GOLDIES ON TRIALS
BSA’S Gold Star is an enduring and versatile competitor. We meet two owners who have campaigned their Goldies in trials for decades with different approaches – one keeps his bike original, while the other has been lavished with modifications
Two different approaches to trialing a Goldie – original and modified
As a trials iron, the BSA Gold Star stands out as a heavyweight big-hitter with a beefy engine that’s unfazed by steep climbs or serious mudplugging. Within the ‘Goldie’ fraternity, there’s a wide range of ways to approach making these bikes competitive, as reflected in these two very different machines and their owners. Malcolm Webb’s 1949 Goldie is internally and externally very original, functional and workmanlike. On the other hand, although Graham Howes’ 1953 machine looks very original on the outside, many changes have been made beneath the surface to improve its rideability, with all the modifications made within the spirit of Pre-65 competition.
Most of the classic trials Malcolm has ridden allow for the standard machine to compete, with sections and obstacles designed for their lower ground clearance.
Graham, taking on the challenges of national trials including the Scottish, Northern and British Championships, needed to develop the bike to compete.
As good as Goldie
BSA’S sports single was manufactured between 1938 and 1963, and in the early period BSA offered Competition models and Gold Stars. The iron top-end road bikes were designated B31/B33 (350/500) and the alloy Gold Stars B32/
B34. In the late ’40s/early ’50s, BSA made a trials version of the iron-engined bikes called the ZB32/34 ‘Competition’, as well as the alloy-headed ZB32/34 ‘Gold Star’.
The Competition models came either in trials or scrambles trim, with engine numbers including an ‘A’. The Gold Star could be supplied in Clubman, Scrambles, Touring, Trials or even US Flat Track and Daytona racer guises, but always included ‘GS’ in the engine number. A further difference was that the 1949 Gold Star had an alloy barrel and head as standard, which was introduced for some Competition models from 1950. Gold Stars had a wide range of options, including cams, gears and compression ratios, as the machines were hand-built.
Malcolm’s 1949 model is a ZB32A; Graham’s 1953 model is a BB32A – both are technically ‘Competition’ models – and those engine number prefixes indicate that they date from 1949 and 1953 respectively. The inclusion of the letter ‘A’ indicates that both were originally fitted with the optional alloy top-ends. Strictly speaking, they are both ‘350cc Competition’ models, but the attractive alloy motor is enough to make them Gold Stars in most people’s eyes – including their owners’. But whatever the technicalities of their names, these two trials BSAS from different years have very different pedigrees and different life histories, as well as owners with different backgrounds and riding successes.
MALCOLM AND HIS Goldie are the same age, having both entered the world in 1949. Malcolm had enjoyed an earlier period in trials competition before taking 15 years off, after which he decided to take it up again in the early 1980s, specifically in Pre-65 events. At that time he was offered this 350cc model by a farmer in a local village for the princely sum of £840.
Recalling his return to trials, Malcolm recalled his one regret: “A few months after buying the bike, the farmer phoned me and offered me a 500cc motor for £100 – but, having just returned from holiday, I didn’t have the cash to buy it. A missed opportunity.”
Malcolm prefers to concentrate on riding and maintenance rather than getting involved in hardcore mechanics. Since purchasing the bike, Malcolm has jealously preserved the machine as original for the year and has resisted modifying it to make it easier to ride. The frame is the original single-downtube rigid trials frame with no modifications, which gives a challenging ground clearance of just six and a half inches. The footrests are in the original position, but Malcolm reluctantly changed the standard footrests to modern fold-up versions to conform with modern regulations.
In the last 30 years, the engine has only been rebuilt twice – firstly by the late Geoff Chandler at his motorcycle business, when the crank was refurbished and a new big end installed. The engine still has the same piston from when Malcolm purchased it; he noted it had been rebored twice previously. Malcolm took the engine apart before its second rebuild and had it inspected by John Gardner of the BSA Goldstar Owners Club. “John recommended new valve springs and also to replace the ‘scrambles’ cams with ‘trials’ cams,” explained Malcolm. “He had some, so I bought them from him and rebuilt the engine. The gearing was also lowered to make the bike more manageable going down steep slopes.”
To keep it original, one early change was to revert back to the correct carburettor – known as the Amal Type 276, along with a separate float chamber – instead of the later Monobloc which was fitted when the bike was bought. The exhaust system is also original and hasn’t been rerouted – even though the rider runs the risk of getting a warm leg. It doesn’t bother Malcolm, though: “You get used to the positioning of the exhaust and by wearing modern boots it’s not an issue,” he asserts.
The reliability of magnetos has been an issue – Malcolm has three spares plus one working well at the moment. For the Arbuthnot Trial, Malcolm says he always took the shallow route through the Stratford Tony ford instead of putting petroleum jelly on the magneto for protection against water logging like many riders did!
The forks are mainly original, both internally and externally, with the exception of the bushes. “When I replaced them, I cut the bushes down to increase extended length, giving the forks a slightly greater amount of travel,” he explains. The clutch has the original basket and plates from when Malcolm purchased the machine and the brakes have all original drums and shoes at front and back.
Malcolm’s riding experience on his Goldie has been a mixture of Southampton Vikings and Waltham Chase Club Championship trials at a range of venues, along with three of the Southern Classic Trials: the Talmag, the Arbuthnot and the Keith Marshall Classic. The first trial he took part in was the Salisbury and District Motorcycle Clubs’ Arbuthnot Trial in 1983 on the Goldie – the second running after the rebirth in the previous year of the 80-mile long distance event, when only rigid machines were eligible to take part.
Malcolm rode the Talmag Trophy Trial in the 1980s, ’90s and early 2000s, when it was a single-route trial. It later became more difficult – and, in his words, this “Made it too difficult for the average rider on standard machinery”. So he stopped taking part.
Malcolm used to ride six events a year on average, although in the last three years he’s reduced his participation to a single warm-up trial followed by the challenge of the Waltham Chase Trials Club Keith Marshall Classic. Coming second to “young whippersnapper” Tig Hartwell on a rigid James in 2019 was his best result. At 71 years of age, Malcolm decided to stop riding trials – but he’s taken up the role of ‘minder’ to his son-in-law Jonathon while he gets to grips with the Goldie, so he’s still very much involved with keeping the bike in active competition.
‘YOU GET USED TO THE POSITIONING OF THE EXHAUST AND BY WEARING MODERN BOOTS IT’S NOT AN ISSUE’
GRAHAM IS THREE years older than his 1953 machine. He bought it as a BB32 ‘springer’ for £400 from Gold Star specialist John Gardner – and recalls losing well over a hundred marks in his trials debut at Hungry Hill. He rode the bike in this form for ten years, with the exception of an unsuccessful year on a Tiger Cub in the mid-1980s.
“Maurice Hocking and later Ken Sherlock helped me to improve my riding and, having met Deryk Wylde [the man attributed with creating the concept of Pre-65 trials] in the mid-1980s, I was encouraged to compete in his new Pre-65 National Trials Championship. I decided change the Goldie frame to enter the rigid class,” says Graham.
It’s not only the frame that’s been changed since then – every bit of Graham’s Goldie has been developed. Every stud and nut on the bike is stainless steel, with the heads machined to fit neatly into the casing sockets. “My aim in the development of the bike has been to maintain the ‘Goldie’ spirit with changes I’ve made,” he explains.
Graham used a Dave Camm frame – an exact copy of the original duplex rigid frame, with the same dimensions as the springer but with a rigid back loop. The mod reduced ground clearance to only six inches, compared to the seven to eight inches of the springer, so Graham set about regaining the two extra inches. “I realised that by lowering the rear frame loop I could gain the extra clearance, but I was concerned that this modification would move the bike from the ‘rigid’ class to the ‘special’ class in the 1993 British Pre-65 Championship,” says Graham. “Thankfully, Deryk Wylde, who ran the series, agreed it was a rigid.”
Graham had the loop dropped and rewelded under the seat by local grasstrack sidecar racer Roger Measer– it’s an alteration that’s very hard to spot, but it made a big impact on the machine’s rideability. He adds: “I wanted the footrests to be bulletproof, as I’d seen several get knocked off – particularly by northern or Scottish rocks. Andy Bamford came up with a very clever ‘Métisse style’ design with footrests bolted to the duplex tube; with the footrest hanger at an angle, they gained more protection. They are further back, but have not been broken once.” Bamford also straightened and strengthen the frame
In 2004/05, the internals of the forks were changed to
Marzocchi after a tough Two Day Isle of Man trial. However, the fork legs were left the original length, so the appearance from the outside remains the same. The rear mudguard is original; for many years, Graham’s good friend John Wheeler, a metal fabricator by trade, knocked the dents out and re-welded the mudguards and the tank, but since John passed away a few more battle scars have been accrued.
The fuel tank is unique, featuring a cutaway underneath to accommodate the engine which was necessitated by the rigid frame, which lifted the engine about half an inch to avoid the bashplate from hitting the sump. Minor adjustments were made to get a smooth run for the chain, with Andy Bamford fabricating a pulley wheel chain tensioner that’s mounted with the left footrest.
Significant changes have also been made to the engine of Graham’s Goldie – they began after the springer’s first journey to the MOT station in 1982, which was marked with clouds of blue smoke and a very low oil level. Graham found that the piston had been welded up and needed replacing along with the liner, so he decided on a complete rebuild for the engine and gearbox. Italian pistons and rings were used, as the pistons were the only low-compression ones available – but the rings needed to be replaced every 18 months, so a better solution was sought.
“Nipper Patterson, another trials rider, suggested putting a bigger piston in,” says Graham. “I had a thicker liner made
‘MY AIM IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE BIKE HAS BEEN TO MAINTAIN THE ‘GOLDIE’ SPIRIT’
for using an oversize Morgo Triumph piston and then for a Triumph T140 piston which was readily available and took the bike up to 405-410cc, using a flat head and copper head gasket. This gave a broader spread of power, including being able to pull away at special tests in third gear.”
The bottom half of the engine has been rebuilt three times. Graham prepared the whole engine for the 1993 season, including using new big-end. The second time came towards the end of 1993 – the bike’s first year as a rigid. He discovered run-out on the flywheels and re-machined them. He then took them to John Williams in Mansfield, who reground the original crankpin, refurbished the original big-end and balanced the crank. The third rebuild came after the bike had taken a dip in the river at the Earthen Crossing during the Welsh Frank Jones Trial. After this drama Graham found the conrod was bent, so a major bottomhalf rebuild followed with a new conrod supplied by Dave Camm.
The clutch and brakes are original spec; the six-spring clutch has had one new basket, but the plates are original – Graham keeps them serviceable by filing the dogs off periodically. An Amal Monobloc was on the springer when Graham bought it; he has since upgraded the rigid to a Premier Concentric. Despite the fact that his BT-H magneto has been rebuilt three times during his ownership, Graham has resisted buying an electronic magneto – although if it ever needs doing again, he may have to think again. The points are platinumcoated, which are expensive but last longer.
After building the bike in 1993, Graham took on the national Pre-65 Championship, travelling to events across the country. On average he completed in over 20 trials a year, winning the rigid class in the ACU British Pre-65 Championship five times in 1993, ’95, ’98, 2006 and 2017 (the last year of the national championship). While competing in his last ‘national’ round at the West of England Trial in 2017, Graham suffered the misfortune of being launched off the Goldie and landing headfirst in a fast-flowing stream, with both bike and rider being plunged underwater. He took some time to dry out, but amazingly the bike started first kick and didn’t miss a beat for the rest of the trial!
Graham also rode the Northern Classic series from 1999 to 2017, winning the rigid class eight times during that period. He also took part in the Pre-65 Scottish twice – in 1999 and 2000 – and the Isle of Man two-day on three occasions. He’s a regular Talmag and Arbuthnot runner, too, first competing in the Talmag in 1993, and has ridden almost annually including in 2019, the last time he rode the Goldie.
He was entered for this year’s Arbuthnot, although unfortunately Covid-19 restrictions have postponed his next ride. Hopefully he’ll be back in the saddle soon, continuing his bike’s long-serving competition career...