The BSA Super Rocket was a

air-cooled Air-cooled engines rely on the circulation of air directly over heat dissipation fins or hot areas of the engine to cool them in order to keep the engine within operating temperatures. In all combustion engines, a great percentage of the heat ge ...

parallel twin A straight-twin engine, also known as an inline-twin, vertical-twin, or parallel-twin, is a two-cylinder piston engine whose cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. Straight-twin engines are primarily used in motorcycles; ot ...

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 ...

produced by Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA) at Small Heath,

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. ...

introduced in 1957. It was an improved sports bike member of the BSA A10 series of motorcycles which was developed from the BSA Road Rocket. The A10 had a reputation for reliability but was struggling to compete against the

Triumph The Roman triumph (Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirectl ...

engines and the

Norton Norton may refer to: Places Norton, meaning 'north settlement' in Old English, is a common place name. Places named Norton include: Canada * Rural Municipality of Norton No. 69, Saskatchewan *Norton Parish, New Brunswick **Norton, New Brunswick, a ...

Featherbed frame The featherbed frame was a motorcycle frame invented by the McCandless brothers and offered to the British Norton motorcycle company to improve the performance of their racing motorcycles in 1950. It was considered revolutionary at the time,"' ...

s. The model was discontinued in 1963 when the unit-construction A65 was introduced.

Development

Launched in 1957 the BSA Super Rocket retained the

Amal TT AMAL was a British engineering company servicing the motorcycle and other light-engineering motor industries between 1927 and 1993 The cylinder head had a cast in inlet manifold and larger ports and valves. The inlet valves were increased from 1.455" to 1.5". The crankshaft was stiffened compared to the previous models. These modifications increased power output to 43 bhp. A lower 1st gear ratio gave increased acceleration off the line. '' Cycle World'', the American motorcycle magazine, tested the Super Rocket at 116 mph. New brakes were fitted to the model, full width hubs instead of the previous half width items. The front brake was 8" and the rear 7". Both were operated by cables. American models had a chrome rocket ornament on the front mudguard. It used the mounting holes that other markets used for the front number plate. East Coast models had a 4 US gallon (3.3 imperial gallon) petrol tanks, wider "Twin-Solo" seat and "Laconia Bend" handlebars. West Coast models had a 2 US gallon (1.7 imp) tank for 1958/9 and 3 US gallon (2.5 imp) from 1960 on. The West Coast models also had a narrower "cushionaire" seat and "Gunter Bend" handlebars. A tachometer was standard on US models. UK models had a headlamp cowl (nacelle), deeper valenced mudguards and a tachometer was an optional extra. The 357 race camshaft was fitted in 1960 and the clutch was improved. A larger 1 5/32" bore Monobloc carburettor was fitted in 1962. These raised the power output to .

References

{{BSA motorcycles, state=collapsed Super Rocket Standard motorcycles Motorcycles introduced in 1957 Motorcycles powered by straight-twin engines

Development

See also

Further reading

References