BSA Twins And Triples - The Postwar A7-A10 A50-65 And Rocket III

If Britain had a national pastime in the years after the Second World War, it wasn’t just drinking tea or discussing the weather—it was building motorcycles with names that sounded as though they should be leading RAF squadrons into battle. Golden Flash. Super Rocket. Rocket Gold Star. Rocket III. BSA clearly understood that if you were going to sell a motorcycle, you might as well give it a name that suggested it could outrun both common sense and the speed of sound.

BSA Twins and Triples – The Postwar A7-A10, A50-65 and Rocket III by the ever-reliable Roy Bacon is an affectionate and thoroughly researched guide to some of Britain’s most iconic post-war motorcycles. Published by Niton Publishing in 1995, this well-illustrated hardback traces the development of BSA’s parallel twins and later triples, charting the evolution of machines that helped put Britain on two wheels during an era when motorcycles were everyday transport, weekend entertainment and, occasionally, an effective method of scattering bolts across the county.

Roy Bacon was one of the great chroniclers of British motorcycling, possessing that rare ability to combine meticulous research with an obvious enthusiasm for the subject. Rather than drowning readers in technical jargon, he explains the story of each model with warmth and clarity, covering production changes, engineering developments, model variations and the inevitable triumphs and occasional headaches that accompanied life with a classic BSA.

The A7 and A10 twins embodied everything enthusiasts loved about British motorcycles. They were handsome, charismatic and capable of covering serious distances with a satisfying exhaust note that modern motorcycles, despite all their electronic wizardry, still struggle to imitate. They also possessed enough mechanical individuality to ensure that every owner became at least moderately proficient with a spanner, whether they had originally intended to or not.

The later A50 and A65 series carried the BSA story into the swinging sixties, becoming faster, sharper and more sporting while retaining that unmistakable Birmingham character. Then came the mighty Rocket III—a machine that seemed to answer the question, "What if we simply added another cylinder?" The result was one of Britain’s most charismatic superbikes, arriving just as the Japanese manufacturers were preparing to change the rules of the game forever. Timing, as history occasionally reminds us, can be delightfully cruel.

One of the joys of this book is that it celebrates the motorcycles honestly. These machines were brilliant, but they were never flawless. Oil had an uncanny ability to migrate to places where oil had no obvious business being. Electrical systems occasionally displayed an imaginative interpretation of reliability. Owners learned that carrying basic tools wasn’t a sign of pessimism; it was simply sensible planning. Yet none of this diminished their appeal. If anything, it strengthened the bond between rider and machine. You didn’t merely own a BSA—you entered into a long-term relationship involving equal parts admiration, patience and gasket sealant.

Our copy is in Good condition, which somehow feels exactly right for a book about classic British motorcycles. It has clearly been appreciated, perhaps consulted beside a half-dismantled engine or enjoyed during winter evenings spent dreaming of summer rides. It remains a solid, clean copy with plenty of life left, ready to accompany its next enthusiast through the wonderfully oily world of post-war BSA engineering.

Like every carefully rescued title sold by Crappy Old Books, this isn’t simply another second-hand motoring book. It’s another veteran machine in literary form, already rich with history and patiently waiting for a new custodian. Somewhere, a previous owner has undoubtedly nodded knowingly at Bacon’s descriptions, reminisced about a long-sold Golden Flash or Rocket III, and quietly smiled at memories involving kick-starts, country lanes and the unmistakable aroma of warm Castrol.

Because BSA Twins and Triples isn’t simply a catalogue of motorcycles—it is a celebration of an era when Britain built bikes with personality in abundance. They may have occasionally leaked a little oil, vibrated enthusiastically and demanded the odd afternoon of mechanical persuasion, but they rewarded their owners with character in spades. Much like the finest discoveries at Crappy Old Books, they prove that perfection is all very well, but charm is infinitely more memorable.

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