It’s hard to look at the 1969 BSA 441 Victor and not swoon over it at least a little bit. For its time, it was rugged-looking. The mid-scrambler pipe and polished aluminum tank with the front half partially adorned in a gloss yellow didn’t exactly hurt it in the looks department either. These bikes exude an old-school cool that wonderfully captures the state of MXers of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. This particular example is said to run very strong and fire up easily, and well…just look at it.
The current seller – who describes this example as “Very Original” – happens to be the second owner of this 48-year-old 441 Victor Special. Part of what makes this model increasingly desirable is that it’s typically a relatively great deal. Vintage UK bikes are popular so finding one that’s in decent shape – and that happens to be devilishly good looking – for around the $5k mark is pretty rare. Because BSA shipped so many to the US, finding parts for these bikes is a lot easier compared to other British street scramblers from this era.
BSA was enjoying marketing help after Jeff Smith had just won back to back world championship on the 441cc BSA Victor, and the British manufacturer capitalized on this by introducing a street-scrambler version of the Victor. Like every unit-construction single produced by BSA, the Victor’s engineering roots can be traced back to the 1953 150cc Triumph Terrier which was designed by Edward Turner, who didn’t design it as a race platform. BSA had owned Triumph two years prior to the Terrier, so in ’58 BSA took advantage of this by adopting the design (which led to the popular 200cc Tiger) for use in its own 250cc C15.
The Victor came at a time when both roadracing and off-road two-wheeled competition were in favor with the public and not unlike today’s scrambler craze, riders were clamoring for street machines with an off-road appearance. BSA sought to remind the market that it’s model was “the best” with the Victor’s moniker being a reference to its racing success.
Though a good deal of money was poured into developing the Victor, BSA was unable to bag a third title, coming close with back to back vice championships. Despite the extensive development it was nonetheless plagued with an unwanted collection of mechanical flaws and weaknesses. These were quite literally dirt bikes – with the exact same gearing as the MX model – engineered for off-road use that had been fitted with little more than lights and the other minor parts to make it streetable. To BSA’s credit, they did an amazing job of keeping the bike’s weight down with the Victor clocking in at roughly 100 lbs lighter than the iconic (380lb) Goldstar.
Though the Victor became popular as an offroad bike in the late 1960s, it had a number of fundamental flaws that plagued it over the years. First, the earliest street-legal models were little more than motocrossers with lights. They retained the 11:1 compression of the race bikes and they had a Lucas Energy Transfer battery-less ignition system that was less than stellar, often requiring an elaborate song and dance to get the high-compression single to start. Reading about this makes me more thoroughly appreciate thumbing my bike to life each day.
Power delivery wasn’t smooth at low RPMs as a result of the light flywheel, the gearbox mainshaft was susceptible to being bent by the engine’s torque, and the Victor had a big end bearing that was probably too small for the task being asked of it. This often unfortunately translated to premature bearing failure, while a clutch that was prone to slipping didn’t help any part of the situation. The Victor’s kinks were still very much being ironed out via further development.
Despite its flaws, the Victor is still an awesome bike. If you’re serious about actually riding this example there are a handful of mods that can greatly lessen time spent on the side of the road. Using an aftermarket electric ignition for a more dependable spark is a big one, to maintain a clean oil delivery using a better oil filter helps. To keep revs down – which owners do say is a problem on the street – a 19-tooth sprocket in place of the standard 17 reportedly helps a surprising amount. I saw one owner say he’s using a Norton Commando inline oil filter on his ’69 Victor, as well as boring out the carb and fitting the throttle side with a brass sleeve which supposedly increases the carbs life and reliability.
This example’s rims were just wrapped in a fresh set of rubber and looks to be 100% ready to go. While this Victor example comes at a little steeper than other examples of this not uncommon machine, its mechanical and cosmetic states are definitely worth a grand or two on a half century old motorcycle. You can find this “very original” 1969 BSA Victor Special for sale here on Craigslist in Medford, Oregon with a price of $6,500.