The Model B ‘Round Tank’ was a top seller for BSA in the 1920s. Small Heath shifted an impressive 35,000 of them between 1924 and 1927; at one point, 15,000 rolled off the lines in a single year.
Its secret wasn’t that much of a secret, really. It wasn’t down to some kind of witchcraft or alchemy, or the stars aligning on the Small Heath production lines, it was simply a clever and ambitious design backed by sound engineering sense. The uncomplicated design meant anyone could ride one, its ruggedness and reliability meant they could do so without worry, and its competitive price of £39-10s meant many people could afford to buy one in the first place.
It provided exactly what a lightweight should: affordable personal transport for workers and a first foot on the motoring ladder for learners.
Words like reliable, rugged and affordable hadn’t really been associated with lightweights up to that point. Buyers had been burned (figuratively not literally) by
