THE TCMC VALUE FOR MONEY RATING

PRICE GUIDE

1946 - 1950	Rigid A7	£2500 - £3000
1951 - 1954	Star Twin/Golden Flash	£1750 - £2500
1955 on	A7/A10	£1750 - £2500
1955 - 1962	Shooting Star	£2000- £3000
1955 - 1957	Road Rocket	£2500 - £3500
1957 - 1963	Super Rocket	£2250 - £3000
1962 - 1963	Rocket Gold Star	£6000 - £8250
1962 - 65	A50/A65 Star	£1250 - £2000
1963 - 1965	A65 Rocket/Lightning	£2000 - £3000
1965 - 1968	Spitfire	£4000 - £6000
1965 - 1970	Royal Star/Thunderbolt	£1500 - £2500
1971 - 1973	Oil-in-frame	£1250 - £2250

SEMI UNIT, PRE-UNIT OR UNIT?

One advantage of the semi and pre-unit twins is magneto ignition - free from reliance on battery condition. Superb styling, which reached its peak in the mid Fifties, typifies the pre-unit models. The Y shaped timing cover of the later Hopwood designed twins has a memorable symmetry with just the right amount of cylinder and head finning to balance the power unit's bottom end.

In contrast, the semi unit twins appear skimpily finned, with the gearbox snuggling too closely under the curves of the engine casings. The plunger sprung frame on these models can be skittish on corners, whereas the later swinging arm chassis for both pre unit and unit construction versions provides excellent handling.

The unit construction BSAs, particularly the later models, benefit from the refinement of 12volt electrics and better brakes. But they struggle to rival their predecessors for style, often appearing bulky, although some sports models, such as the MkII Spitfire with twin GP2 carburettors ooze excitement.