1957 BSA A10
Pre-Unit 650 Twin

1957 BSA A10 BACKGROUND
BSA’s A10 was the 650 version in it’s twin cylinder heavyweight line. The 500cc version was called the A7. Following Triumph‘s success with its seminal 500 Speed Twin, after the war, BSA and most of the rest of the British motorcycle industry followed with their own vertical twins. BSA was first to respond in 1946 (the first year of civilian production following World War II) with the A7, Norton and Matchless followed in 1949. But by 1950, Triumph had bumped the displacement if its twin up to 650cc, and once again most of the rest of the British motorcycle industry followed suit. BSA punched the A7 out to a 650 in 1950 also, giving it the A10 name. Performance and reliability were added incrementally over several model years. As problems arose, BSA dealt with them in a slow, but steady process of development. By this time the 1957 BSA A10, the entire BSA twin line was experiencing great success in the marketplace. The 1950s truly were BSA’s heyday. Good thing too, because by the 1960s, the whole thing had turned around on them, and BSA struggled throughout most of that decade until they closed their doors in 1972. Many people blame the replacement of BSA’s non-unit twins, the A10 and the A7 with the unit-construction A50 and A65 in 1962 as the turning point. The timing certainly lines up.

 

1957 BSA A10 SPECIFICATIONS