The Goldie gets my heart racing again
I didn’t get the chance to take the bike for a proper run until a couple of weeks after my visit to Hitchcocks and to be honest I was left with mixed feelings. Oh, it certainly goes very well, but as I accustomed myself once again to the discomfort of clipons and the kickstart digging into my shin, I started to notice issues related to the increase in performance.
For a start, the gearing is too low – I kept reaching for another top. But with first already too high, raising it holds little appeal. The RRT2 box is like a five-speeder with no first gear, and I can see me going back to the standard ratios that worked fine when I first built the bike.
The suspension suddenly leaves much to be desired, too; the forks are the excellent late-’60s BSA doubledamped type, but there’s more damp in a Bedouin tent than in these – even after filling them with SAE 40 oil.
On the other hand, I’m starting to get all nostalgic about my café racing days, the 59 Club and the Rockers Reunion runs; the Goldie is definitely getting under my skin again. Gold Stars were always an involving bike to own – a highmaintenance date; crash and burn is always close to hand – but you’ll never forget the ride. It’s taken a long, long time to get this far, maybe I just need to keep the faith a bit longer.
‘IT CERTAINLY GOES VERY WELL, BUT THE GEARING IS TOO LOW’