SPRINT SECRETS

I went along to the Hoghton Tower Motorcycle Sprint held on Sunday 7th May. I always make a point of looking around the motorcycle park to see what’s lurking around. Hiding away in all the modern stuff was a smart looking BSA café racer with its owner. I strolled over and asked if it was a BSA Regal, to which the owner replied ‘I don’t believe it! You’re the first person to correctly identify it. Most people think it’s a Yamaha SR500.’

Norman bought the BSA Regal Gold SR secondhand 15 years ago. Since then he has used it on a regular basis and he has done a few modes on the bike including fitting a gauze ‘tea-leaf’ strainer on the carb bellmouth. According to Norman only 38 of these SR-engined BSA Regal 500s were made.

The other motorcycle hiding away was a Triumph-based bitsa with JABS initials on the petrol tank and the name of Bluestreak on the sidepanels. Wasn’t the name Bluestreak given to the 1950s British rocket program? No doubt PUB will be able to tell us more! Please note the basic helmet and visor hanging from the handlebar, looks very Dan Dare to me.

The weather at the sprint was fine all day. The bikes being ridden by competitors ranged in years from a 1929 500 Rudge Whitworth to a 2016 1000 BMW. Well worth the £10 admission price. Iain Houghton, member 2124

The BSA Gold SR was another attempt to provide that ‘modern classic’ 500 single which so many riders claim they want. Almost no one bought them, sadly. There’ve been several ‘JABS’ bikes over the years: Just Another Bloomin’ Special is a family friendly translation. This one looks like a basic pre-unit Triumph with lots missing…