The legendary BSA brand is coming back. Long stuck as “that name brand on motorcycle T-shirts at Mark’s Work Wearhouse,” the defunct marque is now officially confirmed as re-launching this fall.
Indian manufacturing giant Mahindra bought the rights to manufacture BSA motorcycles a few years back (a tricky process, too, as word on the street was, it was going to take some work to make sure nobody was infringing on its copyrights).
The BSA brand vanished from western markets in the early 1970s, and was sold by the Norton Villiers Triumph conglomerate in 1978 to BSA Company Limited. This outfit sold BSA-branded machines in developing markets for decades, and was acquired by Mahindra in 2016. Since then, everyone has assumed it was only a matter of time until Mahindra brought the brand back; turns out, the plan is to officially re-introduce BSA this fall, at the UK’s Motorcycle Live show. The bikes will bear a classic BSA badge, but they’ll have modern tech like EFI, and they’ll be made in India.
Mahindra has already laid the groundwork, by establishing an R&D centre in the UK, similar to what Royal Enfield did a few years back. With that in mind, what we’re likely to see at Motorcycle Live is a new model launch as well, not just a new brand. Expect a retro-styled machine, probably in the 350 range.
My 69 BSA Firebird was one I regretted selling almost immediately in 75. Maybe another Beeza in my future..
My first motorcycle was a BSA 441 Victor, a real thumper that always ran and never let me down.
When I look back now I can’t believe how light that bike was.
It doesn’t matter where the BSA brand name is made it will always be as British as fish and chips
This warms my heart. I have a photo of me and my dad astride his BSA Victor that was taken somewhere around 1966 or ’67.