Above: a BSA 500cc Dirt Track Bike 

A very affordable machine at the time. The poor mans speedway machine!  For those who don't already know. BSA was a great British company that began making weapons. BSA is a shortened version of Birmingham Small Arms. In the 20th century the company turned it's attention to motorcycle manufacture. BSA along with Royal Enfield (another old British company) were armaments makers turned motorcycle makers. The Beezer didn't last long as a dirt-track bike, which is a pity as JAP could have done with some national rivalry and who knows maybe BSA would still be going now if they had invested in making speedway machines?

New Zealand Restorer Frank Brookland has one of these machines to restore and would appreciate contact from anyone who has any photos etc of the Beesa John

This is Cyril Lord aboard his BSA

I've attached a couple of pictures you may like.  I suspect the
photo on your site is of this bike, which was ridden by Cyril Lord and
later owned by Noel Somerfield.  The photo is of it in grass trim at
 the
1968 High Beech reunion but I know it later had a brakeless 21" front
wheel refitted.  Who owns it now?

Cheers
Pat

Let's hear from you if you own the engine.  Velocette produced many powerful single cylinder engines for their road going machines, pity they didn't concentrate on speedway bikes more

What jumps out from these Sunbeam pictures is the size of the wheels 28".  Later regulations limited wheel sizes to 22" and then to the modern day size 18 inch

James V twin

Most James motorcycle were lightweight two strokes but here we have a potent looking James for built for speedway

Above: The Rudge 500.

This example looks very potent even by modern bike standards.  (Four valve technology is not modern ) I bet this machine raced flat out would frighten the life out of a lot of modern bikers!

Jap in a Rudge frame

American Riders 1930's at the Richmond Raceway, (Picture courtesy of Carrick Watson)

These riders are obviously mounted on an Indian (left) and a Harley Davidson.  The Indian became a popular mount for Wall of Death riders.  They don't appear to be wearing much body protection.  I assume therefore that they are simply posing for pictures but who knows maybe they raced in their long johns in 1930's, Richmond USA!

Webmaster John Skinner, at the Glasgow Transport Museum. The Bike is a 1929 Douglas D.T.

The picture on the wall features Keith Gurtner leading a so far unknown Newcastle Diamond.  Can anyone identify the Newcastle rider?  The Douglas had 3 gears but no clutch! For three years, the Dirt Track Douglas was the supreme dirt track machine selling around 1,200 bikes in 1929 alone.  A bike like this one ridden by Gordon Byers, won the first ever race at Brough Park.

A 500cc Douglas Dirt Bike. 

Alex Kynoch shows how it was done in 1929. No, he is not falling off! These long wheel-base bikes had a very low centre of gravity because the engines were horizontally opposed flat twins.  The Leg Trailers were usually mounted on a bike like this.

A Speedway Rudge

The shorter wheel base and higher centre of gravity of the Rudge did not suit some of the old leg trailers although many adapted to the foot forward style of riding

Dawn of the JAP. 

This early machine probably dates from around 1931? The Jap engine in a variety of frames reigned the world for decades, modern speedway was born.

This picture shows an early Jap. Harry by the way became a Newcastle promoter when his riding days were over.