c1953 BSA B31 350cc Motorcycle

Description

One of the great marques, BSA actually began as a gun trades union in 1854, when 14 Birmingham gunsmiths grouped to sell arms for the Crimean War effort. In 1861 they decided to form a public company, signed the papers in 1862, and found a site on Small Heath for their factory, opening in 1863.BSA started building bicycles in the 1880s and bicycle components, and followed with motorized bicycles in 1903. In 1907, BSA acquired parts maker Eadie Manufacturing (created by Albert Eadie, general manager of Royal Enfield). They introduced their first 'own' motorcycle in 1910, which ran a 499cc side-valve motor, with Models H and Model K being their staple pre-war 'singles'. Production ceased during WW1 while they pursued their traditional manufacturing, making guns, but returned quickly after the war, making their first V-twins in 1919. In the early 1920s, they acquired an engineer and designer from Daimler called Harold Briggs who designed new sporting machines for them, including their popular 493cc ohv Sloper of 1928. In the 1930s, the company boasted that one in four motorcycles on the roads in the UK was a BSA.Post-WW2, BSA acquired Triumph motorcycles in 1951 and demand was still sufficient for BSA to create a stand-alone entity for its motorbike production, by creating BSA Motorcycles in 1953. The B31 was introduced as the only new model to be added to BSA's pre-war range. It ran an OHV 'Single' cylinder motor and had telescopic forks. In 1949 an update arrived, giving the option of a sprung 'plunger' frame.As the sixties arrived and Japanese bikes became more mainstream, BSA, at one stage the largest 'bike producer in the world, had its dominance slowly eroded as it failed to keep up with the progress of its competitors. By 1972, BSA had ceased production and by 1973 the government had to step in to hand over BSA's remaining assets to a company called Manganese Bronze Holdings.