BSA "Bushman" & "Tracker"
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BSA Tracker NVT Rambler The BSA Tracker was first produced as the 125cc & 175ce NVT Rambler by NVT Motorcycles Limited in 1977 a company set up in 1975 by NVT Holdings to fill the gap left in manufacturing when the Conservative Governments integrated, Manganese Bronze Holdings rescue plan for the ailing BSA/Triumph-Norton/Villiers group “NVT” failed & the BSA & Norton names could not be used until the receiver had sorted out there finances, which wasn't until 1978.NVT then became two companies, Norton Motors who stayed at Shenstone, Staffordshire & the BSA Company Limited who moved to Bannerly Road, Garrets Green, Birmingham. The BSA range was introduced on 29th of August 1979, the NVT Rambler was rebadged as the BSA Tracker & the Easy Rider & Junior became BSA. The 125cc Tracker was priced at £622.92 including VAT & the 175cc at £685.00 including VAT. They came in a choice of colors Red, White & Blue. Both the Rambler & Tracker were real mongrel bikes. The frame Hi-Tec for its time, a Cantilever Mono Shock was BSA’s. The engine unit a DT MX, instruments & wiring loom were all supplied by Yamaha. (Yamaha's DT wasn't Mono shock for another 5 years). The rest of the major parts were then sourced from Italy. Suspension came from Marazocchi, brakes & hubs from Gramica & exhaust from Lanfranconi. The obvious difference between the Rambler & Tracker is the front end. The Rambler uses a Gramica single Disc while the Tracker uses a Gramica Drum Brake. The front Mud Guard is fixed to the bottom yoke which stopped the clogging that was an issue on the Rambler its Mud Guard being fixed to the forks. The other is the Exhaust, the end of the silencer on the Tracker has an extension of about 4 inches, the end is blanked off with two holes drilled in to the extension, this is to stop the rear of the bike being covered in two stroke fumes. Some Trackers came with disc brakes, these were originally Ramblers which had not been sold when NVT reverted to BSA, basically a rebadged Rambler & had an NVT VID plate as opposed to a BSA VID plate. A VID plate is a "Vehicle Identification Plate", DVLA do NOT accept it as a VIN plate. DVLA only accept the frame number for identification. All BSA VID plated Trackers had drum brakes. The Tracker remained basically unchanged until its demise in 1990. There were a few minor changes in 1988, frames were painted Blue for the BTX Tracker & BTX. The BTX was "specifically designed to meet the special needs of the increasing number of trail parks & off road use" a Tracker with out lights, instruments & rack. A sump plate was added as was an up & over exhaust. The BTX Tracker 125 retailed at £l296.82 including taxes. The BTX 125 was £l121.85 including taxes. Identification of the Trackers is quite simple. Engine numbers on a 125 start 2A8 & on a 175 they start 2K4. Oddly the VID matches the engine number not the frame number. The vast majority of the Trackers went for export, these were sold to third world countries through ECU Overseas Aid programs. The Kenyan Government had 400 as transport for school teachers in rural areas. The Ethiopian Ministry of Tea & Coffee had another batch. BSA tried to capitalize on their military experience with the Bombardier. They made a bid for an MoD contract with a military version of the Tracker which was unsuccessful. The Tracker has the distinction of being the only BSA produced with a disc brake as standard. |
BSA "Bushman" 1994 100cc two stroke.
This Bike is based on Yamaha AG farm bike made for the Australian & New Zealand market.
As it stands, this is the LAST BSA
to be sold, as of the 28th September 2007 The BSA Company Limited
ceased all motorcycle involvement.
This was purchased from The BSA Company in Southampton part of the BSA
Regal Group on the 20th September 2007 with 3 Kilometres on the clock. I
believe it is the ONLY example of a Bushman in the UK, certainly
this is the LAST Bushman.
It comes with provenance from BSA to that effect.
These bikes were sold to third world county's through EU Overseas Aid
programmes in the early 1990s & came in 100,175cc two Strokes & a 200cc
four stroke models. The Bushman replaced the Tracker in 1990 & was for
export only. This model this is a 1994 & was produced when The BSA
Company was at Blockley in Gloucestershire, for some reason it was never
exported & because it had no type approval for the UK was never offered
for sale.
BSA Regals website says that "well over 1000" were sold.
The AG range is still made by Yamaha.
In 1973 BSA Triumph & Norton-Villiers merged to form NVT-Holdings, we
all know the rest, in 1975 NVT Holdings set up NVT Motorcycles, while
the receivers were sorting the finances of NVT the BSA name could not be
use. The finances were finally sorted in 1978 when there was a
management buy out & on the 29th of August 1979 NVT motorcycles became
THE BSA Company Limited.
BSA "Tracker" 175/6 1980
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USEFUL CONTACTS |
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The BSA owners club have most of the factory records & can date your bike for a fee of £20 for members £25 for non-members. The club is well worth joining, with over 2000 members some of who have & do give advice on Trackers. They can also supply a CD -ROM with a parts list, owner’s handbook, workshop manual & some sales brochures. www.bsaoc.demon.co.uk |
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They have some Tracker transfers. |
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British
Motorcycle Part
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For further information on the BSA Bushman & Tracker motorcycles contact the club as one of our members has acquired lots of info and a stock of parts.