Hare’s must rank as one of the wiliest of animals: the ears of a rabbit, whiskers of a cat, pace of a greyhound, attitude of a lion. They gave rise to the Brer Rabbit stories through the ‘Trickster’ tales brought from Africa; the christians took over Pagan symbolism of  the goddess Ēostre who symbolised spring with the hare transformed into the easter bunny as well as the use of eggs then too (the crucifiction has nothing to do with easter, bunnies and eggs). Now where were we? A BSA single rushing along at a good clip with the English hedgerow whistling by at a blur can be seen to be ‘haring’ along: the verbisation of our Lepusian pal. So when I spotted this custom BSA single dressed up in a spare frame akin to our sinewy coursing friend, I knew we had the moto embodiment of our Mad March Haigha.

Well “Son of a Gun” is that bike. Built by Lamb Engineering under the watchmaker-like eye of Larry Houghton. Based on a half litre lung single it has been fashioned to present a lean line based on speed. Juicy rubber held by an ample front disc with low, low bars for a streamlined stance. The honey-gold colour radiates a warm spring afternoon. I’d love to be hunkered down on this machine, along some arrow-straight roman roads up Northumbria, an Anglo-Saxon history intertwined in the landscape around me. I wish they’d read Beowulf to us at school, not the Testaments…

 Time for tea? Why it’s always time for tea!