PLAYING THE FRAME GAME
I ALWAYS FOUND it a little strange that the oil-in-frame BSAS – and Triumphs for that matter – copped so much flak from enthusiasts of the marques back in the early 1970s. Many of them despised the taller seat height of the new bikes, as well as the more angular styling.
Back in the day I had an OIF BSA Lightning, plus a couple of later Triumphs with similar oil-bearing frames, and each of them seemed to handle and stop as well as any of the older Brit twins my mates rode – and at that age we ragged the life out of our bikes, most of us having little regard for mechanical sympathy.
Back then, I was new to motorcycling and had no experience of the earlier BSA and Triumph twins, so had no idea what I might be missing compared to the earlier twins. Only in later life have I been able to sample their delights; I can see the appeal of the riding position, and noticed how the engines somehow feel less stressed and vibey than the later 750s. Of course, like so many others, I’ve always appreciated the curvaceous styling of 1960s BSAS and Triumphs.
However, I loved the Brit twins I owned; so much so, that I even resorted an OIF Tiger 750 when I went looking to buy a another Triumph to fix a hankering I had to revisit the past. My mate Robin Ludwell is a sucker for any stylish British bikes. For his latest build he’s gone to the extreme of fitting an A65 Lightning motor (with Thunderbolt single-carb head) into a much earlier A10 Golden Flash plunger frame. It wasn’t a simple job – the story’s on page 40 – but he’s created a machine of real beauty and poise and reckons it’s a relaxing joy ride. The issues affecting the world in 2020 left very few of us the option to get out and about on our bikes, but we’re hoping that things will gradually get back to some kind of normality this year – even if it’s a ‘new normal’ (whatever that might mean). To whet the appetite for road tripping, we’ve dug the Cross Country Chase story out of our filing system and present it as a reminder to ourselves of how the good times roll out on the road – and hopefully get us all thinking about the big trips we might like to make later this year once our freedom to roam makes a welcome return...