A BSA Spitfire. A BSA Rocket Three. A BSA Tigress. A BSA Dandy. That is a matter of expiring violence and power. In addition, the BSA Dandy is a very cuddly thing, a scooter.
In AMK we don't do many scooters. Yet after WWII (and before) scooters were thought of as fantastic, cheap and convenient motorized transportation for the masses. In addition, during the production of the light scooters, a whole new target group was already considered: the other 50% of humanity, the more pleasantly modeled species: Women.
BSA had already started developing a light scooter around 1940, but the outbreak of the Second World War and the production of the now sought-after large numbers of BSA W-M20 side valves for the army ensured that the conquest of a new market came to a screeching halt. Nevertheless, the BSA Dinghy scooter was still being worked on in the lost hours, because the British hoped that WWII would end. But it would not become the Dinghy scooter in practice.
Some time after peace had broken out again, the thread was picked up again. After all, Europe yearned for affordable and practical motorized transport. In 1954, a team led by the now legendary chief engineer Bert Hopwood again started developing no less than two different scooters: the BSA Beeza with a 200 cc side valve engine, cardan shaft drive and starter motor, and the BSA Dandy with a 70 cc two-stroke engine. Both were presented to the public and the Beeza even had a selling price already set. However, the machine never came into production…
BSA Dandy
The BSA Dandy did go into production. The lightweight was kind of a friendly mix between a scooter and a moped. The Dandy had a sheet steel frame and an additional pressed steel sheet that formed the leg shields and footboard. At the front it had a pushed swing fork, behind it was an almost invisible swing arm with two upright parts that operated the coil springs under the seat. That was quite a clever solution. The Dandies may have been sprung, but the endearing roller lacked cushioning. Because the bookkeeper was watching.
The 70 cc two-stroke engine was on the right, just in front of the rear wheel, backwards with the cylinder pointing backwards. The prototype was started with a kickstarter or with a lever. The latter was aimed at a target group, because the BSA Dandy was only shown in advertisements with female drivers, making the target group clear. However, only the kickstarter remained with the series model. The brave two-wheeler had two gears and the price was only £74. In 1962, BSA stopped making Dandy's after selling some 17.000 copies, RECOVERY: Woman. The Dandy's are now particularly appreciated by people looking to round down their collection of BSA's.
Cheap
The BSA Dandy was good value for money. A Dandy was not perfect, far from it, but it was nice and cheap. After the design was approved by Bert Hopwood and Doug Hele, BSA, now under the direction of the rather mad genius Edward Turner, decided to cut costs by making the cylinder and cylinder head, which had been designed for aluminum, out of cast iron. Although it was cheaper, it disrupted the heat balance. The Dandy died a hot-headed death.
We found our BSA Dandy at Anne de Leeuw, the kind of classic dealer who sometimes recoils in shock when you point to a motorcycle from his collection: “No! It's not for sale! That's mine!". We find that endearing. The BSA is for sale.
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The block is so tight against the rear wheel that it is almost a roll driver.
Now this is one of the cubes that would have benefited from forced air cooling.
I've never seen the kind of rear suspension like this before, and I wonder if a shock absorber would have been much more expensive.
I think the back and forth wobbling and moving of that rear spring while driving (and therefore springing in and out) looks pretty strange
Obelix already said it "Weird guys those Brits"
I'm not the only one who sees some similarities with Honda… right down to the winged logo! I don't like sitting with your butt just above the stock of petrol. Otherwise a very nice and timeless model.
Before WW2, BSA was on the right track with cars. Their 2 seater sportcar was the SCOUT with front wheel drive..! Big competitor for MG. Due to the war, production was stopped... in the photo a scout from 1939 who was in the Netherlands.
What a beautiful thing!
It seems, but I will have to open the books for a moment, that Honda must have also looked at the Dandy 100 with a slanted eye during the development of its success number C70..
Swing arm suspension, tank under seat, gaiters/protection…mmmmm
It is well known that Soichiro hated the two-stroke engine and preferred the four-stroke.
Funny design this Dandy, but the air-cooled cylinder from the driving wind does not deserve a prize