Golden Oldie

After a nearly 40-year hiatus, one of the most important names in British motorcycling is back - and to kickstart its revival, it's created a new version of its most celebrated model: the Gold Star. To put it through its paces properly, we took the chance to ride it at the top-secret Millbrook Proving Ground across its extensive cross-section of test tracks. Here's how we got on.

- Ross Mowbray

If you're under the age of 60 and you're not clued up on the ins and outs of classic bikes, it's probably quite difficult to imagine the importance of BSA. But back in the 1950s, when British bikes still reigned supreme, Birmingham Small Arms was one of the biggest and best names in the game.

Despite now being best known for its bikes, BSA (or Birmingham Small Arms) was first founded in 1854 by 14 Birmingham-based gunsmiths, making a name for itself as a producer of firearms and ammunition. It wasn't until 1878 that it first began to make cycle components and it took another 27 years to build its first prototype motor bicycle in 1905, another five to finally reveal it to the world in 1910, and another nine to establish the BSA Motorcycles name in 1919.

That was the start of a long and turbulent journey which saw the Midlands firm cement its place in the motorcycling history books - and there was one particularly important bike which helped them to do it. The BSA Gold Star.

History

Starting life as a development bike, the first 'Goldie' came about after four-times TT winner Wal Handley thrashed the competition at Brooklands in 1937 riding what looked to be a (mostly) standard Empire Star model. But it was actually a tuned factory special which ran on alcohol, had 13:1 compression, and was kitted out with a racing magneto, and blasted round the London track at an average of 102.27mph (and achieved a fastest lap of 107.57mph). That was enough for Handley to claim a Brooklands Gold Star (which was awarded to anyone who completed a lap of Brooklands at over 100mph during a race) and generated a load of attention for BSA's ton-topping single. And in 1938, the Gold Star was born (with road, track and trials models to choose from).