Mahindra's New Goldstar 650

[Monkeypants]

So Glen, is the Thruxton being didposed of to make way for your new Old Gentleman's BSA?

Not a chance!
I could see the possibility of adding one of these to the herd.
I think the torque of the 650 single would be adequate for 2 up riding.
My old 500 singles would do it but 2 up passing at highway speeds was nearly impossible.
This bike could be a lot of fun, even if it isn't correct fun.

Glen

 

[Robert Watson]

Maaaaaaaabee I could tempt you with a well fettled DBD34 with a John MacD engine.........

 

[Monkeypants]

Thinking about it for sure...
Big for sure.

Here is a bit of info on the initial sales numbers just in the UK.
Europe & North America yet to come.

Glen

 

[BigEd]

Eric, yes, I responded to your message on March 1, but I just checked and it shows my response has been "unread" by you as yet.

The STD isn't my favorite (but, far better than the RRT2...), but the overall problem is that with only 4 gears, it just isn't possible to have every gap optimum. Luckily, there are enough choices available (although some, like the DAY, hard to find) that the appropriate compromise can usually be found for every riding style.

I bought a second-hand DB32 Goldstar in 1964. The gearbox had DAY stamped on the shell. I think it was a close ratio cluster but 1st was lower than the RRT ratios. A few years later the DB32 engine broke a con-rod. It destroyed most of the rest of the engine. I put a second-hand DBD34 engine in. I think I paid £40.00. Happy days.

 

[Magnetoman]

Here is a bit of info on the initial sales numbers just in the UK.

The January/February issue of 'Goldie', the magazine of the Gold Star Owners Club, has a review of the new Gold Star, calling it in the title "a new legend" and answering the reviewer's self-asked question of whether he would buy one with "a resounding YES." However, the reviewer mentions in the article that he had put his own deposit on one "many months ago," throwing any semblance of objectivity out the window.

At 46 seconds into that video the narrator states as fact "It's a beautiful-looking bike. There's not really any denying that. Everyone is bowled over by the look of the bike." The phrase de gustibus non disputandum est immediately came to mind (although, I had to google the spelling for this post). You can't argue with someone's taste. But, while the narrator's words are opinion that reflect his taste, not fact, I can state as an irrefutable fact that the curators of the Guggenheim's 'The Art of the Motorcycle' and Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art's 'The Motorcycle: Design, Art, Desire' would not have given the bike a second glance when selecting machines for those exhibitions had it been available at the time.

Another fact is that at the opening banquet of 'The Art of the Motorcycle', a BMW executive complained to one of the curators about the number of French bikes chosen for the exhibition, saying they never had large sales. The curator replied that the exhibition was about the art of the motorcycle, not the sales. Again, de gustibus non disputandum est, although over 2M visitors to those exhibitions does say something about the taste of the curators, irrespective of how many bikes that they didn't select were sold.

 

[vibrac]

I never thought much of the Gold star but then I think my 51 7R with push bike lights was a better choice
I did love my B31 though I found real reliability there
However the important thing to think about for us is:
What has been lost in concept when we have to add all that enviro-green clobber to a 50's design?
we need to ask that because IMHO soon someone from east of the EU with lots of new CAD power will be costing a new Vincent......

 

[bmetcalf]

Do the CAD libraries have BSW, BSF, BSC, BA, etc.?

 

[Magnetoman]

IMHO soon someone from east of the EU with lots of new CAD power will be costing a new Vincent......

I've left off a few minor players, like Ariel and Brough-Superior, but motorcycle brands that made comebacks are/were: BSA, Excelsior-Henderson, Indian, MV Agusta, Norton, Royal Enfield, and Triumph. Indian should be counted at least three times in this list, and Norton at least twice, but Royal Enfield arguably doesn't belong on it since it never disappeared.

If there's anything these have in common it's that, with the exception of Excelsior-Henderson, none of them had been out of production for as much as 30 years when the names were revived, so they retained some degree of brand recognition with the buying public. However, E-H only lasted two years before going bankrupt. Despite name recognition, Triumph is the only exception at this point because it's too early to tell with BSA.

Looking at the above list of expensive mass-market failures, the odds of someone reviving the name Vincent in other than a small-scale vanity project, or to make mopeds for underdeveloped countries, seem to be pretty small.

 

[Michael Vane-Hunt]

Well someone made at least 12 replica Series A Rapides.

 

[Monkeypants]

I think a lot of UK riders who could never afford a DBD34 are buying these and, so far, really doing well with them.
I don't think any of them care at all that Guggenheim would reject their bikes as a display.

A number of beginner riders are going for them as the sub 50 hp level works for the licensing system there.
As one said, " This is great, I don't have to ride one of those pointy pieces of plastic!

I've looked at a number of ride reviews and all remark that there is good pulling power, a bit more than the 650 Interceptor, and plenty of speed for passing on the motorway.
45 bph, that is the same output as the Rapide, which was the world's fastest machine in its day and is still plenty strong for two up touring.

Glen