Martin Squires Automotive Illustration: N.S.A. Sprint, Weston Zoyland

Weston Zoyland is a local sprint event run by the National Sprint Association (N.S.A). I've been trying to attend this event all year and luckily I managed to make the last meeting of the year. I have to say this was one of the main highlights of my year; the simplicity of the set up, the friendly and inclusive atmosphere all came together to show what the motorcycling community can achieve without spending horrendous amounts of money and getting wrapped up in a huge amount of red tape. Everybody was helping and watching out for each other so that everybody could enjoy the one common bond, going as fast as you can on a quarter mile drag strip on an old RAF airfield.

I wish I'd had more time to sketch the variety of machines in attendance. Funnily enough it turned out that all the machines I sketched were powered by BSA units....

Brian White's 125 Bantam

(ink sketch)

Brian's BSA Bantam was exactly what I was hoping to see at Weston Zoyland, as I dream of building such a machine for sprinting. This Bantam has been sprinting in various events since 2000 and has been developed and tweaked over the 15 year period. After giving up Bantam Road Racing in 1999 after an off, Brian had someone buy his racing machine and so he was left with a spare engine and some spare bits behind his lathe which became the sprint machine you see here. Hung on a D7 Bantam frame (the frame of choice of road racers for it's strength) is a 125 engine with a reproduction BSA Bantam trials barrel. The Barrel comes from an original BSA pattern that Brian has been constantly tweaking, trying new configurations in order to get the best from the humble 125. the Bantam has an all steel clutch and a 4 speed box known within the Bantam world as a 'Brian Box', as Brian has configured the box to use various gears from different Bantam gearboxes in order to get a good racing arrangement. The rather fetching red tank is a Raleigh cycle motor tank 'possibly the fastest in the world' Brian's brother said before bursting out with laughter.

P & R BSA Special

(ink sketch)

My second sketch of the day was this great BSA special which uses a 1970's grass track frame. I will get more information on this fantastic machine and update the post when I do.

Supercharged BSA Drag Bike

(ink sketch)

I can't help but sketch these nostalgic drag bikes this BSA has a frame with an unknown history. It used to run a Shorrocks Supercharger until that became unusable it now uses a more modern Mercedes supercharger running around 12 - 13 pounds of boost.

Again I'm looking for more information on this bike so I will update when I have it.