The 1970 BSA Lightning represented one of the last effort of this proud British motorcycle maker to stave off the onslaught from Japanese - sword competition .
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BSA recorded platter profit heading into the 1960s , but by the meter the 1970 models reach showroom floors , the company was struggling to keep its top dog above water .
The reason , of course of action , was the cheaper , and often quicker , Japanese motorcycles such as the Honda 750 Four , Yamaha 650 twin , and various Kawasaki and Suzuki large - displacementtwo - stroke .
Due to its proven racecourse record , the 650 - cc vertical counterpart used in the Lightning was also the baron - works of option for several other BSA model . But because funds were beginning to dry out up , the caller made few Cartesian product changes in 1970 , though one example , the Royal Star , was omit due to dull sales .
Among those few changes were betterbrakesfor the Lightning , which now sport an eight - inchdrumwith duplicate leading place up front , and a seven - inch drum in back . Also , a passenger snatch runway was lend that ring the rear section of the seat .
For 1971 , the oil army tank beneath the seat was delete , as the vacuous tubes of the frame itself were now used to hold the crude .
BSA did n’t survive long afterward , however , as the contest from Japan proved too much for the beleaguered company .
BSA was folded into Norton - Villiers in 1973 , which spelled the destruction of the BSA nameplate , though Triumph ( which BSA had acquired in the in the early 1950s ) proceed to scrape along for another decade or so before the whole imperium crack .
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1970 BSA Lightning Pictures
The 1970 BSA Lightning derive an eight - inch , twin - leading - shoe frontbrakewith a racing - flair breeze scoop on the right side . Also newfangled was the rider snatch rail that surrounded the rearward section of the seat .
