At this time I was approaching 15 and looking forward to exchanging my brain for a fifty. We then discovered that BSA were making a moped and after going to our nearest dealer we soon bought the bike brand new (I apologise for the foul language). The on the road price was only £380. It had a Morini two stroke single engine producing 3.5hp, Paoli forks and mono- shock tear suspension and Italian, er, electrics. The whole lot weighed only 133lbs dry.
Although a very tidy little piece of machinery, it is about as British as Mussolini. My father used the bike locally to run it in before I was 16, whilst I learnt to ride it off road. When I had my first proper run on the bike I found it was as quick as could be expected for a restricted fifty, out accelerating every other moped I came across.
The handling was good, the power sufficient to send the speedo off the clock at 40mph on the flat. I was clocked at 47mph, on the flat with no wind, the rest of the time I had to guess. Downhill it must have done at least 50mph; uphill it managed to hold 30mph, which was pretty good going for a moped that was supposed to be restricted to 30mph. The bike also returned 100mpg. The drum brakes were more than powerful enough for the kind of performance available, with plenty of feel which is more than can be said for the headlight; at night you have to follow the white lines to see where the road goes.
I managed to keep the bike spotless (yes, even the Wop chrome) by frequent application of Turtlewax and chrome cleaner, even though I used the bike for going to school every day. After four months I passed my test and the bike was regularly ridden two up, although the seat is short enough to make this uncomfortable unless the pillion is of the opposite sex.
I had very little trouble with the BSA, because it was well looked after, until I decided to go to a BSA owners club camp near Monmouth. After 15 miles the bike kept cutting out if I did more than 30mph. On arriving at the camp I tried without success to fix the problem. The next day, on the way home things became worse and speed was restricted to a maximum of 25mph, but the bike still got me home to Dyfed, a round trip of 220 miles. Fetch the strait-jacket, do I hear you cry? Well, you should have seen the state of the character who rode a Bantam from Manchester for a day trip to the camp. Actually, the Beaver was quite comfortable, the sun was shining and I rather enjoyed the weekend despite the lack of speed.
The problem, luckily, wasn't too bad, just a worn carb needle that was cheap and easy to replace. Not one to shy away from a challenge, in the summer I decided to go to Somerset for a week with my grandparents. I decided that because the bike was not allowed on the motorway and I did not want to ride across Severn Bridge footpath, I’d go the long way around, via Gloucester. Luckily, the weather was good, but it took a full eight hours of solid throttle-to-the-stop riding as I clocked up around 200 miles. It took me two days to start walking properly again.
On the way back I cheated by taking a couple of seats out of my grandparent’s car and dumping the bike in the back until they dropped me on the Welsh side of the Severn Bridge and I had to ride a mere 120 miles home. Despite being ridden flat out there and back, the bike never missed a beat.
Riding with the speedo against the stop resulted in the bike going through several cables and one speedo. The plugs tended to oil up quite quickly. If I did a long trip, say 100 miles, if I stopped then the bike would not start on the kickstart - I had the choice of cleaning the plug or bump starting the bike.
In the 12 months I rode the bike I never once came across a restricted fifty that could match the little BSA on performance even when I was riding two-up. If the unrestricted, older fifties had more top end they still couldn’t match the acceleration. All this from a straightforward engine without a reed valve in sight, although I did have the minor inconvenience of mixing the oil with the petrol.
All in all, I found my BSA (Bloody Sore Arse) Beaver to be great fun, reliable (starting first kick with a clean plug) and economical. At the low prices they sell for secondhand I can heartily recommend them as an alternative to all those Fizzies. The only problem is finding one. Also, most fathers would prefer one to bleedin’ Jap crap. It must be the only fifty to attract interest from ex-bikers... 'I didn’t know they still make those, I remember my old Bantam...’
Mark Whitehouse