You don't see one of these very often

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Was at a British pub today in my area for an event and this pulled up and parked next to my Triumph. You don't see an early S7 Sunbeam very often. Very cool inline 500. Guy rides it fairly regularly he said.
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Very cool, Thats a interesting engine for sure.

And that wonky Worm drive...
 
Beautiful old bike. The right shift, left brake, always made my rides on old Triumphs....interesting!
 
Originally Posted By: gman2304
Beautiful old bike. The right shift, left brake, always made my rides on old Triumphs....interesting!


To say the least, rode one in the mid 70's and had a blast.
 
Nice bike. Even better that the owner still takes it out from time to time, and it's not embalmed in some museum.
 
There was also a Norton 750 Combat and an old Matchless twin there, but the hipsters were gathered around them for too long and I couldn't get a picture.
 
If you ever get to England the National Motorcycle Museum has 3 or 4 Sunbeams in like new condition. I consider the Sunbeam to have one of the best layout designs for motorcycles: Double loop cradle frame, inline narrow engine with shaft drive, it all makes sense. Too bad the company didn't last longer.
 
I always read the issue with the Sunbeam was that they did not cool well, especially the early ones. The inline engine's rear cylinder did not cool very well.

I am always on the lookout here for a Panther thumper.
 
I would think that thing would be a handful to handle, especially with the Flintstone brakes! Neat bike tho!
 
Always liked the look of the Sunbeam, but they were slow back in the day of slow bikes. Back in the '70's I used to intersect with a guy commuting on a Sunbeam every morning, apparently he'd been on it for many years. He never acknowledged me - I guess he thought my '61 Norton was too modern.

Sunbeam was owned by BSA at the time, really just a badge to put on one of their bikes. They also owned Daimler cars in that period, and Edward Turner designed the Daimler V8's - not what I'd call a cottage industry.
 
29 Horsepower is about all they had. Definitely a commuter bike not a set your world on fire bike for it's day.
 
Well 24hp according to the website, but in the real world BSA's 500cc B33 put out 25hp and would clean up a Sunbeam, add some Goldstar cams and a high comp piston and the Sunbeam would be left in the dust.
 
It seems Sunbeam was going to introduce a much more powerful sport model but the ability of the rear worm drive to handle the power was in doubt...Nice classic Brit bike styling.

Sunbeam
 
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