Author Topic: Does anyone remember the B.S.A Golden hillock rd  (Read 29314 times)

vauxonion

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1010
Re: Does anyone remember the B.S.A Golden hillock rd
« Reply #22 on: June 09, 2012, 07:46:20 PM »
The one thing I remember about the Aeiral was the noise they made you could hear them coming 3 streets away.dek

speedy

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 159
Re: Does anyone remember the B.S.A Golden hillock rd
« Reply #23 on: June 09, 2012, 08:25:33 PM »
B.S.A and Triumph were to close along with other companies that were owned by the B.S.A groupe but the Triumph workers decided to have a sit in and blockaded themselfs in using the bikes as barracades. So when the B.S.A closed the Triumph worker's stayed in the works under protest of the closure their familyn taking care of their food and drink, they were closed long enough to afford and negotiate a co operative that was viable for a couple of years or so. I think the outcome was as i have said but not absolutely sure.

winnymagHi winnymag thats just about right apart from the government gave the BSA £4 million to stay open but through the triunmph locking them selves in and keeping all the drawing and plans the £4 million was withdran and given to the triumph instead and thats what caused so much bad blood some thing like 3 million people whent up the road

winnymag

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 47
Re: Does anyone remember the B.S.A Golden hillock rd
« Reply #24 on: June 11, 2012, 01:00:47 PM »
Hi speedy, Thank's for that, the latter part you mention I had completly forgot, I was one of those 3,000,000 that went up the road how could I have forgotten that!
winnymag

speedy

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 159
Re: Does anyone remember the B.S.A Golden hillock rd
« Reply #25 on: June 11, 2012, 08:17:28 PM »
Hi speedy, Thank's for that, the latter part you mention I had completly forgot, I was one of those 3,000,000 that went up the road how could I have forgotten that!
winnymag
Hi winnymag as luck would have it i got to go to Montgamary st but i think there was only about a 100 i know there was not many as i was on the mantanence side and not the production side but most of the work was Massey furgasen tractor stuff not sure if i have spelled the name correct and then on they seem to change there name every three years by 1994 i had had enough and the company what was left went to selley oak or there about. speedy

speedy

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 159
Re: Does anyone remember the B.S.A Golden hillock rd
« Reply #26 on: June 11, 2012, 08:19:18 PM »
Hi speedy, Thank's for that, the latter part you mention I had completly forgot, I was one of those 3,000,000 that went up the road how could I have forgotten that!
winnymag
Hi again winnymag what section did you work in. speedy

winnymag

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 47
Re: Does anyone remember the B.S.A Golden hillock rd
« Reply #27 on: June 11, 2012, 10:12:44 PM »
Hi again winnymag what section did you work in. speedy
Hi speedy I worked in the finishing dep't Pete Moss was my forman and Bill Weatherhead was the superintendent, so after a tester had diagnosed an engine  fault it was down to me or a coleague to rectify the fault. So a lot of the time I could test the machine myself to check if it was OK before I handed back for retest.
winnymag

Steve

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13422
Re: Does anyone remember the B.S.A Golden hillock rd
« Reply #28 on: June 12, 2012, 02:10:03 PM »
I worked in the finishing shop 1970 until closure, I took part in the march too.
 The Ariel closed because the Military dropped a proposed contract for a 4 cylinder stationary engine. Prototype 4 in line engined Ariel Leader design bikes were spotted going thru Selly Oak, but no-one seems to know what happened to any of them. I don't know if they were 2 or 4 stroke machines or what cc they were but speculation was for 500cc. This info I think came from Motorcycle Mechanics Mag or Motorcycle Weekly paper.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

cocacolakid

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1322
Re: Does anyone remember the B.S.A Golden hillock rd
« Reply #29 on: June 12, 2012, 04:02:55 PM »

I worked in the finishing shop 1970 until closure, I took part in the march too.
 The Ariel closed because the Military dropped a proposed contract for a 4 cylinder stationary engine. Prototype 4 in line engined Ariel Leader design bikes were spotted going thru Selly Oak, but no-one seems to know what happened to any of them. I don't know if they were 2 or 4 stroke machines or what cc they were but speculation was for 500cc. This info I think came from Motorcycle Mechanics Mag or Motorcycle Weekly paper.

Steve..
 
I am intrigued about the in line 4, Ariel Leader that was supposed to have been about. I had a Leader and an arrow, they both had 250cc two stroke  twin engines. I can't imagine how they could have got an in line four engine in a leader. The engine was enclosed by side panels, no room for anything wider than the twin. I had motorcycle news every week, and there was no mention of this bike/engine, they were very good at keeping up with the latest things.
 
Steve I am not saying what you say is untrue, just trying to see the logic of it, based on what I know about the Ariel Leader etc.  Anyone have any more info ?
 
There was a famous sidecar racer by the name of Bill Bodice, he lived next to the canal, just down the road from Selly Oak Bus Garage, He, with the help of Ariel, coupled two of the arrow/leader engines together, one in the bike frame and one alongside in the sidecar, due to the width. This made a 4 cylinder 500cc engine.   If I remember right, this was done when Ariel was independant from the BSA Group.
 
                                                                                                                               Malc.
 
 
 
 
Every day is a gift, that's why they call it the present.

Steve

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13422
Re: Does anyone remember the B.S.A Golden hillock rd
« Reply #30 on: June 12, 2012, 04:12:49 PM »
Malc, I can only surmise that they would have designed a modification on the leader frame, I don't think it would have needed to be that much longer.
There have been several makers of 4 in lines.
  I'd totall y forgotten about the transverse  job by Bill Boddice. Ta for reminder.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

cocacolakid

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1322
Re: Does anyone remember the B.S.A Golden hillock rd
« Reply #31 on: June 12, 2012, 07:28:48 PM »
Ariel Leader 4 ManufacturerArielYear1960Engine Size700ccAbout the Ariel Leader 4   This fascinating 700cc prototype, tested at Ariel circa 1960, shows that BMW’s four-cylinder K100 was not exactly original when unveiled in 1983.
   The prophetic Ariel looks similar to the company’s innovative 250cc Leader two-stroke launched in 1958, with a pressed-steel frame, leg shields and windscreen. But the power unit is unlike anything else from a British factory. The crankshaft is set in-line with the frame and slightly offset to the right, with four horizontal cylinders on the left. Final drive is by shaft, via a four-speed gearbox is built in unit with the engine. Cooling of the exhaust port area is fan-assisted and oil is carried in a wet sump.
   Found to be comfortable, tractable and extremely quiet, the luxury electric-start Leader 4 was not fast. In prototype form, the single carburettor engine designed by industry veteran Val Page produced no more than 25bhp. Ariel engineers believed their design had potential, but the parent BSA Group saw no future for it in the age of the BMC Mini car and cancelled the project.
 
Steve..
                Cracked it,  well you live and learn. Never came across this one before, however it is not an in line across the frame, as was the norm, like Honda, MV Agusta, Gilera etc. the engine runs along the frame, like car engine. Even then, you will notice on the picture of the bike, that the side panels are not there. This engine was 700cc  God knows how they stopped the bike, if they used the standard "leader" drum brakes (no Discs on  bikes then)  Very interesting, Steve, Glad you bought it up. Guess we had better get back on the original thread, about the BSA.
                                                                                                                                                                            Malc.
                               
Every day is a gift, that's why they call it the present.

Steve

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13422
Re: Does anyone remember the B.S.A Golden hillock rd
« Reply #32 on: June 12, 2012, 07:41:58 PM »
Cheers, Malc when I said "in line" that's how I meant it to be. Across fram I'd say Transverse. However when I read the article it was in the 70's, and I think it was a revival of the idea with the army providing the tooling etc. When the engine was turned down that was that.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.


 

Terms of Use     Privacy Policy