Now in its 43rd year, this year’s Galway Classic Motorcycle Rally celebrates the Birmingham Small Arms Trade Association (BSA ) brand bikes; The Gold Star and the Bantam, at the three day event that begins Friday, April 28.
To fans of BBC drama series, Peaky Blinders, the BSA company and its first factory which was located in Small Heath, will seem familiar, with the show’s main characters having interacted with the factory frequently on the big screen, but as well as the associations with a fictional English crime family, the BSA have a rich history when it comes to motorcycles.
The BSA was founded in 1861, beginning down the bike route with bicycles in 1880 but it wasn’t until 1903 that they started making motorcycles powered by proprietary brands. The first ‘real BSA’ motorcycle appeared in 1909. With tensions rising in Europe and the world about to be swept up in war, the BSA began to temporarily concentrate on the manufacture of military supplies. Once the ceasefire was issued, the BSA once again turned its focus back to motorbikes, bringing in several successes in motorcycle sport including a monumentous win in 1937 with Wal Handley, which resulted in the creation of The Gold Star.
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