The most famous motorcycle ever made? Certainly in Britain the BSA Bantam has a substantial claim to that title. It’s not possessed of the glamour of its Gold Star stablemate or the Triumph Bonneville, but the little BSA was known intimately and ridden extensively by a whole lot more riders than those two put together.
The story for this most British of legends all began in Germany. In the aftermath of World War Two, the Allies plundered the broken Fatherland for repatriations and one of the spoils was the DKW factory’s neatly styled and soundly designed RT125 model.
Manufacturers around the world (including Harley-Davidson and later Yamaha) produced versions of the German engine, but in Britain, BSA’s Bantam, launched in 1948, became the best-selling variant. By 1953, 100,000 had been sold.
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The original engine for the 123cc D1 (the first of the line) was a mirror image of the German design, fitted into basic but strong cycle parts. The first rigid-framed offerings, with simple telescopic front forks and painted wheels, offered cheap, dependable and modern-looking ride-to-work machines for a country desperately trying to recover from the war.
BSA even sold a Competition version of that early D1 Bantam fitted with trials tyres, high clearance front mudguard and upswept exhaust – it would start the off-road career of many an aspiring mud-plugger.
The base-model D1 Bantam acquired chrome wheel rims in 1954 and options such as plunger rear suspension and even a dual seat and pillion footrests as time went by. The low seat height and modest weight made them easy to handle, while the fact they weren’t all black seemed to encourage potential new riders too. Maintenance was basic and clearly explained, and as rider training schemes adopted them a D1 Bantam was the first powered two-wheeler for many a rider.
Though the D1 was the mainstay of the range for many years, BSA continued to develop the basic model with 1954’s 150cc D3 Major being the first update. The engine capacity hike was achieved by a hike in the cylinder bore size, from the D1’s 52mm to 57mm, while retaining the same stroke (58mm) as the smaller offering. This extra 25cc pushed power up from 4.5bhp to 5.3bhp which, in reality, equated to a 45mph. For the new model the forks were beefed up while all three versions of the newcomer (direct lighting, battery lighting and Competition) featured the sprung frame and were finished in a pastel grey coating, relieved by cream tank panels.
The new model made its public debut alongside the 100,000th D1 Bantam off the production line, both at the centre of BSA’s stand at Earls Court in late 1953. The D3 continued to develop, gaining a modern swinging arm frame in 1956, while there were new colours with maroon among them.
Of course, no Bantam story is complete without mention of the GPO (General Post Office) Bantams, with over 6500 supplied for use by the service’s telegram boys, the first batch of which were supplied in the last month of 1948. Interestingly, these initial machines were painted the standard mist green, although soon the familiar all-over red finish became standard issue. During the 1960s when private telephone ownership became ever more common, so the necessity for telegrams lessened, meaning that fewer and fewer Bantams were used. The vast majority of those supplied had been D1s, in both rigid and plunger form, though at the death in 1971 the last few were B175s.
The first of those several 175cc models came late in 1957 in the shape of the ‘brief’ D5, while in February 1957, the 150,000th Bantam was produced. But the new D5 offered a more modern motorcycle all round, with its smaller 18-inch wheels and a bulkier petrol tank, that, in partnership with the D3’s swinging arm frame made it look really quite current.
That modern look was further enhanced with 1959’s D7; this truly was a version of the ‘bigger bikes’ in BSA’s range, in particular the newly-introduced unit construction 250cc C15. Indeed, the D7 actually featured a shorter version of the C15’s forks, as well as toolboxes/side panels, seat and headlamp nacelle, all à la the bigger models. The frame was all-new as well and, overall, the Bantam had become a much more modern machine.
Despite all the incarnations and modifications, the basic D1 soldiered on to help the Bantam become BSA’s best-selling motorcycle. After a 15-year run, it was finally dropped from the catalogue in 1963.
In 1964, the basic D7 was joined by a De Luxe model. Though there was little sign of that fourth cog in the gearbox, all agreed was what the baby BSA most urgently needed. Styling touches were added, different versions of the basic D7 came about and the D7
struggled on, and it wasn’t until late 1966 when a four-speeder finally, finally made its bow in the racy-looking (humped back seat, flyscreen, upswept pipe, chequered tape on tank) D10S, although the other ‘new’ D10s (such as the Super and the no-frills economy Silver) variants still had the old three-speed gearbox. The Bushman was launched, benefiting from a four-speed gearbox; arguably the first ‘trailie’ motorcycle, the majority of the 3500 made went abroad. But it, and the Sports version, proved that there was perhaps a little life left in the old bird yet.
Soon, the D10 ceded to the D14/4, the four signalling that all models now had the four-speed gearbox. But by now it was 1968 and the change had come five (or probably ten years) too late… Power was up, too, and the Bantam could now – hills and headwinds excepted – cruise at 60mph or thereabouts.
There were Bushman and Sports version of the D14, while there was one last incarnation of the Bantam to come – the April 1969-announced B175. Triumph Cub forks were fitted, but otherwise it was fairly like what had gone before. That was not necessarily a bad thing; in fact, it was widely reckoned to be one of, if not the, best of the Bantams. So at least BSA had learned something, with the last being the best, though by 1970 even the best Bantam couldn’t really keep with what else was on offer, mainly those machines from the Orient. By March 1971 the Bantam was discontinued. Over 400,000 had been made and, for the most part, it had been a long proud if perhaps occasionally stubborn innings.
Original article appeared in Old Bike Mart. To subscribe, click here: https://www.classicmagazines.co.uk/old-bike-mart
