(engine rumbling)
(exhaust bubbling)
- Hi, my name is Dave.
And I'd like to show you today
and talk about the BSA Gold Star.
This is a DBD 34,
which means it's a 500 single.
A bike, which is not an easy bike to live with.
If you can master it, you have a lot of fun.
This bike's in Clubman trim,
which means it has the clip-ons,
it has the rear sets,
it's in the low-ride position.
And a lot of people will put this into a touring trim,
which would mean, on the top of the headstock, here,
we have a piece of tube,
which would be where you would normally
put a pair of handlebars.
So we could put higher bars on here,
do away with the clip-ons,
it makes it more comfortable ride.
On the top, here, there is a steering damper.
They don't really get used,
it just puts a bit of pressure on the steering,
makes that a bit stiffer.
The thing about the Gold Star,
it was really built to race.
So, on the road it can be quite hard,
because it has the RRT2 gearbox, close ratio gearbox,
very tall first gear,
a lot of clutch slip to get it going.
(kickstart clunks) (engine rumbling)
(engine rumbling) (exhaust bubbling)
This one, we still have the GP carburetor.
It's one and a half inch smooth bore carburetor,
so it sucks in a lot of fuel.
Won't tick over, 'cause it was a carburetor,
obviously meant for racing.
So this bike would never had a tick over.
So you can get it to run fairly slow,
but if you see people with Goldies,
they tend to blip the throttle when they're in traffic
and keep it running.
(engine rumbling)
It's got a few other things on here,
that make it more rideable, with traffic.
Obviously the brake is a 190 brake,
but this has got a twin leading shoe conversion.
When we pull the lever,
we've got a bite with two brake shoes into the drum,
so more efficient brake.
The engine,
a lot of these older bikes now
with the crank was a bolt up crank,
and they do suffer with cracks.
And to be honest with you, when you ride these bikes,
you ride 'em quite hard.
So it would pay anyone who's got a Goldie,
you buy one, you put it apart,
and you do the upgrades because,
you don't want it falling apart on you.
I've done a gearbox and run through the rest of it.
So, there's a few components on here
I know people will pick up that aren't actually period.
It has a later primary chain case,
with the inspection screw cover.
But to be honest with you, bikes at this age now,
when parts become difficult to find,
people will put on bits that are later.
(engine rumbling)
(wind whooshing)
I've run this on a sniff of Castrol R in the tank,
so you get the smell.
Castrol R was a vegetable-based oil,
it was put in these engines, well race engines,
50s, 60s, a little bit into the 70s,
but it's vegetable-based and it shouldn't be
added to modern oils, it will collagulate inside the engine.
So what I do, and a lot of people do,
is you just put a little bit in with the petrol.
So in a tank full of petrol,
you probably put an egg cup full.
It just gives the smell,
and it won't do any damage.
It makes it seem right,
and people always say, "Cor, that lovely old smell."
With these engines, they wanna rev, you ride it quite hard.
It's a rider's bike, it's it's a race bike, really.
It feels great to ride because
you got the twitter on the exhaust,
and a typical single, you roll it on, you rolled it off.
And the engine-braking's really good.
People will hear the bike coming,
and they know it's something different.
It's not Japanese, it's an old British bike.
And on the song, one of these,
has a very, very unique sound. (engine rumbling)
(exhaust bubbling)
It obviously it knocks you back, it does for me,
the period when bikes were built like this
and the guys, the cafe racers at the time,
the Ton Up Boys, if they had a Goldie,
that was the bike to have, but not easy to live with.
You just have to get used to the starting.
You don't wanna stall it in traffic
because the high compression,
you need to like I say, do the procedure again.
If you've got traffic around you, it's not easy.
They are set up slightly rich,
but that carburetor wants to be open.
So it wants to push the fuel into the engine,
big bangs, lots of power.
The clutch on this is quite light because,
as you may know,
that most of these bikes have a Triumph clutch.
A fitted four spring, rather than the six spring BSA clutch.
It's got a better bite to it, it doesn't drag.
It's lighter.
The suspension on here, is pretty much standard.
Rear shocks are normal shocks,
they're setup slightly hard, which gives it a better ride.
The forks can be upgraded,
I tend to run these on a slightly heavier oil.
So, they don't damp quite so quickly.
With the roads being so bumpy, it's better.
But they're not fantastic by any means.
Brakes, well,
the brakes, this is a 190 break, the big break.
But as standard, it would be a single operating shoe,
but this has been converted.
It just makes it much easier to ride.
You can literally operate it now with two fingers.
And if you're doing a good turn of speed on this,
you wanna be able to drop your speed off quickly.
And it works.
The 190 brake, standard brake is fine.
It needs to have heat in it.
And because we ride on the road,
we're not braking like we would be on a race circuit,
you're into the bends, every time as you're braking.
And the linings and the whole brake assembly gets warm.
On the road, we're not doing that.
So you wanna brake to work from cold,
'cause you're not braking any more than you need to.
It has an air scoop in the front.
It looks quite nice on here,
but it's safer to have a decent brake.
Lighting? (engine rumbling)
Well, it's all standard, the 6 volt.
Not advisable to ride at night, but it's okay.
I keep it standard and I do ride nights with it,
but you obviously ride to your capabilities,
with the lighting being so poor.
The suspension, I say, is box standard.
But a Gold Star, any BSA frame, they handle really well.
And the whole balance of the bike is good.
When you ride this, you feel part of the bike.
Once you've got up to speed with the clip-ons, it's low,
but you tuck in and it sits, it feels right.
It sits there on the road and it feels part of you.
(engine rumbling)
(exhaust bubbling)
I know, as you get older,
a lot of people will struggle with starting these,
and that's why some people haven't
converted to electric start.
You got a bad hip,
it's something that can keep you riding your bike still,
or your lower the compression a little bit,
'cause it is very high compression.
But at the moment, I can live with it.
And I think that's how it should stay, really,
'cause it's how it should be.
Okay, we're ready to start the bike.
Fuel tap on.
Around this side.
We just give it a little bit of a tickle, on the carburetor.
Not too much, we don't wanna flood the engine.
Advance the retard lever,
we bring it back from the fully-advanced position.
Just a touch.
Then what we need to do now,
is just position the piston so we get the kick correct.
So what I tend to do always,
is pull the clutch in, just free the clutch off,
get the kickstart to where I really feel it's okay.
I found compression,
and now I need to ease it over
the top of that compression stroke.
I've got the decompressor in,
it seems a bit awkward this one,
the strike angle is not as it should be.
Wait for a little hiss.
And one good kick, it should go.
(kickstart clunks) (exhaust splutters)
That's slightly over-advanced.
Or I've got the piston slightly too far down the stroke.
It's a kick back.
So we repeat that procedure.
Get the bike over compression.
Slight hiss.
Good kick.
(kickstart clunks) (engine rumbling)
That's not bad, that's second kick.
It's so important to get it over the top
of the stroke when you start these.
If you just come up to compression and kick it,
it will kick back.
It will more likely break your ankle or hurt you badly.
That is where people are a little bit put off these bikes,
'cause they can bite back.
If they bite back, it hurts.
One thing I will mention to you,
people always talk about British bikes being unreliable,
then dropping oil.
Well, they're right to a degree.
It depends on who's put it together.
They're old bikes now
and probably they've been apart many times.
But if you have got a bike, a British bike,
and you're thorough,
or you know someone who's very good engineering,
good at the engineering, and can do it properly,
there is no reason why it shouldn't be reliable.
The key thing with most bikes of this era, the magneto.
It's a self-generating magneto, and this magneto's in here.
We have the magneto and we have the dynamo on the top of it.
As long as those two components are in good order,
you have a good spark, especially,
because it's self-generating.
So, you want when you kick it over, a good fat spark.
And a lot of these armatures,
they suffer with the condenser breaking down.
Get it rewound, and the dynamo can be sorted.
And really, that's the most important part there.
The engine's right.
Inside here, new internals,
so it's the con rod, the main bearings,
the crank shaft, the piston, is all new.
It's not old metal.
A lot of things happen sometimes,
when old metal is still being chased around at high RPM
and it suffers, 'cause it's old.
There is fatigue in the metal
and that's when things would come unreliable.
This sort of bike, it's gotta be done properly.
It's gotta be pulled apart and built like it's new.
(kickstart clunks) (exhaust spits)
(kickstart clunks) (engine rumbling)
(engine revving)
If they think it's working properly
and it's all good condition,
you shouldn't have any problems.
And that really is about all British bikes.
If they're put together properly, don't be put off.
And if you're able to do the work yourself,
you know you'll get the fun out of doing it as well.
(engine rumbling)
(exhaust bubbling)
It's not a club-riding bike.
You wouldn't ride this out with club members, a club event,
because they're gonna be riding bikes,
more cooking bikes like your normal sort of Triumphs
and BSAs, A10s and such like.
Well, this is high-geared
and you will always be hanging in first gear.
You wanna ride this when you're on your own,
or with other guys that have got these sort of machines.
They wanna ride, these bikes wanna go.
And the sort of riding I would do,
if I get the opportunity,
is you go out early in the morning,
when the roads are quieter.
You don't wanna be in traffic because as I mentioned,
it's a close-ratio gearbox, high first gear.
If you have to start slipping the clutch in traffic
and keeping the revs, keeping the engine running
and don't wanna stall it.
And if you stall it in traffic, it is a headache.
And that is the other side
of living with one of these bikes.
It's the love, hate thing, really.
It's not an easy bike, but it's a challenge.
But yeah, you tend to ride these to events.
There might be a show somewhere,
you ride up on a Goldie and yeah,
but you won't ride it in amongst other people on the road,
'cause it's not really for that, really.
If you find country lanes,
you set yourself up, it's great fun, great fun to ride.
And if it's a couple of you with these sort of machines,
you'll have a lot of fun. - If you enjoy our videos,
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