The A7 is a 500cc bike from Birmingham Small Arms Company producing around 26bhp from its twin cylinder engine going on to a top speed of a conservative 85 mph. This bike was purchased by the current owner to take over to the Isle of Mann to visit family and enjoy some of the roads used in the famous TT race. The current owner has had the bike for a few months before losing their storage space for the bike, with another bike that needs some time, love and finance on the owner’s To Do list, the decision has been taken to put the BSA back up for sale.

Included with the history of the bike, there is a huge ring binder folder full of technical drawings with part numbers and descriptions followed by a stack of invoices from reputable classic motorcycle parts specialists such as ‘Dragonfly Motorcycles’ where most of the parts came from. There are a stack of MOT certificates and some more technical drawings from parts catalogues in between various invoices from the restoration process, the condition of the bike can be seen from the ‘before’ photos included with the history file.

The exterior of the bike is fantastic with the frame being coated in a thick black frame paint with no obvious or large chips, flakes or other issues from what we could see other than a very minor section near the kickstand. The engine is in great visual health with no obvious signs of fluid leaks, or damage, the owner also reports the engine to be in good health mechanically but we’ll go into more detail in the section below. The wheels look to be in good condition also with a small amount of surface corrosion starting to come through on the rims, which we’re sure an afternoon of metal polishing and sealing would improve. 

The seat fabric is in good condition with just a small rip in the front just behind the fuel tank as shown in the photos. The handlebars look great and are nicely finished in the chrome with an easy twist and go, set back from the headlight mileage display with an amp gauge offset to the left. There is a small dent on the left side of the fuel tank just behind the BSA badge, a few minor scratches in the paint here and there which have been photographed, and the small wear in the front of the seat fabric. These are all minor and really don’t take away from the overall exterior of the bike, please do look at the photo gallery however as all these things have been documented.

The owner reports the bike to be in superb mechanical condition with the engine and gearbox having been restored by the previous owner, it’s reported to start with no issues or hesitation and drive in a very civilised manor. If the exterior condition of the engine is considered, then there is no reason to believe the owner’s reports to be untrue. As the bike has had a restoration from the previous owner the other drive line component are also believed to be in good working condition including the brakes which are drums front and back, the chain drive looks to be in good order too, of which the links also look to be good.

The BSA is a great looking bike with the reported reliability and mechanical condition to go along with it. The red, chrome and black is a fantastic colour scheme and really suits the bike, giving it a classic ‘retro mod’ look. Having benefitted from that recent restoration from the previous owner it should be good for many years of enjoyable motoring.