Top left : A7 engine detail right Bottom left : A7 engine detail left Right : BSA badge
BSA had a parallel twin ready in 1939 , but the war interrupted production until the hostilities were over . Steve Wilson said in his book ‘ British motorcycles since 1950 volume-2 ’ “ For me the BSA A7 and A10 parallel twins are the definitive British motorcycles of this period , and possibly of all time ”. That is a lofty claim , but he is a man whose experience and reputation suggest he should know what he is talking about . Val Page was working on what was to become the A7 in the BSA design office in 1938 , the same year Turner launched the revered Triumph Speed Twin . Page had previously worked for Triumph , and
was responsible for an overhead-valve Triumph parallel twin as far back as 1933 . When hostilities ended the 500cc BSA A7 was ready for production . The first bike off the production line was sent to the Paris motorcycle show in 1946 . The model was well received and so began a model run that would last until 1961 . It came with telescopic forks and rigid frame . It weighed 166kg , produced 26bhp , with a top speed of 137kph . Then came the A10 . A 646cc OHV vertical twin called the Golden Flash . It shared many of its parts with the A7 , and even bore some resemblance . This , however , was a bigger
82 KIWI RIDER