The BSA Fury was a Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA) prototype

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

made in 1970. Designed by Edward Turner but substantially redesigned by

Bert Hopwood Herbert Hopwood (1908 – 17 October 1996) was a British motorcycle designer. He was, at least, partly responsible for some of the most influential designs for the British motorcycle industry and worked for Ariel, Norton, BSA and Triumph. ...

and

Doug Hele Douglas Lionel Hele (13 July 19193 November 2001) was a pioneering British motorcycle engineer with Triumph and other firms: BSA, Douglas and Norton. He was born in Birmingham in 1919 and died in Hagley, Worcestershire on 2 November 2001. C ...

,Bandit In The Hills (The Classic Motorcycle 11/84) the Fury never went into commercial production due to the collapse of the BSA Group.

Development

Launched in 1971, the double overhead cam twin BSA E35 was branded the ''BSA Fury''. It was essentially the same motorcycle as the

Triumph Bandit The Triumph Bandit was a British motorcycle manufactured as a prototype by Triumph in 1970. Originally designed by Edward Turner (who was already retired from Triumph) as his last project it was subsequently substantially modified at Triumph ...

and represented the BSA factory's last attempt to compete against Japanese imports. The frame used for the Fury was designed by Rob North, designer of the frames used on the racing BSA triples. A 'Street Scrambler' E35SS and road version the E35R were developed during 1971. Featuring upswept twin silencers, the SS had an optional electric starter and indicators and 26 mm

Amal Concentric AMAL was a British engineering company servicing the motorcycle and other light-engineering motor industries between 1927 and 1993 Multi-page brochure inserts were put in all of the major US motorcycle publications and BSA and Triumph were counting on the Fury and Bandit to bring them back into profitability. Promotional photographs for the new bike (featuring BSA/Triumph Chief Stylist Stephen Mettam and British actress-model Karen Young posing in the grounds of

Umberslade Hall Umberslade Hall is a 17th-century mansion converted into residential apartments situated in Nuthurst near Tanworth-in-Arden, Warwickshire. It is a Grade II* listed building. The Archer family were granted the manor of Umberslade by Henry II ...

) were produced, the Fury also having been included in the 1971 BSA customer brochure. BSA Fury 350 motorcycle

Financial problems

BSA invested heavily in modernising and reorganising their

Small Heath Small Heath is an area in south-east Birmingham, West Midlands, England situated on and around the Coventry Road about from the city centre. History Small Heath, which has been settled and used since Roman times, sits on top of a small hill. ...

factory in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

and the research and design facility at

, with the aim of improving efficiency and becoming more competitive. The Directors asked for full cooperation from the workforce and agreed a 10% cut in their own salaries. By the summer of 1972 BSA had an £8,000,000 trading loss and work was delayed by staff disputes. By November 1972 BSA Group debts exceeded £20 million. Design work continued on 4 and 5 cylinder versions of the Fury but by November 1972 BSA had to give in to creditors and the BSA Group was forced into a partnership with Norton as its debts exceeded £20 million. The Fury, which was to have saved the company, never went into commercial production and only eight prototypes survived.

Surviving examples

BSA Fury prototypes are on display at the

London Motorcycle Museum London Motorcycle Museum displayed a range of over 150 classic and British motorcycles. It closed in October 2019, partly due to inability to meet the running costs. A charitable trust, it opened in May 1999 at Oldfield Lane South, Greenford, ...

Greenford Greenford () is a suburb in the London Borough of Ealing in west London, England, lying west from Charing Cross. It has a population of 46,787 inhabitants, or 62,126 with the inclusion of Perivale. Greenford is served by Greenford Station (L ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and the National Motorcycle Museum in

Solihull Solihull (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blyth ...

. A BSA Fury with no internal parts was displayed at BSA dealer Len Vale-Onslow's shop in 1984

References

External links

Pictures of BSA 350 Fury SS Prototype

Original BSA Fury advert
{{BSA motorcycles, state=collapsed Fury Motorcycles introduced in 1970 Concept motorcycles Motorcycles powered by straight-twin engines