BSA Gold Star

Message

Thumper · #1 Post by **Thumper** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 5:33 pm

This brought back memory's and to think I actually owned one and sold it for £475 I must be made

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKYZSL6PK-s

fastasfcuk · #2 Post by **fastasfcuk** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 11:36 pm

you could put 0 at the end of that now and double it

HowardQ · #3 Post by **HowardQ** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 11:48 pm

They were a fabulous bike though, when I was in my early twenties my mate had a DBD34 Clubman Goldie, when I had my Paul Dunstall Norton Dommie 650SS.
We don't know how lucky we are starting bikes these days, get that Goldie on the wrong stroke with the kickstart and it could break your leg. Then again once you got it started the big Amal carb would try to suck your leg off!
He used it on road and for club racing, had to slip the clutch in 1st until it got to 30mph! But what a bike, the Norton wasn't bad either, alloy tank, clips ons, swept back pipes and megaphone silencers. I sold it pretty cheap as well, when I gave up biking for the first time to build a rally car!

Goldie · #4 Post by **Goldie** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 9:36 pm

HowardQ wrote:...get that Goldie on the wrong stroke...

D-Rider · #5 Post by **D-Rider** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 10:17 pm

Goldie wrote:
HowardQ wrote:...get that Goldie on the wrong stroke...

Pierre · #6 Post by **Pierre** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 9:58 am

Goldie wrote:
HowardQ wrote:...get that Goldie on the wrong stroke...

My dad has (amongst other rattley smokey smelly classics) a BSA silver star. No idea on the difference apart from its worth a small % of a gold star. Its not even silver.

And yea, i can relate to the kickstarting of them. Fiddling with my dads timing I went to start it and it kicked back. Pushed my ankle up and snapped the bottom of both bones in my leg. I still have the stainless self tappers they used

3 months off work though so wasnt all bad.

HowardQ · #7 Post by **HowardQ** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 7:09 pm

Sorry Goldie !!
But I suppose somebody kicking you up the wrong way, might also be endangering their health!
The bike could be a pig though, as could any big high compression single at that time. Worst I ever had was with my own Velocette Venom, forgot to set things right, when starting it, not long after I got it and ended up on my arse at the other side of the bike in front of a load of mates.

Leg was intact but pride seriously damaged. They never let me forget it for years.

fastrider · #8 Post by **fastrider** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 8:16 pm

Never knew they were that vicious!

Got a set of books on the old (but good) stuff (BSA,Norton,Triumph) giving model types and detailed info etc. I have always fancied owning a Gold Star to fettle with and cherish on sunny Sunday afternoons.

One of my wife's relations races one of these in New Zealand (club level stuff). Amazing to see all these older bikes doing the rounds.

Feel quit jealous of you lot now.

HowardQ · #9 Post by **HowardQ** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 10:48 pm

Just an old fart really and spent too long on bikes (only joking, loved every minute really!).
Old twins weren't too bad really, the sports (high compression) singles were the worst. It's so simple starting a bike now - set choke or some sort of slow running adjustment, if you have one, and thumb the button, and wait for the ECU display to tell you it's warmed up and ready.
Was a bit different then - (this is just a simplified version) -
Turn on the petrol tap, set the choke/air mixture, tickle the carb, retard the ignition, lift the valve lifter to lower the compression, work the kickstart to get onto the compression stroke, launch the kickstart all the way down.
If you got just the right setting on all the above and got the kick just right, it might just think about starting, but on a good day you'd be repeating it a few times. Some days you just never got it started and you'd spend the next hour or so wiping water off plug leads with a mucky rag from the toolbox (no WD40 then!), checking plugs, checking points on the magneto etc., etc..
Bit difficult to explain, but when kickstarting a bike, you had to make sure to complete the stoke to disconnect the kickstart ratchet from the engine.
On a bad day, the engine could fire back and if you had not completed the full stroke it would fire the kickstart lever back up, it was rare to suffer like Pierre did, but in my case it fired my leg and the rest of me over the other side of the bike onto my arse, (I was a lot lighter then!).
If you could ever afford a Goldie, you'd probably love it more than any other bike. We tend to like bikes like the the Falco and most Dukes etc., cos they have character, but all bikes had it then. The Japanese took away the unreliability but the character seemed to go with it.
Ah the memories!

Sorry I'll shut up now.

Samray · #10 Post by **Samray** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 11:04 pm

They were outta my price range at the time, I was prolly onna Matchless twin that was already old, but there was one in the family. I really must sort thro some of the old albums.

Aladinsaneuk · #11 Post by **Aladinsaneuk** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 11:09 pm

I used to share a couple of bonnies with my dad - and the 1963 650 was a lot of fun - and a huge character - and yes, untill I learnt the knack - a bitch to start

(Lets just say you wore boots... not suede slip ons!)

HowardQ · #12 Post by **HowardQ** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 12:52 am

Seein' as I'm now stuck in nostalgia mode, when I should be in bed, this is the list of most of the Brit bikes I've owned -
Velocette MAC 350 Single
Velocette Viper 350 Single
BSA A7 Star Twin 500
Velocette Venom 500 Single
Matchless G12 650 CSR Sports twin (love of my life 40+ years ago)

Same Matchless with 600 Norton Dommie engine fitted after two broken cranks, (Couldn't find a Triumph 650 as everybody was fitting em in Norton frames, so bought an ace Dommie 600 engine for a song off somebody who'd built a Triton).
Norton Dominator 650SS, Paul Dunstall Cafe Racer. (The dogs B*******)

Triumph Tiger 110 650 Twin
Matchless 350 single
All were great in their own way and always nice to remember them.
Plus a number of other odds and sods and basket cases over the years.
One of the serious basket cases was an ex Tom Kirby AJS 7R Racer (350 OHC Single).
Paid a lot of money for a "genuine" bike in bits, in a large wooden crate (almost a basket). Paid silly money cos it had always been a dream to own/race one. Would have cost me an absolute fortune as it was a pile of shite reallty, and ended up re-selling the bits at a serious loss.
Kept me out of biking for a while.
Then there's the Jap 2 strokes....................and Jap IL4s..........

Trumpeteer · #13 Post by **Trumpeteer** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 10:23 pm

Had a Norton ES2 500 single. That ate shin bones and calf muscles.
Last Brit was a Aerial Square 4 about 10 years ago (not counting the SP3)

Favourite.....A Bantam Bushman, just had so many giggles on that baby.