DAMMED BY LACK OF BEAVER PARTS
Like myself, Allan Harris owned a BSA Beaver sports moped in the early 1980s, Allan’s working as a reliable and economical commuter around London. But even then he recalls struggling to get parts and asks whether there are any suppliers now.
I have no idea, Allan, but I doubt it. The Beaver was an attempt by what remained of the BSA company to get back into some sort of production in 1979. Along with its trail-style sibling the Brigand, it was a pretty sound ‘sixteener moped’ that suffered from a poor choice of name, slightly odd styling and the generally lousy reputation of British made bikes among riders of the day (the enormous BSA company having expensively plummeted to earth like a flaming blimp just a few years before). But at a time when the opposition’s fifties were still housed in cheap steel pressings, the BSA had a quality tubular-steel Britishdesigned monoshock frame that probably deserved a faster engine than a restricted 50cc unit. That aside, most of the rest was Italian – Minarelli engine, Dell’orto carb, Paioli forks – so it has much in common with other continental mopeds. So my first port of call would be the National Auto Cycle and Cyclemotor Club (thebuzzingclub.net) who positively revel in all forms of low-powered modestlypriced ultra-lightweight two-wheelers.
Frankly, these guys aren’t playing the game at all; they buy cheap bikes nobody wants and then manage to have more fun per mile than the rest of us. They never seem worried about ‘investment values’, their club magazine is a great read and they get great fuel economy. It’s just not cricket... but well worth joining!