The GasBox is a vintage moto shop in Ohio run by Jesse Bassett, who won a previous Ultimate Builder AMD Championship Series satellite competition in the freestyle class with the BSA custom.
1954 Ariel Square Four MKII Custom
You don’t normally think of an Ariel Square Four as the platform for a British custom, but this bike was given a 2.5 year long frame off restoration and turned into a ‘cafe racer’ in the process. I’m not entirely thrilled with the results – but what do you think?
1960 BSA Golden Flash
Despite the name, the Golden Flash (named for the “Polychromatic Golden Beige” scheme) was only available in black for home-market British customers. Thankfully, this export model has no such problem.
In Belgium – 1970 Velocette LE Police
Post-Sale Update: This Police Velo sold for $4,026 after 22 bids on eBay. The Velocette was a commercial flop but it did have some success with British police officers – leading to the nickname of “Noddy bike”. Here’s an example that served with the London Metropolitan police force before it was acquired by a Dutch rider in 2010.
1942 Excelsior Villiers Welbike
Post-Listing Update: This Welbike got no action at the opening bid of $11,000. At the request of the British government, Excelsior developed the Welbike, a tiny single seater that was designed to be dropped into combat situations via parachute-equipped containers, then unpacked and moving on the road within 11 seconds.
BSA Style From Japan – 1966 Kawasaki W1
In 1960 Kawasaki Aircraft acquired part of the largest motorcycle manufacturer in Japan, Meguro. Meguro had a license to produce the BSA A7 and Kawasaki’s money allowed them to introduce it to the world. In 1963 Kawasaki completed the takeover of Meguro and by 1966 had brought out the W1.
1967 BSA Hornet
Built from 1964 through 1967 the Hornet was marketed as ready to ride in the dirt. It came in 2 variants, the ‘East Coast Model’ with high pipes and the ‘West Coast Model’ with low mounted pipes.
Clean Commando – 1974 Norton Commando 850
Thanks to a recent repaint, this 850 Commando looks beautiful, and it’s claimed to run like new. Here’s your chance to re-enact that Peter Egan article from a couple of weeks ago…
441cc Single – 1968 BSA Shooting Star
In 1964 and ‘65 Jeff Smith rode a BSA Victor Scrambler to the 500cc Motocross World Championship. To capitalize on that success BSA launched 2 models for 1966 based on the bike – the Victor Grand Prix and the Victor Enduro. They followed in 1967 with a road model based on the bike called the Victor Roadster. By 1968 when …
English Beauty – 1966 Norton Atlas
Every rider of a certain age remembers the noise from the Norton single. That was a distinctive wail that you never, ever forget. The king of the road for Norton in 1966 was the Atlas. A 750 (745cc) parallel twin this bike was a very large specimen from an English manufacturer in ‘66. Good suspension and an extraordinary frame made …
Guess That Bike Revealed – 1988 Norton Classic Rotary
Congratulations to Laurence Wynn, who was the first to identify yesterday’s “Guess That Bike”: a Norton Classic. It was a rare bike – Norton’s first rotary-powered bike made available to the public (they had first offered a prototype to the police), but I’m glad to be able to feature one for sale right now. It became an instant collectible thanks …
1963 Scott Flying Squirrel
12-27 Update: I don’t know how this bike is still for sale, but reader David N. spotted it with more details and more photos for the same $15,000 asking price here on ADVRider (registration required). Released in 1926, the Scott Flying Squirrel was an interesting motorcycle that placed third in the ’29 Isle of Man TT. A water-cooled 598cc twin, …
Turbo Triple – 2005 Triumph Rocket III
The Triumph Rocket III made quite the stir when it first came out in 2004, as it had the largest displacement engine fitted to mass production motorcycle – a whopping 2.3L unit that put out 140 hp. Fun fact: the STARTER motor on this bike makes as much power as Triumph’s first-ever motorcycle – just about 1.75 horses.
Quick and Dirty – 1974 Rickman Montesa VR 250
This nifty Rickman Montesa 250 is perfect for getting dirty, as long as you’ll be quick and don’t need much fuel! It apparently ran several hill climbs in the 70s but it then spent decades in dry storage. The seller has brought it back to life – and you’ll get most of the original parts to convert it back to …
Ending Soon – 1954 Vincent Black Shadow Series C
Post-Listing Update: This Black Shadow was pulled off of eBay with bidding up to $112,100, final sale price unknown. I just featured a Black Shadow that sold for $75,000, but this one is already up to 6 figures and it hasn’t met the reserve yet. That’s steep, but this has just 1,008 miles and is claimed to run as new …