So, now that the BSA Golden Flash is up and running, what’s it like? Blimmin fantastic, I love everything about it, the way it looks, to me there’s nothing prettier than the look of a rigid or plunger frame with a solo saddle – the chrome tank with painted panels also adds bonus points for me, love that.
Also love the way it sounds, my bike has some ‘Campbell’ silencers that Graham, previous owner and restorer, brought on a trip to the UK, which enables it to make wonderous noises on idle and cruising. Sitting on it is very comfortable, I feel like I’m putting on some old worn slippers or a large warm overcoat, it just fits real nice. On the road it rides excellently, the plunger suspension was refurbished as part of the restore so it handles great, within the limitations of the plunger frame of course.
The bike does not accelerate quickly but as I’ve read many times before, around 50 – 60 mph it just lopes along without any stress and there is NO OIL LEAKS – I kid you not, I’m gob smacked! The front brake is by far the most effective I’ve ever experienced on a British bike, better than the rear brake which is the opposite to what I’m used to. All these things add up to what a fantastic job Graham did in restoring this bike, his son told me he owned it for more than 25 years before it’s significant rest. The Haynes manual which came with it bears this out, his name is written inside the front cover with the date ‘1979’. He also made the toolbox himself and it’s a very authentic re-creation of the original. I can’t help but draw comparisons to my own dad, whose been gone a good few years now, but he was also a man who was fantastic with the spanners, fixed anything and everything and loved old British bikes.
So, now the bike was going, what was I going to do with it? I’d joined the BSA Owners Club (NZ) as soon as I bought the bike and they’d informed me there was a Sunday gathering at a café not far from where I live. I trundled along not sure what to expect but I found around 25 bikes in the car park, mostly BSA’s but also Triumphs, Matchless and a few moderns. Everybody was very friendly, and I had a great time, they were suitably impressed with my bike, someone even described it as ‘gorgeous’.
Next thing to do was to get a WOF (road worthiness test), I had to fiddle with the tail lamp to get it working but once that was sorted, I booked a test for the next Monday. Testing it again on the Sunday found the tail lamp had stopped working, yep, Lucas, ‘Prince of darkness’ strikes again. I couldn’t seem to get this sorted no matter what I tried, different bulbs, changing the wiring, cleaning contacts, etc., so in the end dropped it into an auto-electrical shop. They told me they’d put a new bulb in and it worked, grrr, how annoying, particularly as I’d tried a couple of different bulbs myself. When I went to pick it up the lens was missing, apparently, it’d arrived without one, so it had fallen out on the way. I found a reflector which was nearly the same size, filed and sanded it to fit and superglued it into place – bodge alert!
Very soon after I took the bike to my local motorcycle garage for a WOF, when I pulled in there was already a 1953 Norton ES2 also awaiting a WOF, yep, my kind of place.
With a new WOF and registration I was ready for a proper outing, thankfully the next weekend there was a run by the BSA owners club to a remote café an hour north of where I live – Port Albert. I organized to meet them there and set off early, I thought if I have any issues, it would be great to have 20 BSA experts following along behind me! However, the bike ran great, the only issues were the weather – rain was coming and going – and the road, this part of my local highway is not maintained particularly well and some of the bumps and holes in the road were shocking.
My next ride was a fundraiser for the local volunteer fire brigades, it involves visiting all 5 which is quite some distance, over 200 km, and I wondered how the bike would go. I needn’t have worried, it went fine and I picked up the prize for the oldest bike, it was a bit tricky riding home with a full spanner set and cans of cleaner stuffed down my jacket but I was rapt!
It was on the longest leg of this ride that my ‘Graham’s Bike’ magnetic signs decided to depart from the mudguards, perhaps the magnetic force just wasn’t strong enough or Graham had decided he didn’t want to be associated with the clown now riding his bike and decided to disassociate himself!
The next BSA owners club ride was around some back roads to a local beachside café with a meeting point about 30 minutes from home. Setting off, I stopped at the local garage for some fuel, pulled in and tried to engage neutral, hang-on, where’s the gear lever gone! Luckily another customer in the garage came over and told me he’d seen it depart my bike as I rode in and handed it to me – this was a great place for this to happen and I even had a witness, either I’m very lucky or perhaps Graham was looking out for me?
So, is it the ideal classic motorcycle? From what I’ve experienced I would have to say yes, it’s the best bike I’ve owned and ridden. The A10’s 650cc engine has a reputation for being incredibly robust and reliable and it seems so relaxed at highway speeds, coupled with minimal vibrations and a good riding experience it’s hard to beat.
Journey's with British Motorcycles 