BKS
Bengt Karlström Special, built in Sala
Bengt rode solos and sidecars, road and track. He rode a Triumph Trophy in the 1952 Hedemora TT, he rode in many sidecarcross events, he scrambled big singles and he even rode the Wall of Death.
His BKS machines were many and varied - there was a watercooled Husqvarna-based fourstroke, another of his off-road solo machines was the lovechild of BSA and Norton, and the engine which propelled his MX sidecar had an Albin crankcase and a Velocette top end, bored and stroked to 586cc.
Bengt was born in Fjärdhundra on 12 May 1934 and grew up in what was then on the outskirts of Sala; one of his neighbours was Vilmer Lundell. Sala Motor-Drom was built in 1937 by Salabon Yngve Vallsten. During 1945 Vilmer ran what came to be called the Sala Motor Cirkus. Both he and his son Ove, 15 at the time, rode The Wall. It turned out to be a good introduction to the sport, as Ove went on to become 500cc motocross world champion.
Bengt and two companions became owners of the Sala Motor-Drome in 1991. The 'drome had a diameter of 8.6 meters, giving a track length of approximately 27 meters. The walls were made of wood and 4.6 meters high, all held together by steel wires. Bengt was one of the three "Death Riders", and in addition to the very obvious age gap differed to the younger men in that he always rode without a helmet.
Source: Lindstrom MX
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