Reputation is a curious thing.
A great reputation – for anything – is hard to achieve and easy to lose in this cynical age, whereas a poor reputation is easy to acquire and almost impossible to lose.
In this particular case, we’ve been pondering the strange case of BSA, of bikes built for a long time by a company which also built their greatest showroom rivals: Triumph. A curious strategy.
Even more curious was that the model ranges of the two companies overlapped in several areas, so while it would not be entirely honest nor indeed sensible to suggest that the BSA Dandy competed head-on in the buyer’s eye with Triumph’s Bonneville, or that the BSA Beagle was a threat to Triumph’s Daytona, BSA’s Bantam and Triumph’s Cub battled each other, BSA and Triumph scooters were identical bar the badging, and as the consolidating 1960s galloped in a confused way towards the consumerist 1970s, so the BSA and Triumph ranges grew ever closer.
Read more in April’s issue of CBG
