2006-11-30 04:37:13 · 5 answers · asked by xbristol55 1 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Motorcycles
The name Gold Star had its origin in June 1937 when Wal Handley came out of retirement to race at Brooklands on an iron barrelled Empire Star tuned to run on alcohol.
The BMCRC awarded a lapel badge in the form of a gold star surrounding the figure 100 to any rider who lapped the Brooklands concrete bowl at over 100 mph whilst competing in one of their club races. Handley did this and in recognition, BSA, who were developing a 500cc Sports single, named it the Gold Star.
Post-war development (including a domination of the Clubmans TT races) culminated in the 499cc Model DBD 34, but its specialised specification eventually made it uneconomical to produce so the Gold Star was phased out in 1963.
2006-11-30 05:56:00 · answer #1 · answered by Nightworks 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Their "Badge" was in the shape of a star, the company was "British Small Arms" and they made firearms. The motorcycle part of the company came later, and they produced a 650cc Twin called the "Rocket Gold Star", a 500cc single called just "Gold Star", and a 500cc Twin called "Silver Star". The Gold Star was very powerful for it's time, and it had been reported that it could reach speeds of 120mph, which was quite remarkable for a 500cc single cylinder machine. It had a very high compression ratio. So I assume they called these models the "Star" series as the badge was that shape. However, I could be wrong.
2006-11-30 04:48:04 · answer #2 · answered by Rickles 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Maybe after the gold star on the fuel tank
2006-11-30 07:33:19 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I don't know but I have heard that BSA stands for Blooming Sore Asssss - which you could get if you rode one for too long!
2006-11-30 05:26:41 · answer #4 · answered by nettyone2003 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Why did Ford name their car Taurus? Same answer, they wanted to.
2006-11-30 04:40:24 · answer #5 · answered by oklatom 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋