The ABR is an adrenaline-fueled celebration—mixing off-road thrills, celeb riders, live music, and a vibrant communal spirit.

But what was it like as an observer working with BSA & Lukas Distribution?

For me this was my first experience of the event having been invited by Lukas Distribution. I admit to struggling a bit coping with 4 very hot days at the event suffering at the time with an Achilles tendon injury and raging earache. Even so, the atmosphere was infectious and the sheer size overwhelming. Over 17,392 adventure bike fans converged for four days from June 26–29, marking the largest ABR ever and organisers likened the setup to “the seventh-biggest town in Warwickshire”.

You need a good sense of direction

On arrival and negotiating entry across the estate, testing my off-road driving skills, I found the exhibitor parking and camping area. All camping is spread around the perimeter fields in complete organised chaos, you drive into your designated area and just pitch up; tents, campers and vans loaded with bikes just everywhere. Then there is the walk down the steep grassy hill towards the regal Ragley Hall, and on into the massive sprawl of suppliers, manufacturers, food and entertainment areas. More than 150 exhibitors, with over 50 UK retailers showing bikes, parts, camping gear, clothing, and gadgets. You must keep your wits about you when away from the main show areas as sometimes I found myself surrounded by riders on adventure bikes passing left and right. Then there is the constant noise and dust as the riders traverse the multitude of designated test tracks throughout the estate. People, dogs, bikes, music, food and drink, you can’t help getting caught up in conversations everywhere.

On the BSA stand

The BSA stand was very well placed with direct access to an impressive line-up of 12 demo Gold Star 650s directly in front of the stand. The stand itself was surrounded in hay bales and populated with a further 5 Gold Stars in various colour ways. Sadly, the Scramblers were not available in time, but banners proudly heralded their anticipated arrival.

For anyone thinking it's an easy life for the Lukas team attending a festival, you are very much mistaken. A fleet of vans and trailers packed full of bikes, gazebos and a multitude or paraphernalia needs to be driven across fields, and everything set up the Wednesday before and can't be packed up until late after closing on the Sunday.

Every day starts way before 7am as riders will be turning up very early, queuing up to gain a demo ride. Rides are led out every hour by an experienced ride leader and a tail rider. It looks very well organised as details are recorded, safety briefings undertaken and riders are shown over their bikes. The sound is awesome hearing a battalion of Gold Stars ride off for a 40-minute road experience. Every session was filled, and the bikes ran faultlessly. Talking to the head technician I learned that every bike was running the new June ECU map which he said was working perfectly.

The joy of conversation and bike banter

What really impressed me was just how many smiling faces I witnessed on return, so many comments expressed how surprised these seasoned adventure bike riders were with the Gold Star 650 performance and ride. And my engagement with visitors to the stand to examine the static bikes was equally enlightening. So often the first works expressed where “Is that all”, referring to the very reasonable pricing. I’m in my element stood talking to visitors, I’m able to share my personal experiences of 2 ½ years of ownership but conversations always take a twist. We share photos from our phones of classic bikes we have owned, share our views on other retros we have ridden and the best riding roads. The heat is oppressive, but the main show stand houses a chilled drinks fridge.

Throughout the entire event there were meetings, visits from the dealership network, conversations back to HQ, interviews and friendly banter with competitors. And of course, I have to mention the little line of Royal Alloy scooters with a sidecar outfit taking all the limelight at every photo opportunity. I had the pleasure of being taxied in it up the hill driven by Luke himself who I’m certain hit every grassy bump on purpose!

Saturday Owners Lunch

Lukas Distribution had kindly sponsored a buffet lunch on the Saturday for owners who registered through my Facebook group "Modern BSA Riders UK'. A community group I setup exclusively for owners of current and future modern BSA models. This group aims to be a safe place monitored to remain exclusively for UK owners and commercially vetted suppliers promoting a club atmosphere for meet-ups, ride-outs, social and technical support.

I was delighted to also be able to invite the National Secretary of the BSA Owners Club. Formed in 1958, it has grown into one of the largest single marque classic motorcycle clubs in the UK. We were able to talk to Lukas about the importance of the link between the classic and the modern and how we could forge stronger ties.

It was great to meet with all the owners and put faces to some names. Conversations flowed and clearly, we need more events now there are so many owners.

Lumpy Carb’s head-spinning experiences from the BSA Scrambler Bantam Press Launch 2025

…. And what it’s like to pretend to be a journalist and interview Anupam Thareja

I am clearly not a journalist, or a social media influencer, so it was a surprise to be given the rather daunting privilege to get one of the few slots to attend the press launch. We have waited a long time for the Scrambler and the BSA Bantam was still a carefully guarded secret. There had been much speculation as to the mysterious new arrival’s identity. Would it be a 125cc, a 350cc or even a larger twin? All has been revealed, and rumours given way to positive excitement and frantic broadcast. The pricing on both models is disruptive and I’m certain the Bantam 350 is particularly worrying to its competitors.

So, with everyone’s focus now on the new motorcycles, I thought I’d instead reflect on

BSA “The brand”. Share my experiences at the press launch and give my personal views having  had candid conversation with Anupam Thareja.

The evening reception

 The art’otel hotel, Hoxton is very impressive, befitting a global BSA motorcycle launch, and the evening gathering was held on the panoramic 25th floor looking out towards Canary Wharf. I was surrounded by professional industry journalists, whose articles you may now have read. There were of course several social media faces & senior committee members of the prestigious BSA Owners and Bantam clubs All enjoyed drinks a stupendous buffet while listening to a live band playing in the background. Keeping a careful eye on proceedings was Luke Gregory, MD of BSA UK’s sole distributer with his excellent hard working Lukas Distribution team.  Luke had told me the event excluded BSA staff and management so as not to be hounded by hungry journalists looking for a scoop.  But then I spotted Vikas Gautam, Sales & Marketing Leader at BSA plus others, then Boman Irani with his son and then Anupam Thareja**.

**To explain BSA company structure to those that don’t know, Mahindra & Mahindra owns a 60 per cent stake in Classic Legends, the owners of Jawa, Yezdi and BSA, while the balance is held by Anupam Thareja’s Phi Capital and the real estate developer Boman Irani. The three first came together to revive the iconic brands in 2018. The early business plans required careful navigation through Covid and without their leadership and commercial acumen, things may have taken a different path.   

Unexpectedly, Anupam took to the floor and explained a little of his motorcycling background and the journey towards working with Anand Mahindra. I’ll leave it to the professional press to enlighten you as to the resulting brief Q&A. Both Anupam and Boman were intending to be among the riders the following day. I have to say I was surprised to see them stay and chat with everyone but its clear BSA do things differently, on their own terms and inclusively.  The evening ended with a little memento of the launch given to everyone, a BSA branded cloth bag containing 2 exclusive T shirts and a celebration plaque.   

The day of the ride

The following day was full on, with an early start for Lukas Distribution and a large engineering team over from BSA India. All bikes had to be unloaded and made ready at the famous Bike Shed venue in Hackney.  An impressive 35 Bantams and 20 Scramblers were secreted away in the undercover railway arch parking area at the rear.

I arrived before 9 am to be greeted by the sight of a Legacy Gold Star 650 guarding a long courtyard running the full length of the buildings and behind it, my very first sighting of 2 Barrel Black Bantams proudly sporting Union Jack tank embellishment behind a red BSA logo. What a sight, of course I took pictures and, to be honest my heart was racing, wow they looked so good. A mixture of relief and excitement followed, clearly these were winners.

Banners and hoardings were everywhere, so too were black BSA T shirts sporting the new graphics and slogans. Before the garage to the left was the function room with a few staff and early visitors eager to get the first glimpse and photos of the display motorcycles. Uploading was not allowed at this time, and we all used the opportunity to take our first in depth look at the bikes. A little later I was given the nod and uploaded my shaky camera shots. Looking around everyone was doing the same. Pricing and presentations would follow at around 5 pm but next was the ride out.

Its hard to express the atmosphere but returning to the courtyard we discovered all the bikes were now lined up ready go. - So many brand new, never seen before motorcycles, in all colourways. The safety briefing been completed, everyone mounted up on an allotted bike and the lead rider started his Gold Star followed by a “battalion” of brand new BSAs. And then they were away, riding to the Rykas Café at Box Hill for a light lunch and some one-to-ones. You will have seen by now the first video blogs and experienced the online euphoric enthusiasm.

As this is not about just the bikes I’ll move on to their return thundering trough the courtyard, what a joyous soundtrack. Every helmet removed showed a grinning face and such positive comments.  The venue now was full and alive with conversation; late guests were arriving and soon the presentations started. We heard the history of BSA from the National Motorcycle Museum Director, followed by BSA club champions, and reflections on the mark BSA had in the history of scrambling. We also had insight from Stanley Johnson on his early adventures on a BSA and his new series with his son Max, In the footsteps of Marco Polo, completing the journey he started over 60 years ago on BSAs.

Next came a briefing on the motorcycles themselves, an explanation on the ethos behind the designs, and the intended audiences. It reminded me a bit like enabling the viewer to fully understand the meaning of the artwork. This of course enables the journalists and influencers to better interpret the intentions. I wonder how well that has come across?

Then the event finale, Anupam expressed his personal insight and reasoning behind the models and revealed those astonishing prices. Afterward, the audience asked more questions and to be honest I don’t think the most was made of this, I think the day had overwhelmed many with so much to absorb.

But the day was not over for me, Luke had told me I was going to meet Anupam privately and ask a few questions.

I’m no interviewer and I certainly did not want to waste his time, but I really wanted to understand why anyone would want to invest in such a risky and expensive venture. I wanted to know what drove him to buy the BSA brand and assets, how he perceived things were going and where indeed things were headed.  So my views as expressed, trying to figure out what lies behind the brand name of BSA.

I sat between Anupam and his dinner reservation – so no pressure.

There have been many interviews and articles featuring Anupam, but one thing stuck in my mind. I recall that the revival of BSA nearly didn’t happen.  Anupam’s was not the highest bid, but he was the only one who intended to bring BSA back to life - not mothball it as a future asset.  This was the clincher; it sealed the deal and changed history.

We sat in a quiet area on a large leather chesterfield, no pressure at all when interrupted by a waitress for his dinner order. My first impression was that this man listens, nothing leaves his lips until he has thought about it, and he wears his heart on his sleeve, I could tell if a question really resonated with him. “There will not be a 125cc because it’s not his interest”. I suspect there are also commercial sensibilities as well, but he does everything is on his own carefully considered terms. That said, rather than chasing market share recklessly, I believe the mindset is to drive innovation with a desire to launch a limited but meaningful set of motorcycles. The focus seems to be on championing differentiation over mass appeal.

His passion for motorcycles shines through, so does the love of the BSA heritage, meetings were held very early on with the UK owners club and National Museum. Anupam wanted to get it right, ensure a respectful and fully immersive reflection of what makes a motorcycle a BSA motorcycle. He’s clearly very proud of what’s been achieved, not just as a business leader, but as a builder of brand heritage and community. He embraces a philosophy of “failing gloriously” rather than pursuing volume at the cost of identity. And that explains to me the revived Gold Star 650, it reflects careful engineering, rideability, and aesthetic integrity. This was never going to be a superficial branding project, it had to be right, and he’s not scared of bumps in the road.  

The messaging for the future was clear, Classic Legends will be a global success but not at the expense of his personal vision. He aspires to be a custodian of BSA and rejects short term ‘fad’ distractions. There is a genuine wish to bring back motorcycling to the next generation, the Batam was launched with this very message. 

A desire to inspire the next generation of freedom and independence. Help write the story with the most uncomplicated and accessible introduction to the joys of motorcycling.

And something else struck me too, what other motorcycle brand is so approachable? So watch out world, BSA has only just begun and its in safe hands

……... And yes more models will come……...