BSA Gold Star, Lightning & Other A65 Models
Unlike the American Companies Harley Davidson and Indian, who started their businesses from scratch, Most of the British motorcycle manufacturers were already well-established, existing businesses. This included The Birmingham Small Arms Company which manufactured BSA motorcycles, and for a time Triumph motorcycles.
BSA was a diverse conglomerate, producing bicycles, buses, cars, machine tools, and other industrial products. It was established in 1861 by a group of gunsmiths seeking military contracts. During its most prosperous period, it owned 67 factories and was the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the World.
BSA introduced its first motorcycle, a single cylinder, 498cc, 3 ½ h.p. unit in 1910. When WWI started, the company focused largely on war production, supplying some 1 ½ million rifles to the military, along with machine guns, motorcycles, folding bicycles, and munitions. Over the coming decades, BSA introduced a variety of motorcycle variations, the most famous of which being the BSA Gold Star, the Lightning, and the Rocket Three.
Unable to foresee the potential impact of Japanese motorcycles on the market, U.S. sales plummeted in the early 1970s. In an effort to deal with its financial difficulties, the motorcycle group merged with Norton Villiers in 1972. The merger involved a number of strategic and logistical moves which proved unacceptable to employees, and production ceased in 1973.
After being dormant for over 40 years, the BSA brand was resurrected in 2016 by the Indian tractor company, Mahindra. It currently produces a liquid-cooled 650cc single with double overhead cams and two spark plugs. It is called the Gold Star, although it bears only some minor cosmetic resemblance to the original.
BSA Gold Star:
The Gold Star emerged in 1937 as the M24, a 500cc single cylinder, OHV rigid frame bike with springer front suspension. It received its name when a rider won a TT race averaging over 100 mph on it. A gold star pin was awarded to the winner, which provided good publicity for BSA.
In 1953, the BSA Gold Star was upgraded to include a new double cradle frame, telescopic forks, and a swing arm rear suspension. It was available in 350cc and 500cc versions. The DBD34, introduced in 1957, was the ultimate Gold Star with an advertised 42 horsepower. In the hands of some tuners, it produced somewhat more. While the bike continued to be successful in TT races, it became outclassed by some of the new vertical twins in road races, and to the dismay of fans was discontinued in 1963.
BSA A65 Lightning, Thunderbolt, Spitfire, Hornet:
The unit construction 654cc A65 model came out in 1962 as the Star, a basic, everyday transportation bike. Throughout the ‘60s it morphed into the Thunderbolt, the Lightning, and the Spitfire. The Lightning model had dual carburetors, while the Spitfire had higher compression and Amal GP carburetors. The A6 engines were vertical twins with unit construction, a one-piece rocker arm cover, and pushrods enclosed within the cylinder barrels. BSA also produced a lightless model called the Hornet, which was comparable to the Triumph TT Special.
In 1971, the entire lines of BSA and Triumph twins were re-designed in an effort to have interchangeability of parts. The changes included an extremely unpopular switch to an oil-in-frame configuration. This went over like a lead balloon, and coupled with the onslaught of Japanese electric-start bikes, marked the beginning of the end for the company.B
