The BSA Regal Group do still use the winged BSA logo. I don't really understand how multiple companies can use the same name but I expect the Indian company have bough the rights to the name in India etc and will have to pay a percentage on any bike sold in the UK.?

I used to get on well with Nick Hopkins when he ran Andover Norton and I know that's how it worked when BSA Regal owned Andover Norton. If they sold anything to Europe, Joe Seifert would get a cut as he owned the name there. Now he's bought Andover Norton, he probably pays his company in Europe royalties when parts are exported

email (option): horror@blueyonder.co.uk

Because a company gets broken up and all the divisions have rights to the name.
BSA is used by
Raleigh or whoever bought them out and they still sell BSA pushbikes
The Guns division is still making air rifles ( AFAIK )
And whoever bought the guns division sells sights and scopes under the BSA name.
Whoever ended up with Ransoms lawnmowers still has the rights to put BSA on the side of their engines.
You can still buy BSA tools in particular BSA taps & dies, die nuts & thread chasers.
Who ever bought up the powder metallurgy division off Poore still sells BSA branded sintered bronze filters.

VW owns the name Rolls Royce in the UK, Ireland, Canada & most of Asia but BMW owns the name in Europe & North Amercia
Thus BMW make Rolls Royces in Germany & sell them in Amercia while VW makes Bentleys in the Rolls Royce factory.
Then when it comes to old parts they finally came to an agreement so I buy a new hubcap from Rolls Royce in Crew and it comes in a sealed package labled "Genuine Crew Parts".
But if I buy a set of shocks from Bilstern they come in a package labled "Genuine Rolls Royce Parts"

email (option): bsansw1@tpg.com.au

A friend was importing one of those Chinese horror 250's , Star I think was the name. He had just taken delivery of 200 of them ( minimum order ) when distribution rights were purchased by a franchise in Melbourne who then demmanded he pay royalties for using "their" brand name.
Removing the names from the bikes buggered the paintwork so another mate sprayed some "tags" on the bikes to cover the damaged paintwork & they were sold as "graffiti criminals " the learners could not get enough of them.
To these kids , BSA is a brand of skateboard.

email (option): bsansw1@tpg.com.au

I am not really bothered about these old brand names being used to sell new offerings from overseas; even the AMOC has been saying kind of nice things about the "new" AJS Cadwell, I think in gratitude that an AMC brand has received ANY attention! No, I am more bothered that new higher volume vehicle British brands are not replacing the old ones! But perhaps that is more a sign of the times that national branding of such goods is a thing of the past, as the UK churns out its Hondanissanotas.

I have to say the most common question I get when I'm riding is "Is it real or fake" then you tell them it's original and they go, "Ooooooooh!" :-) So I think even the uninformed know there is a difference between the real thing and a knock off. I do have to admit, I'll cringe when they start making Norton's in Taiwan!

A few years back Mahindra tried to launch here in the states in the farm and garden equipment field. It did not do very well against domestic and Japanese brands. "Putting their own name on it" probably will not work for bikes, either. I think a different name is, in fact, a necessity, although I question the choice of BSA. The only people who even remember that name are OFs like (I presume) many on this forum, including me.

Badge engineering is not new and it certainly is not an Indian or Chinese invention. I don't think India-made REs are doing too badly, in fact, in my part of the world they are doing pretty well. My local Triumph dealer, who is also a RE dealer, is devoting more and more showroom space to RE and less to Triumph. And I don't see the prices of Interceptors and other Redditch-made REs doing anything but rise, despite (because of?) the India imports. I don't think the use of a defunct name has hurt the original brand.

How would we characterize the 500 and 750 Harleys, whose engines are made in India, are they a "foreign" bike or a "domestic" one? Is it "badge engineering" or genuine? At what percentage of foreign-made parts does it switch from one to the other (not 51% because there is no way to determine that). And how do you feel about the W-type Kawasakis, spitn' image of BSA A10? Prices of the copy are overtaking the originals. Drats, too much thinking - I'd rather escape to the shack to do some productive work and not worry about things I can't do anything about.

email (option): jonny.rudge@verizon.net

Its just a name Ian. We have the real thing, real Birmingham-made machines that have stood the test of time and which will never be sullied by any cheap latecomer. Don't fret it. :)

email (option): BSAChris@gmail.com

I've just stumbled across this..! Is this the new BSA Victor? I'm guessing it's just an artists impression but it looks good,I've seen a lot worse looking bikes anyway. Maybe Mahindra will do something good with the BSA name after all...?





http://naikmotor.com/tag/birmingham-small-arms-mahindra

email (option): horror@blueyonder.co.uk