3/31/2024 0 Comments 3dlabprint spitfire mk ivThe first rendition, in ’66, was labeled the Mark II, as BSA had previously used the name in the Spitfire Scrambler of 1957.Ĭlaiming 55 horsepower and a top speed of 120 mph, the Mark II was the kind of kick-ass motorcycle that manly men chose to ride. Harry Sturgeon, BSA’s managing director, decided to give the ex-colonials exactly what they wanted, a hot-rodded, highly chromed, Royal Red 650 twin called the Spitfire that could blow off any hapless rider on a Triumph Bonneville or Royal Enfield Interceptor. Dependability? Who cared? The commute to work was done in a Ford or a Chevy. Well-mannered commuter twins did not sell worth a damn to the power-crazed Yanks, who looked at quarter-mile times and top speeds as the main virtues of any motorcycle. The major market for their 650 twins was the U.S., and Americans wanted horses-lots of horses. Back in the early 1960s, many British bike companies were cheerfully warring with each other, paying no attention to the threat coming from the Orient.
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