BSA Gold Star 650 Expected Price: Will It Be Cheaper Than The Royal Enfield Interceptor 650?

Classic Legends is launching the iconic British brand, BSA Motorcycles in India on August 15. The brand will make its comeback with the Gold Star 650, a retro-styled bike that wouldn’t look out of place in a hipster cafe, or if placed alongside some OG BSAs. We think it will be priced at Rs 3.5 lakh (ex-showroom) because of the following reasons. 

BSA Gold Star 650: Made In India

Now, first things first, the Gold Star 650 was designed in the UK, and is currently manufactured in India to be exported to the UK, where it is priced from an equivalent of Rs 6.8 lakh. That alone should be an indicator for its expected Indian price tag which will be devoid of the inter-continental transport costs,the import duties and other taxes it incurs in the UK. 

Next up, it's been almost a couple of years since Classic Legends set up the production line in India. That means all the early teething issues should be sorted and it should be a well-established manufacturing setup. That should allow BSA to streamline the supply chain for the domestic market, and make it far easier than if they were to start from scratch. 

Gold Star 650: One-Of-A-Kind Engine

The BSA Gold Star 650 is powered by a 652cc liquid-cooled, single-cylinder engine with dual overhead camshaft. 

A large single-cylinder engine is going to naturally heat up a lot and to solve this engineering challenge, liquid-cooling is the only way to keep the temperature in check. This will also ensure the engine performs optimally for extended periods of time. That, paired with the design of the engine case – emulating the look of an air-cooled unit complete with the cooling fins, makes the engine look properly premium. Making such an engine would be expensive, but not prohibitively. 

BSA Gold Star: Analogue Warrior In Digital Age

BSA has kept things simple when it comes to features on the Gold Star. The dual-pod instrument cluster is analogue (with small digital insets for other basic info) and doesn’t have any Bluetooth connectivity. While that may look elegant with a retro-charm, it has allowed BSA to keep the costs low by avoiding a fully-digital instrument cluster with smartphone connectivity, the development costs of an app for the connectivity, and everything else associated with it. Also it gets a halogen headlight, not an LED one. This should keep the price in check while retaining the retro appeal. 

The design of the Gold Star takes a minimalistic approach. The body panels look clean and the tear-drop fuel tank looks gorgeous. It has a simple tubular steel cradle frame which is fairly economical to manufacture, and so is the box section swingarm with twin shocks. While the Gold Star gets Pirelli Phantom Sportscomp tyres in the UK, for our market, it might have made-in-India tyres sourced likely from Ceat or MRF. 

BSA Gold Star 650 Price In India

Segment-wise, BSA wouldn’t want to stray far away from the Royal Enfield Interceptor 650’s pricing if they want to make a dent in its market. BSA isn’t an exotic brand (maybe apart from the nostalgic value it has for some grandparents) for the Gold Star price to be quite high. 

It will be slightly higher than the top-end Interceptor 650 that costs Rs 3,31,000 (ex-showroom, Delhi). It should also allow Classic Legends to differentiate the brand from its sister brands Jawa and Yezdi. Considering all of these aspects, we think the Gold Star 650’s price in India should be around Rs 3.5 lakh (ex-showroom). That said, Classic Legends could still pull a rabbit out of the hat, and surprise us.