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Time capsule BSA Lightning 650 emerges
Where has it been for 54 years?
by Guy 'Guido' Allen, 21 March 2026
This new-old-stock 1972 BSA A65L Lightning 650 has
popped up at Mick Hone Motorcycles in Melbourne,
Australia
In a country where 99 per cent of motorcycles sold seem
to be ridden into the ground, it's a bit of an event when
you trip over something like this, one of BSA's hero
models for 1971. It's not a restoration – it has just 7
miles on the odometer and is new-old-stock.
Not only has it been hidden, it has been stored well.
Time, dust and moisture can trash a machine like this over
the long term. However this example looks like it was
uncrated yesterday.
The Lightning for that year featured significant styling
and chassis updates while the engine had been reworked the
previous year. For some, this represents a high point in
the trajectory of what the factory could achieved with a
vertical twin road bike.
A 750 racing
homologation variant, the A70L, was also developed
for the USA market. The example above was auctioned by
Bonhams in 2025.
Back to the Lightning 650. Cycle World magazine
gave it a generally
positive review back in 1971. It concluded: "
In the case of the BSA, you get a good sports roadster
with excellent handling. It is most definitely all that a
big-bore four-stroke parallel Twin from Great Britain has
traditionally connoted."
715 Whitehorse Rd, Mont Albert, Vic 3127
Tel (61) 03 9890 0304
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