1964 BSA Bantam, D7 Super, 175cc. Registration number AAT 58...

Estimate

£1,500 - £2,000

1964 BSA Bantam, D7 Super, 175cc. Registration number AAT 586B. Frame number D7 40230. Engine number FD7 1045.
Many a now-mature motorcyclist’s first two-wheeled experience will have been gained aboard a BSA Bantam. Developed from the pre-war DKW RT125 and announced in 1948, the Bantam became a top-seller for BSA, in excess of half a million leaving the Birmingham factory before production ceased in 1970. Originally of 123cc, the engine grew first to 148cc in 1955 for the D3 Bantam Major and then to 175cc for the D5 Bantam Super, which replaced the D3 in the 1958 line-up. The new 175cc engine went into mildly revised cycle parts, but the D5 was destined to be a one-year-only model, being superseded by the D7 for 1959. It had a similar 175cc engine to the D5 but had an entirely new swinging arm frame and hydraulically damped forks which incorporated a nacelle mounted headlamp. The D7 continued in production until 1966 with at least 3 different styles of tank and alterations to the Wipac powered electrical system including a change to battery powered external coil ignition.
AAT was sold by Browns of Hull, to Eric Watson on the 19th May 1964, and it then went to Pat Dennison in 1990. Our vendor bought it as a project in 2018 and proceeded to strip the bike down to its components, the frame was blasted and powder coated, the tinware repainted the original red, the engine was stripped and rebuilt. Used occasionally since other hobbies now means it is not being used.
Sold with the V5C, photocopy of the V5 (engine and frame numbers the wrong way round), photographs of when bought and the during the restoration, and an original handbook.