1964 BSA Lightning Rocket

In England, Sport by Tom WackerLeave a Comment

In the mid 1960s BSA (Birmingham Small Arms) did not want to dominate the world. They did, however, want to dominate the US Market so brought the Lightning Rocket to our fair shores. The Lightning Rocket was essentially the same as the domestic Lightning, but was tuned to be faster and quicker.

bsa-lightning-sidecover

The 1964 BSA Lightning Rocket featured a 654 CC Overhead Valve parallel twin air cooled four stroke motor that made 48 HP. Pushed through a 4 speed transmission it would produce a top speed of 115 MPH. Suspension was considered good at the time, but the drum brakes were ‘fair’ at best.

bsa-lightning-gauges

This particular Rocket (VIN# A50B292, motor # A65D 1250) lives in Dallas, Texas and is listed as an 8,639 mile original that has recently had a fairly complete going through at a local dealer. The bike is for sale with one bid of $4,000 and the reserve is not met

The title lists it as a ‘65 but I suspect that is more a factor of model year discrepancy than any indication of fraud.