1933 BSA B33-1 250cc

One of mine. If you thought a B33 was a post-war 500cc single - well, it was. But BSA's model numbering system was different in the early thirties. 'B' meant 250cc, 33 was the year of manufacture, and the -1 meant the "cooking" model, a humble side-valve. There was also an ohv -2 and a sports -3. This angle shows how slim bikes used to be before transverse multi-cylinder engines became the norm. (Actually, I chose this shot because it was the only one without lots of background clutter. Sometime, I'll have to haul this out and re-photograph it from the side).