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BSA - Gold Star Price: from £6,500
Last Updated On: 20/03/2024
After a break of forty years, the iconic British motorcycle brand BSA is manufacturing in the UK again. Their first new model, Gold Star, while taking its inspiration and looks from the original Gpld Star DBD34, there are several concessions to modern day convenience, reliability and safety including an oil-tight engine!
The new bike is available in several different colour schemes, which will affect the price, including Shadow Black (image 5)
The fuel-injected, liquid-cooled, Euro-5 compliant bike, with Brembo brakes, ABS, Pirelli tyres and (importantly) an electric start, is suitably modern. There’s even a small LCD dash, a USB-A and USB-C charger on the bars and a DIN power socket. Reassuringly there are period touches too, with a set of traditional twin-dial clocks, a twist-off fuel cap and even a remote oil tank neatly complementing the overall classic look of the bike, with its period twin-shocks, spoked alloy rims, bench seat and carefully designed single-cylinder engine.
Making 45bhp at 6,500rpm and 40.5lb-ft at 4,000rpm, the BSA’s big 652cc single (which is basically a redesigned version of an old Rotax design) might not sound all that impressive on paper, but it’s actually one of the best bits of what’s in essence a pretty good bike. BSA’s done some clever work to balance the engine and reduce the vibrations, and it’s much smoother than you’d expect it to be. It’s still a single so if you’ll definitely know about it if you leave it in too high a gear, but in general it pulls smoothly and cleanly right through the revs as you work your way through its five-speed gearbox. With its historical connection to the ton-up club, the company has done all it can to ensure that the new ‘Goldie’ is capable of hitting 100mph.
The bike’s very easy to live with. The seat’s comfortable, the riding position’s neutral and riders of all shapes and sizes seemed at ease riding it. While it’s much more suited to short blasts and trips rather than big-mile touring, the 12-litre tank should happily offer the owner well over 150 miles before you need to take a trip to the petrol station (BSA actually claims it’ll do 70.6mpg).
