The first complete motorcycle from B.S.A made its public debut at the Olympia show in 1910
80,000 enthusiasts attended the exhibition that year, the first to be held at the venue. The show report had this to say:
Sir Hallewell Rogers, B.S.A. Chairman, had informed the shareholders at the company’s 1910 AGM in Birmingham “We have decided to put a motor-bicycle on the market for the coming season. These machines will be on exhibit at the Cycle and Motor Show on November 21st, after which date we look forward to commencing delivery”.
The machines were available for the 1911 season and entire production sold out. B.S.A. had previously acquired a commercially available engine in 1905 and fitted it to one of their bicycle frames and discovered at first hand the problems that needed to be overcome.
