HOW MUCH WILL THE 2022 BSA GOLD STAR COST?
[Anupam] You will get to know in a few days
but I will leave it here that we understand that psychological mark in UK of 10k, and I,
I will not let the bean counters come in and tell me to make money on this one. I
want people to ride this bike, right, so no, we will be there. We will be,
if somebody considers motorcycles in this category, price will not be the reason will
not be out. But you'll know in a few days so I don't want to go more on that.
WHAT'S BEEN THE DELAY IN BRINGING THE BIKE TO THE MARKET?
[Ashish] So there is of course the covid related delays which have happened already, plus
our choice of appointing a distributor.
We've taken our time to appoint a distribution partner because we wanted to get a partner who was
well aligned to the way we think, and we wanted to be aligned to what their business goals were.
WHO ARE YOUR DISTRIBUTERS?
So we've just sorted out distribution for the UK and five, six countries in Europe as of now.
UK is, we're going with a company called Lucas Distribution who are based out of Coventry,
and again I can tell you Luke Gregory who's the managing director of Lucas Distribution,
a second, third generation entrepreneur, his dad started the two-wheeler distribution
business with them. They've also taken over a dealership named Lloyd Cooper which is
one of the oldest motorcycle dealerships in the UK. They've been BSA dealers since 1910.
So what a wonderful way to go back into selling bikes in the UK with a company which can
trace its history back all those years. Europe is again something that we would announce over
the next few days, but about five to six countries. So we'd start off with France, Italy, Spain, Germany,
Austria, Switzerland. These are the the five or six countries that we would start off with.
We're almost ready to make that announcement as well.
[Alex] When will the bike go to Australia and New Zealand, America? [Ashish] So we're looking at all of
that. So essentially we're looking at North America, North and Central America. So
America, US, Canada and Mexico together. That plus Australia, New Zealand and I typically
call it Australasia because you'd add in Korea and Japan there as well, all of these for next year.
WHERE WILL BSA BIKES BE MADE?
We're talking with the government and the DIT, The Department for International Trade,
to identify suitable locations in and around the West Midlands sort of area. And it'll
effectively depend upon how do we see that thing expand for us. So both of these models
we would actually want to make them here. That's been our stated goal as well before.
But we'll have to see how it goes along because in the covid period we've already established
a manufacturing facility for the Gold Star in India. Ideally that should have been here. And
now that we've established it there, how much of that is possible to move
here because machining centres and stuff is not not easy to move and set up again.
So we'll take a call on that as we go along. For now they're manufactured out of India
but as soon as we have our facility discussions closed, is where we would then start looking at
okay how much do we manufacture there, how much do we manufacture here, from a Gold Star perspective.
Electric of course is a different question altogether, that will be manufactured here.
WHAT'S THE WARRANTY ON THE BIKE?
So it's a two year unlimited mileage warranty on them.
[Alex] What does it cover? [Ashish] It covers all the regular stuff that you would need. Just
like any other manufacturer's warranty it would cover all of that. I think it's usage parts and
consumables which don't count on warranty, that's about it. But we're pretty standard.
HOW EASILY CAN THE BIKE BE SERVICED BY A DEALER
So we are starting off with about five to nine dealerships currently. That
number expands very quickly to go a shade under 20 over the next month,
month and a half. And I would say that this number would go and settle at about between 40 and 50.
So if you were in parts of the UK you would be between 10 and 20 miles away from
your closest dealership at best. There could be some parts up north where you would
probably be between 30 and 40 miles away from your nearest dealership. So the way I look
at it, between 40 and 50 dealerships pretty much over the next few months.
HOW DOES THE NEW GOLD STAR COMPARE TO THE ROYAL ENFIELD INTERCEPTOR 650?
[Anupam] That's very close to why company is very close to my heart, so I'm not going to do
one-to-one comparison. I keep on saying that's my first love, this is my forever love. So right, but...
no it won't be lacking on, in terms of technicality in terms of torque.
[Alex] In terms of, you know, just general comparison?
[Anupam] I don't think so this bike has a one-to-one. Why should it? No it doesn't, at least we've,
we are biased right, but we generally believe this doesn't have a one-to-one comparison.
But if you're in the market for that category, will it stand his ground and beg for attention and
a love and adulation? My answer is yes. And will it technically fit in, in terms of power,
torque, reliability, ride ability, smile on your face, I think yeah, all of them are tick marks.
WHY DID YOU GO FOR A 650CC AND NOT A 500CC?
[Ashish] So we looked at the 500 as well. We started off with the premise that let's do a 500 single,
but the power and torque outputs that we were looking at, and the refinement that
we wanted to do on the engine, because a single is not a balanced engine,
it needs balancing. So the refinements that we wanted to conduct, all of that was turning
out essentially power, torque and refinement, everything was working out much better at a 650.
DID YOU EXPERIMENT WITH AN AIR COOLED ENGINE?
To be frank, with the kind of output that we were looking at and still meeting norms, we
wouldn't have got, we did explore, but we didn't explore with a physical model, we explored with a
computer-based model.
WHAT PERFORMANCE PARTS WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR THE BIKE?
[Anupam] Right now we have worked more on the stock bike in terms of the ride ability. Yes the
sound, so there there are ways in which you can remove the DB killer and you can work on the sound
when you're going off-roading. [Alex] So is that pretty easy to get out, because we put a lot of a few
videos out and one thing is that people really want, you know, that deep Goldie sound.
[Anupam] We can stand and go to the bike and can do it for you right now, it's that easy.
WHAT ARE BSA'S OVERALL BRAND OBJECTIVES?
[Ashish] See we're looking at bringing BSA back.
Typically not just in the form of a motorcycle, but we'll also add in motorcycle accessories around it.
The objective, what I would say is, get that real authentic BSA experience back in first.
Numbers of course will become important at a particular point of time.
We are a serious business as well, but numbers is not something that we would chase.
DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER MODELS COMING OUT?
So we're talking of other motorcycles on the same platform as well.
So you could do various other models on this single cylinder engine platform,
and that is what we would go for. And I could talk at length about that single cylinder and
why that single and how we've we've made it into what it is today.
WHAT OTHER ACCESSORIES WILL BSA OFFER?
So there's a whole range of stuff that we are doing. So we're looking at bike
accessories and motorcycle wear as well. So from a bike point of view, luggage systems. So you'd
have your tank bags, you'd have side bags, you would have a top bag as well. All of those with quick
release systems on them, so very easy to fit in and take off from the machine. Standard crash bars.
Lots and lots of stuff, you would have engine sump protectors and
things like that. We will also be doing machined bar ends, we'll be doing machined
radiator caps. So all of this coming in pretty soon. From a motorcyclist point
of view, jackets, jeans, boots, gloves, heated grips, all of that coming in pretty quickly.
[Alex] And that'll all be BSA branded? [Ashish] Yes. So this is all our collaborations with people.
So the the jackets are being done by Merlin for us, so it's Merlin for BSA. It's
all BSA branded, but made by Merlin. British brand again. Luggage is from again a European
brand based out of Belgium. There is crash bars and stuff that we are doing it ourselves.
Some of it again, locally sourced from British manufacturing companies as well.
WHAT ARE THE SERVICE INTERVALS ON THE BIKE?
So it's a 6,000 mile service interval. And valves, you just don't need to
do anything. I think it's 24,000 mile is where you would first need to touch them.
Tappet adjustments is 12,000 miles but that's just adjustment on there.
HOW DOES THIS BIKE PERFORM OFF-ROAD?
It works brilliantly well. [Alex] Have you got an off-road model coming out?
[Ashish] I wouldn't comment on that, not just yet.
DO ALL THE BIKES ACROSS THE WORLD HAVE THE SAME POWER OUTPUT?
For us, technically they would all be the same. But there are a few emission norms that
could be different. For everywhere that accepts Euro 5 it would be just the same spec. The machines
would also need to be adjusted for flex fuel. For example some countries have higher ratio of
ethanol mixed in them. So that would
need to reflect in the way that the the fuel map is tuned.
CAN THE FUEL MAP BE CHANGED?
Nobody can actually do that. Primarily it's a legal thing.
WILL YOU RACE THIS BIKE?
Not that I can tell you just now.
But of course there would be privateers who would want to take it racing yes.
WILL THERE BE ANY SPECIAL EDITION MODELS?
So you will keep on seeing a few as significant dates come up, as significant
events do come up. We are not huge fans of limited editions, but once in a while yes.
WHAT OTHER BIKES DO YOU HAVE IN THE PIPELINE?
[Anupam] So we have a twin. The choice was to put that with this. But the way this turned out so
beautifully, that it just begged, this bike happened itself. It named itself,
we had three names, we were of course we're making three bikes, we have a repository
of names and three characters, I don't want to name them. But when this came together, when the single
came together, when the bike came together it begged itself to be called Goldie. So yeah, that's
how it is. But you will see more bikes. As of now there is enough legroom, there is enough runway for
this bike to be there for the next couple of years. I would like to, this is not a category where there
is a model year, and the next one, and the next one, and the next one. This is a forever bike, right.
You will, hopefully this will be headed over to generations right. That's how at least we love it.
WHAT ARE BSA'S FUTURE PLANS?
[Ashish] What I see BSA doing over the next few years, we first want to consolidate in
the home market which is the UK, and then in Europe, expand ourselves into the US,
Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand all of the English-speaking countries, and then also
look at South America for example. This is the way that we would spread ourselves.
From a product portfolio point of view we would talk electric,
we would also have a few other platforms that we would want to put out into the market.
So all of that, basically, the first few years just to get BSA back and consolidate in there.
WHAT BIKES DO YOU OWN?
[Anupam] I got, so show off, more than 20. All makes and models, so I'm not biased. But loads
of classic. My dad had an old M20 which I still, I'm curating it. Tons of Enfields,
Bonnie. So no, I'm a biker, I just love it. And of course you know we have Jawa we
have Yezdi and we have BSA. So between the three brands now we have seven bikes right, three of
each and one of this, so seven of them. I have all seven in various forms and colours. Of course
some advantages to have a few custom mades, right so they have just added to the last bit. And some
bigger bikes too. Have been told not to name all of them and say that, but yeah. But I must say
my first big bike which I still cherish it was the Suzuki Bandit right, so I have
an old Bandit, a 1200 old Bandit. So there are some few of these loved
ones. I don't think so particularly any reason because it was my first big bike,
I love that. I have, as I said, I have a few old Bonnies I love, of course I have old BSAs
which were given, shipped from here. So now the collection is growing. [Ashish] In my personal garage I have,
I have four or five of them. I have a couple of Jawas in there, I have one Yezdi, I have a
couple of bigger bikes as well. [Alex] What bigger bikes? [Ashish] I've had a BMW in the past, a 1200 GS.
My current big bike is not something that I would want to name just yet,
but yeah, I do ride ride a few of them, yeah.