By Ron Winget
| What you see here is a 1954 BB34 Dick Mann-restored BSA Gold Star. Dick and I are
pictured, and so is Moto-X Max, the racing dachshund. I found the bike 10 years ago by
responding to a for-sale ad from a laundromat bulletin board (yeah, eat your heart out).
When I first saw the bike it was leaned up against a lilac bush and in very poor shape.
The owner had no idea that it was a collectable machine and was very happy with the $300
deal. It was all I could do to control my excitement until the bike and I were finally out
sight. The Goldie sat in my shed for many years while I put off the restoration project. During those years I got involved in AHRMA and began to notice Dick Mann-restored motorcycles competing in AHRMA MX and trials. These machines were not built just to show, but were actually intended to be raced, etc. That impressed me and I asked Dick if he would work on my bike. He agreed and I gave him the BSA at Peoria in 1996. Dick worked on the bike that winter and returned it to me in April 1997 at Collins, Missouri. I felt like a kid on Christmas morning as he rolled the Goldie out of his pickup truck. As a novice trials rider on a 43-year-old Premier Heavyweight machine I rode the #4 line that day. I shouldn't have worried -- the BSA performed flawlessly and we cleaned all but one section. As Dick had explained, the engine only makes about 15 horsepower now, but it is all down low in the 1000 rpm range. Obstacles are cleared by blipping the throttle and letting that heavy flywheel do the work. I continue to be amazed at the simplicity of the Gold Star design and of Dick's craftsmanship. In trials trim the bike should last as long as I can swing my leg over it. This is not just a Gold Star, it is a Dick Mann Gold Star. Thanks, Dick, I am proud indeed! |