For anyone who doesn’t already know, it’s the (new) BSA Gold Star, a 650cc single manufactured by Mahindra, the Indian conglomerate that bought the BSA name a few years back
As Bloor did with Triumph, they’ve (understandably) played heavily on the original 50s/60s BSA bikes heritage, with what I think is a good styling job, mimicking the shape and looks of the old air-cooled BSA single motor, albeit it’s more B31 style than DBD34 IMO, but I think they’ve done an a decent job in that respect.
It’s liquid-cooled, but at a glance, you’d take it as air-cooled, and the way the cases look, you’d think it was a pushrod engine too, but of course it’s not.
The styling job is fairly thorough, they’ve mimicked Smiths chronometric clocks that the original Gold Star (and countless other brit bikes of that era) had and even chucked the warning lights in a little Miller/Lucas ammeter size display in the headlight, which is pretty neat I reckon,
And they've also hidden the cat/silencer under the engine to allow them to give it a 60s burgess-style "silencer"
So, what does it ride like?
I arrived at the dealer on my Tuono, so was expecting something very different, and of course, it is, but although it is I think built down to a price, I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed my time on it more than I did on the two Enfield Interceptors that I rode, which I guess is probably what most people considering a purchase would compare it to – yep, the Interceptor is a twin, but it’s the same cc and similar sort of power and price- it wouldn’t be fair to compare the BSA to an Enfield single I think.
Positives:
- Engine
- Brakes:-
- Finish:
- The feeling of weight
Negatives:
- Suspension:
) it really was pretty poor, sort of pogo-ed and caused me to back off a bit- I really don’t understand why it has to be like this, it really wouldn't add that much to the price to put some properly functional suspension on it, but it's something that most "budget" sort of bikes seem to suffer from to a greater or lesser extent.- View from LHS:
- the nasty cheap looking little indicators also let it down a bit I think
Overall, I was quite pleasantly surprised, and it was better than I expected it to be. I’m really not a fan of noisy bikes but it’s far (far) too quiet as standard, although that is apparently easily rectified, and if you’re a born-again-er, or just like the looks and fancy something for weekend bimbles out on a sunny day, I don’t reckon you’d be disappointed, and with a few ££ spent on better suspension, and a little bit more styling ( some lower bars and nicer quality wheel spindles and indicators etc for me). it would be loads better.
I didn’t buy one, but if I did, this would be the colour option for me- the " Heritage, which has the chrome guards and polished/ chrome engine cases
And finally, I just couldn’t resist stopping for a pic outside this place on “ mine”, seemed appropriate….
