BSA A50

Real ownership data from 219 UK A50 motorcycles — mileage, MOT pass rates and the faults that actually come up, taken from DVSA test records rather than opinion.

UK examples

219

Median mileage

12,304 mi

Miles per year

177

MOT first-time pass

90.34%

Most common A50 problems

Ranked by how often each fault appears in this model's MOT history.

Fault	Severity	Share of faults
Brakes	fail	9.5%
Lights and indicators	fail	8.2%
Other	fail	3.3%
Tyres	fail	3.8%
Electrical	fail	2%
Steering and head bearings	prs	1.1%
Suspension	fail	4%
Fluid leaks	prs	0.9%

Advisories (wear noted but not failed) are excluded above; the most common is brakes.

A50 mileage and reliability by year

Use this to judge whether a specific bike is high or low mileage for its age.

Year	Examples	Median mileage	Miles/year	First-time pass
1970	14	12,708 mi	211	91.3%
1969	14	9,869 mi	318	91.26%
1968	13	6,640 mi	148	92.86%
1967	15	11,920 mi	284	95.29%
1966	14	20,471 mi	316	88.51%
1965	25	9,458 mi	153	88.49%
1964	28	18,846 mi	109	92.5%
1963	16	37,464 mi	177	88.8%
1962	21	15,106 mi	141	92.04%

A50 questions, answered with data

What are the most common problems with the BSA A50?

Across 219 UK examples, the most frequently recorded MOT faults are brakes (9.5% of all recorded faults), lights and indicators (8.2% of all recorded faults), other (3.3% of all recorded faults).

What is average mileage for a BSA A50?

The median BSA A50 in the UK has covered 12,304 miles, and typically rides about 177 miles a year. Half of all examples fall between 3,826 and 30,076 miles.

Is the BSA A50 reliable?

90.34% of BSA A50 MOT tests are passed first time, with an average of 0.4 faults recorded per test. This is measured from DVSA MOT records, not owner opinion.

Based on DVSA MOT test records for 219 BSA A50 motorcycles registered in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.