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Private company

BSA motorcycles

Logo: Thruxton, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons3

Former British motorcycle marque

BSA motorcycles were made by the Birmingham Small Arms Company Limited (BSA), which was a major British industrial combine, a group of businesses manufacturing military and sporting firearms; bicycles; motorcycles; cars; buses and bodies; steel; iron castings; hand, power, and machine tools; coal cleaning and handling plants; sintered metals; and hard chrome process. A government-organised rescue operation in 1973 led to the takeover of BSA-Triumph motorcycle operations by Norton-Villiers, later known as Norton Villiers Triumph.2 It ceased to exist in 1972.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1861Founded1
  • HeadquartersBirmingham1
  • Legal formprivate company limited by shares1

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BSA motorcycles were made by the Birmingham Small Arms Company Limited (BSA), which was a major British industrial combine, a group of businesses manufacturing military and sporting firearms; bicycles; motorcycles; cars; buses and bodies; steel; iron castings; hand, power, and machine tools; coal cleaning and handling plants; sintered metals; and hard chrome process. A government-organised rescue operation in 1973 led to the takeover of BSA-Triumph motorcycle operations by Norton-Villiers, later known as Norton Villiers Triumph.2

Timeline

  1. 1972Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. 1861Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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