one with white tank sides,he has a picture of one on his wall.
Let me know if its there and I'll give him a shout
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[hedzball]

My dads first bike.

7 quid for the bike

21 for the insurance.



No horn so he put a airhorn on her.. Used to commute up to Ashton on her from kinsale.. He got the head kicked off him from the old fella when he took her onto the hockey pitch and used the ferociously low pegs to dig up the ground
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[bonny]

Originally Posted by phoenix

you brought back memories , i worked in a service station in the 60`s and we had a two stroke pump , you set the hand on a dial for the mix 20:1 25:1 33:1and pumped the mix by the pint , filled puch 175 splt singles , arrows 250 twins , lambrettas , villers , greves , normans , nsu , mobyletts , velo solox , francis barnetts , adler , dkw twins ,to name a few , you knew a quick bike the lad would have goggles

Did ya have one of those little sandblasters for cleaning sparkplugs on the forecourt ? Or offer a squirt of redex to the four stroke riders ?

[phoenix]

Originally Posted by bonny

Did ya have one of those little sandblasters for cleaning sparkplugs on the forecourt ? Or offer a squirt of redex to the four stroke riders ?

yes thats a "blast" from the past , threre very few big bikes about , except a norton 650ss use to go from coolock to tara street

[bonny]

Originally Posted by phoenix

yes thats a "blast" from the past , threre very few big bikes about , except a norton 650ss use to go from coolock to tara street

There was a butcher with a vincent big twin in inchicore village , i believe lads used to stop an ogle it. I seen a black and white piccy of it outside the shop.

Anyway , its amazing how many people find a bsa bantam in a shed and think they've found a brough superior.

[phoenix]

Originally Posted by bonny

There was a butcher with a vincent big twin in inchicore village , i believe lads used to stop an ogle it. I seen a black and white piccy of it outside the shop.

im showin off now , i did once have an egli vincent in 70`s

[bonny]

Originally Posted by phoenix

im showin off now , i did once have an egli vincent in 70`s

You should have kept it , better than any pension.

[phoenix]

Originally Posted by bonny

You should have kept it , better than any pension.

sold it for £1300 , paid £600 deposit on my house and furnished it with the balance , the vincent was over tuned twin gp carbs etc made it a bit of a bitch but very well built by the late Noel Whitney

[nogthebold]

lol thats a reminder from way back, used one with knobby tyres on the fields for a few years (bought it from the local paper, a proper basket cas as all the engine bits were handed over in a wicker basket, think it cost me 15 quid). There was a 125 and a 150 and 175 version IIRC. Three and four speed. Forks were about as good as a pogo stick. big racing scene in UK years ago where they upped the compression using a "Todd" head and widened the ports horizontally. Looked OK as cafe racers but were very basic/lightweight.

[Dub Duke]

That was my dad's first on-the-road bike. He said it would get left at the lights by 50cc school kids, but once up to speed was a great cruiser (all things relative of course).

If you kick started them while going backwards down a slope, didn't first gear become reverse??! (Or do I need more coffee)

[nogthebold]

Originally Posted by Dub Duke

That was my dad's first on-the-road bike. He said it would get left at the lights by 50cc school kids, but once up to speed was a great cruiser (all things relative of course).

If you kick started them while going backwards down a slope, didn't first gear become reverse??! (Or do I need more coffee)

nope but they could start backwards if you rolled back down a slope, one of the joys