Classic British bike built from ground up
The golden age of British motorcycles has long since passed, but Roger Brown of Calgary is proud to keep his 1956 BSA Gold Star on the road. First, a little history. The Birmingham Small Arms Company of England was an industrial giant and at one time was the world’s largest producer of motorcycles.
Established in 1861 in Birmingham, BSA formed when a group of gun makers joined together to begin production of firearms. In 1880, BSA began making bicycle components, as the cycle trade demanded accurately machined parts, and eventually began building its own two-wheelers. An engine in a bicycle wasn’t far behind, and in 1910 BSA commenced motorcycle production.
By 1937, BSA was producing the 500cc overhead-valve Empire Star model. On June 30 of that year, Wal Handley piloted a factory-tuned version fitted with a 13:1 high-compression piston, taller cams and Amal TT carburetor on the famous Brooklands racetrack. Rider and machine managed an average speed of 102.27 mph (164.6 km/h).
To recognize the betterthan-100 mph achievement, the British Motorcycle Racing Club bestowed upon Handley, and hence BSA, its Gold Star medal.
With the coveted Gold Star award, BSA had a tag to hang on a new sports motorcycle with an all-alloy engine, which became the M24 Gold Star.
BSA built the Gold Star from 1938 to 1963, and the model became famous for winning all types of racing events, including road, flat track and enduro. The Gold Star was also a popular road-going motorcycle, and it was recognized for its exhaust note, which would “twitter” on the overrun.
It’s that sound that first drew Brown to the world of motorcycling. He grew up in England, and would camp with his family near the A20 Roadway.
“Right across the road from the campsite was Johnson’s Café, and I’d lie in the tent at night and you could hear the (Triumph) Bonnevilles and (BSA) Gold Star cafe racers pulling in and taking off,” Brown says. “The sound got me.”
At 16, Brown’s first motorcycle was an old BSA Bantam, and up until 1968 he never had a car. An engineer, Brown and his family moved to Canada, first to Edmonton and then to Calgary in 1974. He was without a motorcycle until the late 1980s, when he bought a 1967 BSA Thunderbolt to restore.
Since then, he’s restored several British machines, from BSAs to Nortons to Triumphs. He now has a dozen motorcycles in his collection, from a 1935 BSA Blue Star to a 2005 Ducati.
His favourite motorcycles, though, are 500cc singles — such as the Gold Star.
He found this one in southern Alberta several years ago as a pile of parts and pieces.
“It was essentially a Gold Star kit,” he laughs.
Some of the components were rougher than others, but Brown says he’d started from worse before.
Because he was restoring the Gold Star to ride, he wanted it to be as reliable as possible. That meant the addition of a new crankshaft, primary belt drive and clutch, five-speed gear cluster in the gearbox and 12-volt electrics and electronic ignition. All of these parts are available from specialists in the trade who build new, refined components.
Working in his basement shop, Brown loosely assembled the pieces to ensure correct fit, and then got to work refinishing the motorcycle. Frame and swingarm were brush-painted black with marine enamel, while the gas tank was re-chromed and finished in a Gold Star blue.
Brown honed the engine’s cylinder, put new rings on the piston, and built up the power plant using new bearings, seals and valves.
Since finishing the build approximately four years ago, Brown has added some 6,437 km to the Gold Star. He recently trailered it to the 51st BSA Owners Club International Rally in Petaluma, Calif., and then rode it for the five days of the event.
“It’s my favourite bike of the bunch I’ve got,” he says, and adds, “I’d probably sell all of the others before I’d let this one go.”