What Does Motorcycle Brand 'BSA' Stand For?

Conversations concerning the history of British motorcycles are typically dominated by names like Triumph, Norton, and Royal Enfield. Rightfully so, as those companies have produced some of the best bikes to ever grace England's roadways. However, true U.K. history buffs might be quick to drop a few other bike makers into the mix, including BSA.

After all, with its roots in the motorcycle game charting back to 1903, BSA was a legit contemporary of those more frequently name-dropped bike makers. Actually, you might be more than a little surprised to learn that the company took ownership of Triumph in the 1950s. Bolstered by reliable vintage motorcycle builds like the A10 Super Rocket, BSA even became the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer for part of that decade, with an estimated 25% of motorcycles on the road during that time bearing a BSA badge of some sort. By 1969, BSA is said to have accounted for more than 80% of the motorcycles exported from Britain.

As impressive as BSA's legacy is, it's still possible you don't know what the company's three-letter name even means. Those three letters stand for Birmingham Small Arms company, and yes, you'd be correct in assuming from said name that BSA was not initially founded for the purpose of making motorcycles. In fact, when BSA first came into being, it was founded with the mission of manufacturing firearms. 

The Birmingham Small Arms Company didn't release its first bike until 1910, nearly four decades after its founding and seven years after BSA set up its motorcycle division. As was the case with virtually every English manufacturer of the era, BSA ended up contributing efforts to World War I shortly thereafter, though it did so largely by providing weaponry, including a reported 1.5 million rifles and 145 Lewis machine guns. BSA, of course, also provided motorcycles for the war effort, as well as automobiles bearing the Daimler badge, with BSA having purchased the automaker in 1910. 

In the post-war era of the 1920s, BSA continued making weapons and motorcycles, even adding its own line of cars in 1921. The company continued to flourish throughout the 1930s. When England entered World War II, BSA also played a major role in the country's war efforts, delivering more than 126,000 of its M20 motorcycles to troops along with Browning firearms. 

Although the company was highly regarded in England after the war, BSA fell on hard times in the late-1960s and early-1970s, ceasing production on all fronts in 1973. Like many of its contemporaries, the BSA brand name was recently revived with a shiny new version of its famed Gold Star build hitting the market in 2021. Of course, you can also always look for used models as well and find a cool classic BSA bike that won't break the bank.