BSA Gold Star - Did Royal Enfield miss a 'golden' opportunity to take the world by storm? 

These chats are priceless 🎉

Would have could have and should have, the motto of the British motorcycle industry .

Missed opportunities, the story of the British motorcycle industry!!

Thanks Paul. Not only was the video extremely interesting but so were the comments below. Well done evryone and a Happy New Year.

Bit late to this but a couple of points about the Goldstar from 'Goldie - a development history of the Goldstar' by A.Golland. The compression ratio was raised from a nominal 8.5:1 to 9:1 on the final 350s (presumably the DB) but the advent of 100 octane fuel prompted experiments on raising CR. It had to go to 10.5:1 before there was any power increase but it was accompanied by a loss in reliability and not adopted in production. Probably the rivetted crankshaft finding it all a bit too exciting. Another point is that the silencing changed from the CB to the DB Clubman's model. Changes to the Clubman's TT rules required a silencer for the race and the standard B series silencer was ditched in favour of the later non-silencing version. A 1954 road test of a Clubman's CB32 said the standard silencer limited the engine to 5700rpm but a straight through exhaust with extension allowed it to reach 102mph at 7000rpm. The DB series would have had cams and carburettor developed to work with the later 'silencer'. Would be interesting to know if the example you worked on had everything optimised for the silencing it now uses. They also needed a minimum viable squish clearance to give of their best. The Gold Star was probably the most highly developed British motorcycle (even if it was compromised by having to fit in with the production of the rest of the B series) and it evidently paid off in that the Clubman's TT had become a Goldie only event by the mid 50s. It started off with Nortons, Douglases, Triumphs and Royal Enfields (AMC didn't seem to be interested) being used as well as BSAs. There were advantages to being the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world in the eraly/mid 50s in having the money for an expensive development programme which the other, comparatively small, manufacturers couldn't match.

Back in 1964, I bought a Royal Enfield Continental.....very up to date for the time. Flyscreen, red fibre tank, racing seat, drop bars, and was a great bike.....and it had one more gear than other bikes of the time. A forgotten classic !

I have an SRX600 and was surprised at how mild the cam was and how low the compression was @ 8.5 : 1 - I can now see that the mild cam means at low revs the mixture gets the full compression while a hotter cam gets a bit of blowback effectively lowering the actual compression - I tend to use the stomping mid-range so I'm happy with the flexibility

Merry Christmas Paul. Thanks for such interesting and knowledgeable videos that always create interesting watching. Good on ya M8 :)

A very valid point regarding the output of the 350 Goldie. Crying out for more comprehension 👍 Longer duration cam timing indeed requires a hgher geometric compression ratio due to the cylinder pressure bleed off effect of earlier opening and later closing valve red event. Generally, the the more valve duration the more the compression ratio required to make it work properly.

Many thanks Paul, we really enjoy everything you post on youtube , are Ian and the Enfield on the circuits in 2024 ?Thanks again and best wishes from the West Country.

Enfield did make a remarkable competitive bike to challenge Bonnys, BSA Goldys and even my 99ss Norton, it was the Conny, Constellation 700cc that EVERY time would pee all over us! The rider was an absolute head case so that probably helped but after 6 years it was completely oil tight with no obvious rattles or other issues.

Great comparison very interesting Happy Christmas ATB for 2024 👍

Racing never gets old Paul! Got to love it!👍🏍️

I can remember talking to a foreman of mine 40 yrs ago about classic racing. He had a shortstroke 350 manx at the time which he refered to as a camshft norton. When he had finished puffing his chest out saying they were the best I retorted well how do you explain about Steve Lindsel winning against "camshaft" norton's. Well he blew his top shouting that the internals were probably manx! I got a lot of satisfaction over that I won't mention his name as he has done so much good for the motorcycle cause and is still active at nearly 80.

Royce Creasey, in early "Bike" editions, often waxed prosaic on the potential of the 350 Bullet

CRACKING VIDEO MATE, ENJOYED THAT.

nice one Paul its your hard work that gone into that bike its made paying off and developed it to win also thank you for time on RU-vid av a happy Christmas all the best and more for the new year keep up the show thank you cheers

BSA stopped developing the Goldie to focus on the A65, I'm sure the Competions Dept knew there was more to come. Gold Stars are now pushing 50hp with stronger cranks.

What an amazing machine your Bullet is (if that description is apt), I never knew that a 350 semi unit engine could be squeezed into a 250 frame. I had a Redditch 350 Bullet in the late 1970's that would do 95mph, it amazed many of my RE detracting friends. I was always a RE admirer and had 250's, 350's, 500 twins, 700 twins and also a series 2 Interceptor which I obtained from Holders' in Birmingham, who at the time were machining castings including some RE parts. I had always wanted a 500cc Trifield with a genuine Daytona engine, in a CGT chassis, but alas I never managed to obtain one. Anyway Paul, I always enjoy your videos, especially those with Royal Enfield content, thanks for having the foresight to make them, and please keep them coming! Cheers, Eve

Happy Christmas Paul. Some interesting ideas to ponder there.

It is called 'valve overlap'. This is the amount in degrees that both the exhaust and intake valves are open at the same time. By having the intake valve open earlier than T.D.C. on the exhaust stroke, the 'velocity' of the exhaust gasses leaving the combustion chamber at high R.P.M. actually pulls air/fuel mixture into the firing chamber. This causes a 'scavenging effect' of swirling gasses in the chamber, which helps to remove more of the exhaust gasses resulting in better 'volumetric efficiency' during the intake stroke. 😜

Happy Christmas. An interesting video.

Merry Christmas to you too Paul

Merry Christmas Paul thank you for your insights and great depth of knowledge every day is a school day and i for one very much appreciate being educated 👍

Excellent. Thanks

Really fascinating!

Really interesting. If only RE had had the foresight to do it.

It sounds as if the CB32 is a clubman's racer saddled with a touring piston. The original build sheet if it can be traced would not only show the parts fitted, but would also give the actual output measured on BSA's Heenan and Froude dynamometer, as all Gold Stars were so tested. If they were to be found lacking, they were rebuilt until the problem had been eliminated. Too many Goodies are ridden by folk wearing slippers as having fun can severely impair an investment.

Very interesting that.thankyou

t`was a brilliant edifying comparison,backed up with your hands on experience paul, i feel that sense of what could have been if only,,!! i owned a honda SP2 ,what a beautiful lump that bike had in it, and handled like a dream, why on earth could triumph not produce such a beast with modern manufacturing potential at their disposal if there was one wish before i croak it, a triumph V-TWIN to rival all others, that is the one void in motorcycling history.

Out of interest, what rev limiter do you have on the Enfield? I tried to find an aftermarket rev limiter and none of them were suitable for a single cylinder. I went through a phase of bending pushrods if I fluffed a gearshift and thought a rev limiter might help prevent that... although I've solved the problem now by making a set of pushrods out of real metal.

Great topic Paul, my cassic 612 conversion bitsa is a poor mans Gold Star, could never afford a gold star and would be afraid to ride it hard, notwithstanding the gold star foibles my enfield is easy to start has a five speed box, has your cam retard tweak and is faster than I'm comfortable riding it ! Merry christmas !!

I must be greedy or lucky for I own a dbd 34 and a 500 Redditch Fury in a bsa frame. Shortened barrel, S cams, but after two rod failures I swapped the RE rod and crank pin for dbd ones. This made for a excellent fast road bike with good reliability with not much performance difference between the two.

I want BSA to bring back the A65 Lightning.

I will make enquires and see how much he wants for the motor. Cheers.

You ever worked on a unit Bullet Paul? I'm on the look out for one..

Hi Paul, my old man was a big fan of yours, sadly just passed 93 leaving me with 2 x 350 bullets one dated 53/54 and one 54 frame engine 1961, I'm putting them up for sale as none of us can maintain them and don't want them sat rotting as he had his bike before us kids and I'm 47, just wondering if you could help me on a kick start problem they've been sat in garage this Yr not really run but as I'm trying to kick it over I cant always find top dead center as it feels it drags ,I'm reading up its a wet clutch ? It was running well just before he took ill February time, thanks for any info,Tom

Happy christmas Paul. Last ride date dec 5. Put the cbf away. Too cold in western Canada. The old Canadian m c mechanic

Best wishes, Paul, for Christmas and the new year and thank you for your videos.

Another informative video. Thanks. Is that an image of a kiwi on the 'Enfield 350 fuel tank?

How much do you adjust the ignition timing by when you increase the CR Paul?

i see you have a steering damper fitted to the enfield, whats your opinion of their use on a road bike, many say oh not necessary at all, but do they smooth out road and rider inputs for a safer ride?

Dear Paul, You mentioned that that your bullet racer got 5 speed gear out of an Youngtimer Indian bullet. I own a series 2 Interceptor 750 from 1970 will this 5 speed conversion also work for my machine and if yes does it fit without adaptations? I also have concerns if a 5 speed gear box designed for a 500er single can cope with the power of the 750er twin. Cheers Laura

Hello Paul, i know of a guy locally and he offered me a big head fury Royal Enfield motor not long ago. Any Interest ? Cheers.

Paul : What do think you think of the RF Fury ? Late 70s I tried to buy a Fury but could not make a deal. They had a 1-3/8 GP carb on them. It would have been interesting to compair a Fury to the DBD 34 Goldie and The Velo Venom clubman I had at that time. The Fury I was looking at was in scrambles trim. Was in southern Califorina so maybe a desert race bike? Who knows.

Why were you disqualified?

This all comes down to cylinder head design, valve sizes, valve angles, combustion chamber shape, port downdraght angle and shape. Possibly the Enfield has a better head design than the Goldie, despite all of the development that went into the Gold Star.

The element lacking at Royal Enfield back in the day was you. You were born too late. 😂

Road racing on methanol?

It could have been a lot better.

have a good christmas paul