Joy of advertising - Euro girlys!

[Big Dave]

Whats the meaning of life oh mighty one? I can handle it!

........42.

[Lou Girardin]

I'm pleased to see someone else soaking up the vitriol for a while.
Motu you're a


Just remembered; pt pt pt

[Motu]

I'm pleased to see someone else soaking up the vitriol for a while.
Motu you're a


Just remembered; pt pt pt

I am here to serve...

[Motu]

I even know what the 'Gold Star' was awarded for.

Was it for a speling test?

[Lou Girardin]

I even know what the 'Gold Star' was awarded for.

Getting out of the factory under it's own power?

[Big Dave]

The Gold Star - as in 'BSA Gold Star' was an award for:
'A lap with an average speed of 100mph at the banked timber track at Brooklands UK'.

[Big Dave]

Are Triumph trying to copy the old Norton adds? They were class....

I'd not looked at it from that angle before - perhaps they are.

This campaign starts with the series of girls being hacked off about the partner's love of Triumphs.

Part 2 has them both going for incredibly long rides for a quick lunch or he pisses off altogether and she's still not happy.

Part 3 has the bike parked outside the divorce lawyers office and copy with her saying 'He said I could have the house, the cats, everything. He only wanted one thing....His thruxton'

So more to it than the BSA/Norton sexy girl thing - there is a story as well.
The co-pilot doesn't like the campaign - She just says why doesn't the bimbo just go too?' - But she's as hard core motorcyclist as I am.

It won 'Brand of the Year' in the UK and sales are very strong on most models.
They also should talk a good deal on a t100 or Thruxton at the moment.

And that T100 is such a thang of beauty. You reckon I haven't got a soft spot for one of them black and white and gold honeys:
Me at 21:
(no comments about the Duran Duran hair OK)

[Motu]

When my brother painted the tank on his 69 Lightning he had the big gold stars on the tank real gold plated then laquered - it only cost $6 each back then.The 68 to 70 BSAs were gorgeous,all red and chrome and sculptured lines,the 71 grey frame jobs were ghastly,although the last Rocket was a thing of beauty.

[pete376403]

The older ones weren't that shabby,either. A guy I knew had a Spitfire with a factory race motor with a funny engine number - ZB31-xxx. An old B31 was taken over to England, the Spit motor fitted and as it was never intended for the road, it had no number. The B31 motor was applied and it came back with customs being none the wiser. After it was put into a Lightning frame 'twas a very nice jigger indeed. Difficult to ride around town, though. Amal GPs were never intended for that sort of thing.
Anyway, while looking for the Rocket III ad, found this.

[idb]

Italian girls are yummy no?

[Ixion]

The older ones weren't that shabby,either. A guy I knew had a Spitfire with a factory race motor with a funny engine number - ZB31-xxx. An old B31 was taken over to England, the Spit motor fitted and as it was never intended for the road, it had no number. The B31 motor was applied and it came back with customs being none the wiser. After it was put into a Lightning frame 'twas a very nice jigger indeed. Difficult to ride around town, though. Amal GPs were never intended for that sort of thing.
Anyway, while looking for the Rocket III ad, found this.

That's a Thunderbolt. Twas the bike I coveted above all else.Except maybe a Thruxton (the real one) Ended up with the Royal Star, the A50, which was nice , but I wanted the A65.

[Motu]

I feel your pain Ixion,exactly like my XT400 - visualy identical to the XT600,but it's not the real thing! I thought the unit BSA was a great motor,all the blunders of the A10 fixed....unit construction (again),triplex primary,Triumph clutch,cassete gearbox with reversable and interchangable sliding dogs,no rocker box and easily assemble cyl head,the A10 was a nightmare of Hollywood proportion - but....but...they didn't put a ball bearing on the timing side! Just the stupid bronze bush,a total waste of a redesign.

[Ixion]

I feel your pain Ixion,exactly like my XT400 - visualy identical to the XT600,but it's not the real thing! I thought the unit BSA was a great motor,all the blunders of the A10 fixed....unit construction (again),triplex primary,Triumph clutch,cassete gearbox with reversable and interchangable sliding dogs,no rocker box and easily assemble cyl head,the A10 was a nightmare of Hollywood proportion - but....but...they didn't put a ball bearing on the timing side! Just the stupid bronze bush,a total waste of a redesign.

Yeah, and only that stupid little bush in the cover to get the oil into the crank for the bigends. I could not understand, if they wanted plain mains (which could be a valid design decision) why they didn't go the well proven car route and use shell bearings. The triplex chain was lovely though after breaking so many pre unit Triumph ones.

[pete376403]

Thunderbolt was the single carb (concentric) version, Lightening was the twin carb (still concentrics), Spitfire was a limited production factory hot rod, with (among other things) twin Amal GPs. (amal = metered leak). All based on the A65 motor. The A50 was the 500 version, but AFAIK there wasn't a 500 Spitfire.
http://www.classicbikeguide.com/arch.../junea2003.htm

Also that triplex primary chain may not have been such a good idea - strong as hell it might have been, but also incredibly rigid in terms of sideways motion, so when the crankshaft flexed (as they did on account of the shitty main bearings) the chain didn't and the crank would break. Apparently this was a big problem in the early Trident/Rocket III motors.

And if its oddball mixtures of crank shaft bearings, how about the Matchless G50 - ball bearing outer mains, a centre plain main and plain rod bearings.

[Ixion]

Thunderbolt was the single carb (concentric) version, Lightening was the twin carb (still concentrics), Spitfire was a limited production factory hot rod, with (among other things) twin Amal GPs. (amal = metered leak). All based on the A65 motor. The A50 was the 500 version, but AFAIK there wasn't a 500 Spitfire.
http://www.classicbikeguide.com/arch.../junea2003.htm

Also that triplex primary chain may not have been such a good idea - strong as hell it might have been, but also incredibly rigid in terms of sideways motion, so when the crankshaft flexed (as they did on account of the shitty main bearings) the chain didn't and the crank would break. Apparently this was a big problem in the early Trident/Rocket III motors.

And if its oddball mixtures of crank shaft bearings, how about the Matchless G50 - ball bearing outer mains, a centre plain main and plain rod bearings.

No, never a Spitfire version of the A50. There was a "Lightning" equivalent of the A50, the Cyclone (twin carbs) but I've never seen one. There was also an A65 Rocket between the Lightning and the Spitfire. And some USA models like the Firebird scrambler.

The Spitfire was a total pig for ordinary riding - those GP carbs, and the high compression. And not fast enough on the track to hold off the Nortons and Triumphs.

Matchless and BSA both smashed bottom ends because of those silly bearings. Plain and roller mixed is fine when new. But once the roller wears the plain bearing ends up trying to hold the crank in position all on its own, which it can't do. Either the crank breaks , cos it's only supported at one end effectively, or the plain bearing shits itself, and you lose oil supply to the big ends, and usually break a conrod. Stupid stupid stupid idea.