1950 Sunbeam S7 Delux, 500cc. Registration number NVS 577. F...

Hammer

£5,000

1950 Sunbeam S7 Delux, 500cc. Registration number NVS 577. Frame number S7-2924. Engine number S8-3673.
A well sorted and useable machine, it is sold with the V5C, many receipts from the 1994-96 rebuild, parts list and service sheets.
When the 1946 S7 was unveiled to the post-war biking public, it was one of the most technically advanced motorcycles of its age. With its all-aluminium, unit-construction, single overhead-camshaft, horizontally split engine, it also boasted shaft drive, a smooth power delivery and numerous other technical refinements that that BSA (the new owners of Sunbeam) hoped would be a big hit with the buyers, unfortunately this was not to be.
Designed by Erling Poppe and Gerry Bayliss, the S7 was intended to be the company flagship, a machine to rival the high-specification wartime Wehrmacht BMW R75—which was offered to the firm as part of the post WW2 reparations deal. They decided to stick with their own design with all the development problems that that entailed.
Over time, and with the introduction of the sportier S8 most issues were resolved , although the correct AG140 is crucial to the final worm drive.
After the first run of all black finished machines was sold, a much improved 25bhp S7 was offered, which, in 1949, was improved further with the introduction of the De Luxe model. and the Mist Green was introduced.
Throughout its production run, the S7 and S8 (which were sold side by side) were continually improved. But the fundamental design was never developed as far as it might have been, and the accumulation of crisis-management fixes coupled with falling sales led in 1956 to its discontinuation—although bikes were still available from stock until 1957.
In total, 7658 Sunbeam S7s were built—which includes 5554 De Luxe models.
NVS has known history back to 1994 when Ken Norton of Tipton sold it to Robin Chambers of York, and he registered it with DVLA. He rebuilt the engine in 1995 and had the crankcase welded, the worm drive was rebuilt in 1996 with new parts from Stewart Engineering, as well as the rockerbox cover and clutch. In 1999 Brian Willis of York bought it and our vendor bought it in 2012. In 2012 he replaced the Amal carburettor (the original is included with the bike).
A well sorted and useable machine, it is sold with the V5C, many receipts from the 1994-96 rebuild, parts list and service sheets.