Born of German ingenuity and Birmingham grit, the BSA Bantam carried post-war Britain on two-strokes. Now - half a century later - it rides again.
The Bantam’s story begins not in Birmingham, but in Zschopau — the German town where DKW engineered the RT 125, a two-stroke single so perfectly judged that it became one of the most copied motorcycles in history. At the close of the Second World War, the victorious Allies divided the spoils of German engineering. The Soviets took the tooling east. The Americans produced their own version — the Harley-Davidson Hummer. And in Britain, BSA of Birmingham received the blueprints.
Harley Davidson model 125 (1950)
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BSA’s engineers Anglicised the machine, adjusted the controls to suit British riders, and clothed it in simple, handsome tinware. The result was the Bantam D1, launched in 1948: 125 cc, three gears, rigid rear end, and a top speed that could just about crest 45 mph on a good day. It was unpretentious, affordable, and imbued with a character that transcended its humble specification.
BSA Bantam D1 (1949)
The Bantam arrived in a Britain still rationed, still rebuilding. Petrol was scarce, cars were a luxury, and public transport unreliable. A small, cheap motorcycle offered the kind of personal mobility that could change lives. It was a machine for apprentices and postmen, farmers and factory workers, teenagers yearning for independence. In the countryside, Bantams became as familiar a sight as red telephone boxes. In towns, their blue exhaust haze mingled with the fog of coal fires.
Everybody's motorcycle
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Over the next two decades, the Bantam grew in confidence. The D3 Major brought 150 cc and more power; the D5 and D7 Super introduced swinging-arm suspension; the D14 offered four speeds and nearly 12 bhp. The D175 (later re-designated as the B175) launched in 1969, was the Bantam’s final flourish - still modest, but capable of keeping pace with modern traffic. All told, somewhere between 250,000 to 500,000 Bantams were built between 1948 and 1971. For countless Britons, it was their first taste of the open road.
BSA Bantam export model (1967)
By the early 1970s, the world had changed. Japanese manufacturers swept in with machines that were faster, smoother, and often cheaper. BSA, struggling with industrial unrest and mismanagement, collapsed in 1973. The Bantam slipped quietly from production, consigned to sheds and barns, remembered fondly but seemingly destined to remain a chapter in Britain’s motorcycling past.
One of the last of the line of BSA Bantams - a 1970 B175
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For half a century, that’s where it stayed — revived only in the hands of enthusiasts, restored lovingly for classic shows and weekend rides, its buzzing exhaust note a nostalgic echo in a world of silent electrics and four-cylinder superbikes. And yet, as 2025 draws to a close, something remarkable is happening. Across Britain, new Bantams are once again appearing in showrooms. The BSA Bantam 350, unveiled earlier this year, has now entered production, and the first deliveries are being made to eager riders.
The BSA Bantam 350
Credit: BSA Motorcycles
This is no retro-themed electric scooter wearing a familiar badge. The new Bantam is a 334 cc single-cylinder motorcycle, liquid-cooled and thoroughly modern, producing 29 bhp through a six-speed gearbox. Its chassis is simple but competent: telescopic forks, twin shocks, disc brakes with ABS. Priced at around £3,499, it sits squarely in the “everyday classic” segment, aiming to tempt both nostalgic older riders and newcomers looking for character at an approachable price.
The revival of the Bantam says as much about the present as it does about the past. In the late 1940s, the Bantam represented mobility - the ability to escape the confines of post-war austerity. In the 2020s, it represents character - an antidote to the homogeny of modern transport. As cities fill with electric scooters and silent crossovers, the idea of a simple, affordable, single-cylinder motorcycle has a certain quiet romance.
BSA Bantam 350s await their new owners
Credit: BSA Motorcycles
And so the Bantam returns - not as a museum piece, but as a living emblem of freedom. Its gentle thrum and uncomplicated charm speak to a different pace of life: one measured not in horsepower or connectivity, but in moments stolen from the everyday. In a world rushing toward silence and sameness, the Bantam offers a reminder that individuality can still be found on two wheels.
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