The BSA Lightning Clubman was a production racing motorcycle, with a special gold and black paint scheme, ‘drop handlebars’, rearset footrests, a cranked kick-start, twin carburetors, ‘Siamese’ two into one exhaust system (with a less restrictive silencer), a single seat and close-ratio gears fitted as standard. With a top speed of 120 mph, it is one of the ultimate 1960s cafe racer bikes.
Launched in September 1964, the Lightning Clubman was only in production until October 1965, resulting in a limited production run of 200 machines, so original Clubman models are extremely scarce and few honest ones remain.
I was lucky enough to acquire this fully numbers matching, meticulously restored original Clubman in 2012. It has diabolical handling, is incredibly uncomfortable, loud, vibrates a lot, and is quite fast and wonderful.
