BREAKING: Here’s A First Look Of BSA’s Retro Bike

BSA’s first modern motorcycle, called the BSA Gold Star has been unveiled at the 2021 NEC Birmingham Motorcycle Show. Contrary to BSA’s original plans, its maiden motorcycle turns out to be a petrol-powered one, and not a BSA electric bike. Interestingly, this motorcycle was spotted testing in India back in August this year. This made-in-India bike has been designed in the UK, and is essentially a modern avatar of the original 1960s Gold Star. The attention-to-detail is as premium as the Triumph Bonneville T100, and the bikemaker has ensured it looks as quintessentially British as possible.

While technical details of the motorcycle are not known yet, we can see the engine is a single-cylinder liquid-cooled unit. It's likely to have a displacement of 650cc, a derivation of the BMW F 650 Funduro's rotax heart. Expect it to be a torque-rich unit, staying true to the bike’s demeanour. Having said that, ensuring good refinement levels of such a large capacity single-cylinder engine may be challenging. It's also the reason why other newbie-friendly bikes in its segment like the Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 has a parallel twin configuration. Oh, and the nostalgic pea-shooter brushed metal exhaust neatly complements the retro look.

The BSA Gold Star features wide, easy-to-reach handlebar, bench seat and mid-set footpegs for properly upright ergonomics. It also gets a twin-pod instrument cluster with digital inset, handlebar-mounted USB charging port, a peanut shaped fuel tank with the new BSA logo. The rear fender looks oddly elongated (just like the test mule), and we believe it could’ve been designed to look a little more coherent. The fender includes a small integrated saddle stay too.

Underpinnings include a telescopic front fork, twin preload adjustable rear shock absorbers, spoke wheels at both ends with tubed tyres (likely Pirelli Phantom Sportscomp units). Braking is via discs at both ends, with dual-channel ABS.

• EXCLUSIVE: Interview With Jawa’s Ashish Singh Joshi: On Electric BSA And Flex-fuel Jawas
• Take A Closer Look At Jawa’s New War-inspired Liveries
• No Super Meteor 650 But RE Shows Off New SG 650 Bobber Concept

All in all, BSA seems to have checked all the boxes for a quintessential retro roadster. Expect the motorcycle to cost in the same leagues as the Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 in the UK. For reference, the Interceptor retails at GBP 6,039 (around Rs 6.02 lakh). Since the bike will be made in India, we wouldn't be surprised if BSA brings this retro beauty to our shores some time next year.