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BSA Testers.

Louis Dalby

Louis Dalby

The Ham Man
A picture sent to me by Joe Brown of he's brother Dennis. The house's on the left have long disappeared


[ame="https://www.flickr.com/photos/g1ulz/2902375199/"]BSA Testers in Armoury Road on Flickr - Photo Sharing!@@AMEPARAM@@https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3271/2902375199_9bab0c658a.jpg?v=0@@AMEPARAM@@2902375199@@AMEPARAM@@9bab0c658a[/ame]
 
have to say Louis i really enjoyed the BSA testers on flickr
also your web page on flickr i think we had emailed before about bike stuff?
i knew guys from the bsa long time ago,
also spent time in your area when i was trucking three legged cross and the like.
happy days regards dereklcg.
 
Hi

[FONT=Arial,helvetica][FONT=Arial,helvetica]The winter of 1962/1963 was particularly severe and played havoc with traditional outdoor sports and the BBC had the bright idea of showing motocross, when frost and snow ruled out any soccer on a Saturday afternoon. Those heroes like Jeff Smith, Arthur Lampkin, Dave Bickers, Chris Horsfield and Vic Eastwood were beamed into viewers' homes in flickering monochrome.
I was glued to these afternoons. No Football nothing yet these guy's produced fantastic
entertainment for virtually no money.
Around 10 years on I handled the closure of Rovers Service dept at Solihull.
A numbers of our members were involved many in tears.
During an interview I stumbled on a certain John Harris. He was a tester taking
Customers Vehicles and getting them fixed. These would be vehicles where we
we having extroindary customer disasifaction through dealer failure.
An extreemly dangerous Job he was badleyInjured once loosing one eye
when a vehicle left the road at High Speed.
Looking at his employment record I noticed he was a Tester at the BSA.
He lost his Job when the whole lot closed down. I was interested in this and
he worked with Jeff Smith. He also told us of Grandstand Programme with
yours truley Murray Walker. He road for BSA for a number of years.
I managed to get him a Job in y Office till his death years later.

Mike Jenks
[/FONT][/FONT]
 
Hi, Mike, Thanks for your note, John my brother is here for the week and he tell's me he is aware of John Harris, I left the company in 1958 but John was there till the close so therefore was more up to speed with what went on at the end. hope you enjoyed the pictures, we must all get these details recorded. Rgds Lou Dalby.
 
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mike jenks said:
.............An extreemly dangerous Job he was badleyInjured once loosing one eye when a vehicle left the road at High Speed................
Click to expand...

How dangerous a job was it for the normal testers? What sort of attrition rate was there?

I lived on the A452 just north of the city boundary throughout the 1940s which appeared to be one of the routes. Boys of my age held these blokes in awe. And also some respect, if not actual fear, especially after one of my female contemporaries was knocked down by one when crossing the road and suffered severe injuries. No speed limit then, I imagine, and pretty rudimentary protection for the riders.

Chris
 
I remember during the late 40s and all through 50s a BSA test rider lived in Gospel Farm Rd. I used to watch in awe as he came home every evening on a different m/bike. I understand he rode for the BSA scramble or moto crass team. I always loved the exhaust sound from the Goldies.
 
we had a BSA test rider living in our road Leamington rd it would have been late 50s and the 60s i remember lokking at the bikes and talking to him about his enviable job bringing home those gold star bikes, i have forgotten his name but i have a photo of were he lived the house behind this friend of mine, i don't know whether Graham can remember his name,
Leamington rd has been demolished. :(
 
Stitcher said:
frederick I remember this mans name was BIL NICHOLSON.
Click to expand...

Bill Nicholson was a very fine rider, a man from Ireland. I remember one day I was on the second floor of middle block staircase when I could a hear a bike !! I was surprised to meet Bill coming up the stairs on he's bike on he's way to the frame shop to have some welding done. He was a Comp managers nightmere with the tricks he got up to but a very fine rider in all branches of the sport. The last time I saw him ride was at Red Marley which now seems a long time ago, Just thinking IT IS.
 
Louis, It is a lifetime away but I can see him now. When I went shopping at Lakey Lane with mom on Saturday mornings he would be either in his front garden or in the street messing with bikes. He always noded or spoke to mmom as we passed.
 
Louis Dalby said:
Bill Nicholson was a very fine rider, a man from Ireland. I remember one day I was on the second floor of middle block staircase when I could a hear a bike !! I was surprised to meet Bill coming up the stairs on he's bike on he's way to the frame shop to have some welding done. He was a Comp managers nightmare with the tricks he got up to but a very fine rider in all branches of the sport. The last time I saw him ride was at Red Marley which now seems a long time ago, Just thinking IT IS.
Click to expand...

My brother John passed on the following info, Just before Bill left the BSA for Jaguar we fitted a BSA twin engine ( 500 cc ? ) into a small racing car he also said that he meet him at Silverstone club meetings where he drove a MGB while he ( John ) was a member of the Chris Summers racing team.
 
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Stitcher said:
frederick I remember this mans name was BIL NICHOLSON.
Click to expand...
Hi all I have just put a note into another version on this forum. It is a quite intresting debate, George Staham was the Gold Star tester around the 1949 to say 1957 period . I left BSA in 1957 and Gearge was the G/S man then He used to come to the coffe shop we used and would talk in an Australian accent for a bit of a laugh and used to say he came from Wagga Wagga. Thats atown in Aussie . . There is a pic of George kicking around on a pic of the BSA testers larkin around on the railway engine on the tip out the back of the BSA factory . I am sure the pic is in Lou Dalby's Flick R website Cheers all Old Brummy
 
dereklcg said:
hi again lou,if you have,nt already seen this i think you mite like to?
i grew up with triumph bikes my dad worked there and my step bro
www.helmethairblog.com/entries/1957-triumph-factory-tour
regards dereklcg
Click to expand...
HELLO OLDBRUMMIE I WAS BOUGHT UP WITH TRIUMPH BY DAD WORKED THERE AND MY STEPBROTHER AS A TESTER HAPPY DAYS.
CLICK ON THE ABOVE BLOG IT,S BRILL. REGARDS dereklcg. sorry mate did,nt look properly.
 
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frederick said:
we had a BSA test rider living in our road Leamington rd it would have been late 50s and the 60s i remember lokking at the bikes and talking to him about his enviable job bringing home those gold star bikes, i have forgotten his name but i have a photo of were he lived the house behind this friend of mine, i don't know whether Graham can remember his name,
Leamington rd has been demolished. :(
Click to expand...

Fred, sorry but I couldn't remember his name but you see there are others that do.:)

I have posted this photo before on BHF but for the newcomers this is me in the BSA gear making shop, with my mates, where I worked in the mid-60's.

Graham.
 
Graham,
that Bill Nicholson he had a younger brother and i think they had a boxing ring in their attic bedroom.
Fred
 
Fred, you might remember my step-dad, Albert Wittin; he used the front garden at 2/66 Leamington Road as a boxing ring. When he had a dispute with his sons he would settle it with them in the garden by punching their heads in! And remember the women that used to fight in the street, pulling each others hair out? That was really frightening.:D
 
I wonder if anyone remembers a BSA road tester called Chris Vincent, who's a pal of mine. He won the 1963 Sidecar race at the Isle of Man TT meeting on a self built and tuned outfit. I'm told by another ex-BSA employee that almost all of the workforce were listening to radios at the time of the race and, when Chris beat the previously invincible German racers, uproar ensued!

Suitably nationalistic?

Ian
 
Sorry can't help with names, but I have fond memories of watching the testing, mostly on Sunday's?
Jan;)
 
How could I have overlooked the fact that sidecar racing involves two people? Eric Bliss was Chris's passenger at that time. I've met him and he's a charming, smiling man as well as a pretty good passenger according to Chris.

Ian
 
welder said:
I wonder if anyone remembers a BSA road tester called Chris Vincent, who's a pal of mine. He won the 1963 Sidecar race at the Isle of Man TT meeting on a self built and tuned outfit. I'm told by another ex-BSA employee that almost all of the workforce were listening to radios at the time of the race and, when Chris beat the previously invincible German racers, uproar ensued!

Suitably nationalistic?

Ian
Click to expand...

I worked with Chris at the BSA, I was on test and he worked in the Experimental dept. I will put up a picture of he's outfit.
[ame="https://www.flickr.com/photos/g1ulz/3044577788/in/set-72157602073893291/"]BSA-Vincent on Flickr - Photo Sharing!@@AMEPARAM@@https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3055/3044577788_e22c57771a.jpg?v=0@@AMEPARAM@@3044577788@@AMEPARAM@@e22c57771a[/ame]
 
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Hi Ian Yes I remember Chris well. I did help him tow his outfit when he raced on the Grass.. I have his addres here somewhere as I was writing to him about 2 or maybe 3 yrs back, He and I would get a Mileage bike at BSA and ride them in the Standard Tyre Race at KirkbyMallory when it was a grass track .Before the tarmac was applied. In a hurry now but will get back on this thread a bit laterCheers Old Brummy
 
jan hedger said:
Sorry can't help with names, but I have fond memories of watching the testing, mostly on Sunday's?
Jan;)
Click to expand...

See you do or did live in Bakers street have a look at my pictures and you will see one of my Grandfathers garage opposite Blackford Road. He converted Triumph's to all chain drive in the 1920's. Lou Dalby.

" Woops" May have got my Small Heath and my Sparkhill mixed up.
 
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Hi welder Chris Vincent was a hero of my friends and myself we used to go to Mallory and here there and everywhere.
As it goes i used to go to school with a lad who was a passenger as well and his niece, is on here i,sure she will pick up on this, the last time i went to the motor cycle museum there was one of his outfits there i have a photo somewhere in fact i have got lots from way back when of him in action.
We were at Mallory when fritz shiedegger got killed we were on the hairpin that day sad.. regards dereklcg
 
dereklcg said:
Hi welder Chris Vincent was a hero of my friends and myself we used to go to Mallory and here there and everywhere.
As it goes i used to go to school with a lad who was a passenger as well and his niece, is on here i,sure she will pick up on this, the last time i went to the motor cycle museum there was one of his outfits there i have a photo somewhere in fact i have got lots from way back when of him in action.
We were at Mallory when fritz shiedegger got killed we were on the hairpin that day sad.. regards dereklcg
Click to expand...

Derek, I too was at Mallory Park on that fateful day. A bunch of us had climbed up the Daily Mail hoarding at the Esses and clearly saw the crash. John Robinson, his passenger, was thrown some distance.

By coincidence, one of Chris Vincent's ex-passengers was, until recently, our business landlord and races sidecars still. My son did a couple of seasons as his passenger and won several trophies.

Ian
 
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