1954 BSA C11G before restoration

This BSA C11G has a history to be proud of. It was purchased originally by Professor Rathore in England. He was an Agricultural Scientist, who then brought down the bike to Coimbatore. After being sold to another gentleman here in Coimbatore, it was finally procured by Muthukumar.

1954 BSA C11G : Workshop Badge

Now this was the period when the stickers you and I take for granted weren’t around. When a motorcycle was serviced at a workshop, they promptly riveted a badge onto the mudguard of the motorcycle. The ‘Elite Motors Tooting Limited’ badge mainly made out of brass had to be plated with gold again, and the colors brought out from under a layer of grime.

Muthukumar gives us a glimpse into the AIHMR 1972 and reminisces about his tiny sectol tool room:

In the late ’60s when Sholavaram’s WW2 air strip was opened for racing, my Dad tuned cars for Mr.Karthikeyan, Mr.Vasanth Kumar & few others like JUGOO NICHOLSON from Bombay. He also participated in various TSD Rallys & won them.

In 1972 a mega ” ALL INDIA HIGH WAY MOTOR RALLY ” was organized by Indian Oil Corporation. The rally had four starting points, Delhi, Calcutta, Bombay and Madras,for the Northen Leg, Eastern Leg, Western Leg and Southern Leg respectively. There were nearly 160 participants. All were stock cars with limited performance modifications. I think there were restrictions on the engine displacement, like up to 2.6 L.Most of the participants were in Jeeps,Ambys, Premier Padmini’s, Heralds and yes there were few special cars like the Pegout 404 , Hillman Minx 4, Austin Cambridge, some ’60s English Fords & Italian 1100 plus Fiats etc.

The 1968 Ambassdor (MDM 6226) driven by Mr. G.R. Karthikeyan, with team mates Mr.M.D.Mangalakaran, and Mr.R.Ranganathan and tuned by my dad Mr. M.Kanakachalam was placed first overall & was also first in the Southern Leg.

1972 All India Highway Motor Rally - Route Map1972 All India Highway Motor Rally - Winning Team

MDM 6226 is still with the Karthikeyan family, running on a Matador 305 engine, with the rally winning engine preserved for posterity. It was by chance I stumbled upon the car on a fine day in Coimbatore.

1972 All India Highway Motor Rally Winner1972 All India Highway Motor Rally Winner

After that year never missed any Sholavaram races, but till now never stepped into Irungukatukottai. In 1996, my tiny sector tool room was flooded with various TOOLS ( Dies), at one point of time some portions of the tools were developed at my unit. I had worked on TVS -Suzuki’s Feiro front mudguard, LML freedom’s side panel with utility box, LML scooters steering bottom tools, Clutch cover etc.,

TVS Suzuki Fiero Front MudguardLML Energy Side Panel Utility Box

I had chance to interact with two wheeler design & production guys and was wondering about the present trend of fast development of components, R & D, marketing, development in metallurgy in past 3 decades, using computers in development, production ,marketing and further refinement. All of which led me to think about the first wooden bike made by legendary Daimler in 1890’s and to the present day’s modern superbikes. EVOLUTION, INNOVATION hence PASSION .

Till 2003 I couldn’t pursue my dreams. After my dad’s demise in 2003, I couldn’t even catch up with my daily routine, slowly sometime in mid 2004, I realized the need to be engage myself in some sort of quality activities, it was almost a DO or DIE situation.

1954 BSA C11G : Authentic Grips1954 BSA C11G :Smiths Meter

Muthukumar pointed out the grips on the bike and asked me to read the imprint on it. ‘Made in England’ it said proudly. These are authentic ‘Britax’ grips. How this motorcycle managed to stay so beautiful through all the decades is still a mystery. Typically British Smiths Meter.

1954 BSA C11G : The Horn Button1954 BSA C11G : Lucas Horn

The C11G was fitted with a Lucas ‘Altette’ horn, activated using the lovely brass switch right next to the front brake lever. Muthukumar says this was the only horn to have a CAST IRON body. It is of much intrigue to him, why Lucas selected such a brittle metal like cast iron for the horn body, over other materials like mild steel & alloys of that period. Muthukumar believes this is to suppress the higher frequency sounds, which was common in most of the big guys horns like Bosch, Jalwa, Koito, Fiem of that period. This meant Altette horns sounded less shrill and much more sweet & cool.

1954 BSA C11G : Ignition cum Lighting Switch1954 BSA C11G :

More controls! The image on the left shows the ignition cum lighting switch. The image next shows the headlamp ‘cowl’ that was an addition to the C11 range in 1954. The switch in this picture is an aftermarket ( shudder! ) addition that substituted for the original lighting switch.

The ignition switch in EMG emergency position is intended for starting when the battery is discharged. In this position with the lights switch in the OFF position the full output of the alternator goes into the battery. This will raise the voltage of a discharged battery to a level sufficient to start the engine. In the EMG position the charge rate is high — the engine should not be run in EMG too long. The boost charge thus provided may be used to restore a discharged battery.

It is recommended that once the engine is running, to turn over to the IGN (Ignition) position after around ten minutes. There is also an arrangement in the system that back pressure of the battery will increase as its charged in the EMG position, and once its strong enough to affect the ignition system, the engine starts misfiring, performing badly and reminding the rider to switch back to IGN.

Muthukumar and his ultimatum : Do or Die

Do or Die. I decided to DO with my dreams. My first acquisition was a 1957 Lambretta 48, it was sheer junk, but with all vital parts! I worked to restore her with utmost care and slowly my TWO stroke fever faded and started loving various machines of bygone era. At this juncture, I want to point out an important POINT. If you would have noticed ” BIKE COLLECTIONS” among our enthusiasts usually means “only British Bikes”. Anything small other than 350cc was ridiculed! I still remember a guy looking at me like I was an alien when I went to pick my present 1961 Jawa for my collection. Not every collector is like that, but mostly, they are.

I did not believe in numbers. I did not have a goal of 50 bikes, or 100 bikes. My wish was to atleast see the various types of machines in automobile history (cars and bikes!). If I live past 60, by God’s grace I have plans to visit various Museums around the world.My intention was to collect various types like 4 stroke, 2 strokes, OHV , SV, air-cooled, water cooled, various ignition types, various suspensions, different steering geometry, various types of transmissions and so on.
Once my Lambretta ’48 was completed I thought,’A step through with 2 speed twist gear , a 2 stroke bike AUTO CYCLE category, maybe next I should have a TWIST and GO bike, that too India’s first in that category a moped, namely MOTOBECANE and just like that it all started.

‘ Am a firm believer of the saying : “Understanding the past thoroughly , will work wonders at present”

This correspondent believes that, that is a fitting conclusion to this feature on a very beautiful motorcycle, with an equally glorious history, and we mean the part where it was purchased by an Indian in England, in 1954!

More pictures for the insatiable lot.

Muthukumar's 1954 BSA C11G at B&QRest Garage, CoimbatoreMuthukumar's 1954 BSA C11G at B&QRest Garage, CoimbatoreMuthukumar's 1954 BSA C11G at B&QRest Garage, CoimbatoreMuthukumar's 1954 BSA C11G at B&QRest Garage, Coimbatore
Muthukumar's 1954 BSA C11G at B&QRest Garage, CoimbatoreMuthukumar's 1954 BSA C11G at B&QRest Garage, CoimbatoreMuthukumar's 1954 BSA C11G at B&QRest Garage, CoimbatoreMuthukumar's 1954 BSA C11G at B&QRest Garage, Coimbatore