Bike fans take ride down memory lane

He had to wait half a century before realising the dreams of his youth, but after snapping up an A65 Lightning he has never looked back.

The 71-year-old from Lichfield describes himself as a "born again BSA fanatic", deciding to buy the bike just five years ago. And he has found some like-minded friends among fellow members of the North Walsall BSA Club.

Sitting in the lounge at The Railway Inn, in Pelsall, he is surrounded by jovial fellow aficionados from across the Black Country, who share an infatuation with the iconic motorcycles produced at BSA (Birmingham Small Arms) during its existence in Small Heath, Birmingham, from 1880 until 1972. They meet on the third Wednesday of each month.

"My dad wouldn't let me have one at the time, he thought they were too dangerous," says Mr Fox. "I went almost 50 years without one, but then decided to get back into it."

Leaving the company at the age of 28, Mr Fox's subsequent career working for a series of fabled names within the local motor industry is poignantly symbolic, featuring lengthy stints at now-defunct firms including Rubery Owen, Standard Triumph and Austin Rover.

Lindsay Hunt, aged 55, is from Bunkers Hill Lane, in Bilston, and has a similarly nostalgic perspective of BSA, which employed almost 20,000 people at its peak during the Second World War.

As a teenager, Lindsay worked at a bike shop in Wolverhampton which is when his adoration of BSA bikes began.

"I remember we sold the 1969 Rocket 3 and I said to myself 'I'll have one of those one day'," he says. "It only took about 40 years. I've had other ones too, but that was like the flagship bike of BSA."

As general two-wheeler enthusiasts, many of the members quietly admit to quite liking some of the complex and hi-tech bikes from the Far East, but it is the contrasting simplicity of the BSAs that seems to induce so much of their passion.

Dave Sambrook, aged 59, a self-employed mechanic, from Hill View, Aldridge, says: "Most BSAs have been chopped up and butchered, which is only possible because the mechanics of them are so straightforward. I have had BSAs for more than 40 years now and they have never let me down."

Among a number of grandfathers in the group, Dave says he has established a effective way of balancing his obsession with family life. "I don't ask her how many pairs of shoes she's got and she doesn't ask me how many bikes I've got, and that works pretty well," he says.

Eddie Duffield, aged 54, works for Walsall Council and lives in Jenner Road, Beechdale, He has bought his 1969 BSA Lightning to the monthly meeting. "It's the sound of them I like," he says. "I've always loved them and had the 250cc ones when I was around 18 to 20. The wife thinks its just a bit of junk."

Don Higham, another grandfather, aged 69, from Weston Crescent, in Aldridge, is one of the founder members of the group.

As a retired mechanic, he, along with Lindsay, spends much of his spare time assisting fellow members with the restoration of their BSA models. A brief conversation also reveals his near-encyclopedic knowledge of British motorbikes.

He has bought his 1929 BSA S29, a model that was used by the British Home Guard during the Second World War, but which is without a couple of 'accessories' whose absence might provoke panic among many modern bikers.

"I've had to use these push-bike lights," he says, as he produces the articles from his bag.

"They did make lights for them at the time, but they were £6 then, which was two weeks' wages for most people. It hasn't got a speedometer and it's quite quick when you get going, so you have to be careful.

"I think a lot of us are old enough to remember the BSAs of the 1950s. The thing is, so many of them are still on the roads still now. They are so reliable and it's not unusual for them to do 100,000 miles or so. They just go on and on."