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Furthering my collection of strange WWII vehicles is my replica BSA Folding Bicycle.
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| "Gowgli" the folding bike |
History
During WWII, the British Army issued folding bicycles to their soldiers as a form of transportation.
One of the most famous of these bicycles were made by the Birmingham Small Arms Company, aka BSA. Nowadays, BSA is better
known for their motorcyles, but their folding bicycle was almost as famous. This bicycle was made
from light wieght steel tubing and designed to fold flat, with simple pegs instead of pedals. These bicycles were used
throughout the British Army and were seen on tanks, in landing craft and being used by paratroopers. Following are some
examples of how and where the bike was used.
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| BSA on a tank |
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| Airborne troops out practicing, 1944 |
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| How they jumped with it. |
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| BSA folding bicycle in use by a "Para". |
From the accounts I've read from the Parachute Regiment, the bicycle was more popular than the Welbike as a means of
transport, probably because it was just as uncomfortable to ride and pedaling a bike was more reliable than starting
the Villiers Junior engine.
After the war ended, many BSA folding bikes were sold as surplus to the Danish government. These bicycles were
re-stamped with Danish serial numbers and used in that country for many years. The bikes proved to be so popular that
a Danish company manufactured nearly exact copies of the BSA bike, the two distinguishing features of the copies were the
coaster brake and the front chain sprocket that had a plain spoke pattern, rather than the BSA initials.
Which brings us to the bicycle that I own. The original plastic handlebar grips have "Denmark" molded into them,
so I'm pretty certain this is one of the Danish bikes. Additionally, the coaster brake is marked "Made in West Germany"
so I'm certain that it was made before 1990. That's all I'm certain of. Some sources say that the Danish government
sold off large numbers of folding bicycles in 2000, so the chances are good that this is one of those bikes, but I have no
idea how it got from Denmark to Southern California.
My Bicycle
The next few shots show the condition of the bicycle when I bought it. At some point it had been given a thick
coat of grey paint, so thick that it obscured the serial number and engraving, so it wasn't until I started restoring
the bike to a British green color that I knew what I had.
I don't think the grey paint was original. It was an 1/8th of an inch think over the West German coaster brakes,
and the paint was falling off the wheels, where the chrome plating had been sprayed over with no surface prep or primer.
It took more than three weeks of sanding and stripping to get the old paint off. Then I used the Rustloeum's red
primer as a base for Marine Corps Green, the closest match to British Olive Drab that's availible in the States. A
major find was a British motorcycle restoration website that sold the proper BSA decals; the Army broad arrow, the BSA
patent declaration and the BSA stacked rifle logo. I've applied them as they would appear on a late war bicycle.
Ride Quality
I've had this bike out to a couple of events now, and can tell you it's a lot of fun. Just the thing for riding
around air shows; it's easy to pedal (although it helps to wear boots with a positive heel to stop your foot from coming off
the pegs). Because of its light weight and surprisingly small size when folded, it'll fit next to the Welbike in
the Toyota Matrix that my wife and I use to haul our re-enacting stuff in. Once unfolded, the large wheels allow the
bike to cover surprisingly rouch terrain and is easy to pedal on paved surfaces. In general, it's a nice vehicle and
I can see why they were popular with the soldiers.
News
06/11/2009
Gowgli and I attended the Wings Over Gillespie airshow and apparently we were somewhat of a hit. We're the subject
of a nice article written by a gentleman involved with InterbikeTimes International Bicycle Expo. Read his article here:
Interbike Times Article
Many thanks to Richard for his article!
On to more fun with vehicles.
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