A10 Golden Flash 1950 - 1962

The distinctive gold colour scheme made BSA's 650 twin stand out from the crowd in drab post-war Britain. And with a 96mph top speed during a 1951 test with The MotorCycle - America's Cycle magazine managed 101mph from theirs - the A10 guarantees the exciting prospect of fast motorcycling.

Examples with all welded swinging arm frames offer first class two up comfort. Early models have a plain headlamp shell supported by simple brackets integral with the fork covers, but from 1953 a nacelle carried the speedometer, lighting switch and ammeter. This layout is preferable to the styleless circular cowling fitted from 1958 and which was carried on to the early unit construction models.

Whether single sided or full width, the wheel hubs contain efficient eight inch diameter front and seven inch rear brakes. Average braking distances are around 32ft from 30mph. A full rear chaincase was a worthwhile option from 1956.

Despite its name, the Golden Flash was also available in black, and from 1960 in sapphire blue. Plated petrol tank side panels were complemented by plastic badges from 1955.

Once the high performance twins with aluminium alloy cylinder heads were introduced, the Golden Flash was firmly cast in the role of flexible tourer or sidecar hauler. Deeply valanced mudguards confirmed its cooking role. A compression ratio of 7.25:1, cast iron cylinder head and touring camshaft make for a lovely tractable machine, but still with plenty of power on demand.

And with production running into many thousands of machines, a plunger or swinging arm Golden Flash in sound condition will not be difficult to find.