[whitesquall]

Had a test ride. Bike has good power and torque, very easy to ride, comfortable seating position, lot less vibrations than anticipated. Overall a good package at an attractive price. Good upgrade choice from any 350 cc bikes in my opinion.

[Selective]

Originally Posted by whitesquall

Had a test ride. Bike has good power and torque, very easy to ride, comfortable seating position, lot less vibrations than anticipated. Overall a good package at an attractive price. Good upgrade choice from any 350 cc bikes in my opinion.

whitesquall, where did you test ride this bike? Which dealer?
And, how is the heat management?

[whitesquall]

Originally Posted by Selective

whitesquall, where did you test ride this bike? Which dealer?
And, how is the heat management?

Affine Automotive @ Whitefield. I rode it in heavy traffic and ripped it on an open road, I didn't notice any heating issue.

[VINBHO333]

I took a test ride today in Jayanagar Bangalore. Below are my first impression.

In contrast of a RE launch, BSA/Jawa showroom had zero crowd. I was the first person apparently who took the bike for a spin. This shows BSA as a brand needs a lot of marketing to reach to the masses. Or may be they want to maintain it as a Niche product.
Only time will tell.

Now diving into the driving impression.

At the first look the bike proportions are very good and very impressive weight management.
Short riders are going to love the bike.
Pick up with the thump the 650 single makes is outstanding.
I felt like I am driving a classic.
The engine is smooth and makes a grunting thumping noise.
Low end toque is quite nice and I just loved the way I could handle it.
It takes the bumps and potholes quite nicely. All in all BSA as a WINNER.

I will wait for few reviews from people like Shumi or Bosky of Big Bear and then make a decision.
I felt this bike was more fun and peppy than an INTERCEPTOR.

[Boringrider]

I have so much interest in this but Classic Legends distribution strategy is out of whack. No dealer in Chennai has this, nobody knows when will it arrive. No communication from BSA but they want my booking? That's funny. Even simple spares for Yezdi bikes take weeks to arrive with multiple follow ups from our side, not from the dealer themself. This is quite a let down. Hope they're reading this and make availability or at least communication easier.

[Torino]

The Gold Star looks beautiful in pictures and I love those tank paint schemes. Wish the engine is finished in chrome as well and the swooping tail section personally looks a bit off but I can already see tail tidy kit in the aftermarket. Can't wait to have a test ride and experience the big single.

Interestingly in this video, Anupam reveals that their twin cylinder engine is ready and we could see derivatives of the Gold Star and new BSA models starting from 2024 itself and mentions the Golden Flash. While the twin cylinder engine development was already in rumors, multiple launches in 2024 is a surprise. That said I look forward to see how Classic Legends is building emotional brand connect with the community which I think is crucial over sales numbers in the initial years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syX1zdIiyJ0

[neith]

Originally Posted by Boringrider

I have so much interest in this but Classic Legends distribution strategy is out of whack. No dealer in chennai has this, nobody knows when will it arrive.

Hey, there were two bikes at the newly opened Swastik Motor at Kattupakkam when I visited yesterday. Test rides have not started yet.

[TorqueyTechie]

Today, I had the opportunity to test ride a bike in midnight black. The duration of the ride was limited due to insufficient fuel. From the moment I mounted the bike until the ride concluded, I experienced a sense of familiarity and comfort. The bike's weight is either light or cleverly disguised, making it easy to maneuver. It produces a rich, bassy sound that transitions into a satisfying thump. The power delivery is smooth and linear, with good low-end torque. The bike felt intuitive, and I appreciated its stance. Overall, I found it to be a promising product, and I am nearly convinced it will be a suitable choice for me.

I intend to await the reviews for this bike; however, my inclination strongly urges me to proceed and reserve it in Insignia red. However, there is some skepticism as this is a new launch, coupled with uncertainty about the long-term viability of the service.

[neil.jericho]

Me : "Hi, is this the BSA Jawa showroom?"
Sales Rep : "Yes sir."
Me : "Im calling to check if the Gold Star 650 is on display. Can I come and see it today evening?"
Sales Rep : "No sir. That bike is not there. We do have the BSA 650 though. You can come and see it today."
Me : "OK then ....."

As a former Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 owner, I will admit to having a massive soft corner for big singles and the joy of motorcycling that this dying breed brings to the table. With Royal Enfield smartly moving to the twin cylinder A2 segment (Interceptor / Continental GT / Super Meteor / Shotgun 650), motorcycle enthusiasts didnt really have any solid single cylinder options until the Mahindra-backed Classic Legends (also behind the Yezdi & Jawa motorcycles) came out with the BSA Gold Star 650. Ive been following the product since it was launched, hoping that the time spent in selling the bike in international markets, would result in a polished product landing in Indian dealerships.

After having checked out the Gold Star 650 in a nearby showroom, I think its time to taper my realistic expectations. Here are some thoughts
- There were 2 motorcycles on display. One was in the Insignia Red paint scheme and the other was in the Dawn Silver scheme. From a few feet away, the motorcycles are strikingly handsome!
- Spend more than 10 minutes in carefully observing the motorcycles from all angles, and as with all the other Classic Legends products, you start to see why they arent in the same league as the launches from other major players.
- The gap between the side panel and the chassis is massive on one side and minimal on the other. There is no way to say this other than, this is just poor design and engineering.
- When you are seated, you can see really ugly weld marks on the forks, just below the triple clamp. Once you see it, you cant unsee it. Another potential customer also noticed the same.
- When you plant you feet in such a way that they are well clear of the foot pegs, you will find your thighs are digging into the side panels! To avoid this you will have to place your feet ahead but then your shins will foul with the foot pegs. Argh!
- The mish mash of 50 shades of grey on one side of the engine could and should have been avoided. Why not go all black, instead?
- The switch gear is built to a cost, which is understandable. What is unforgivable though, is the fact that the arrow on the indicator was offset on both the motorcycles. That's just poor quality control.
- The tail lamp felt so out of place on the otherwise well designed motorcycle.
- The digital dash is too tiny to be readable on the go. Whoever signed off on this probably freelances as a sniper in his spare time.

I walked into the showroom expecting to see a solid product from Classic Legends that would be a real hoot to ride. While I will reserve my feedback on the riding experience, my initial impressions are that Classic Legends has so much more to do if they genuinely want to compete with the Royal Enfield's of the world, starting off with analyzing how they need to improve the fit and finish of the Gold Star 650!

Without a shadow of a doubt, this is best observed from 5 feet away.


H U G E gap on the right side.


Tiny gap on the left side. Shaking my head in dismay.


Plain ugly.


The offset arrow is rather prominent in this picture.


No such complaints here.


Why over complicate things with all these odd grey / pseudo chrome finishes?


The silver finish on the casing matches nothing else on the motorcycle. Why not use a single silver colour all throughout the motorcycle, instead?


That said, the silencer is a thing of beauty.


The offset fuel cap is gorgeous.


Is it just me or is this not straight?


Matte finish on the headlight dome of the Insignia Red motorcycle.


Glossy finish on the headlight dome of the Dawn Silver motocycle.


The seat on the Insignia Red motorcycle.


The seat on the Dawn Silver motorcycle.


I do like the tank designs on both motorcycles.


If only Royal Enfield has launched an equivalent of the BSA Gold Star 650!


That offset arrow sums up how Classic Legends has executed this motorcycle.

[imtiazindia]

Hello fellow bikers,

This is my first post on TBHP.

After having booked the bike on the day of the launch, today I went to have a look at the Goldie and to take a test ride. I got onto my trusted Classic 500 Desert Storm and reached the showroom. I met a couple of guys who had just finished their test ride and they were mighty pleased with the power (torque). They even told me that we just can’t shift to the 4th in the city ride, 3rd gear itself gives enough speed to end the road with the traffic signal. I was excited and asked what their present rides are. One was TVS RTR 310 and another was Yamaha 150CC I guess.

It took sometime for the folks at the showroom to attend to me. I got onto the test bike and took off for a quick spin. Now, remember I am getting on to this bike from my very well maintained Classic 500. My bullet is torquee. I told my self this is a real test for the Goldie as well as my dear CL500. Its duel between second largest single verses the largest single.

The impression I got during the ride, the torque did not impress me as much as the folks I met. Yes. It definitely is more powerful and more refined. It is a well behaved bike, responds well to the throttle the sound is a sweet rhythm and high base thump. Its not noisy. Well, my bullet is noisy at the tail as well as at the heart. Goldie didn’t have any of that. The seating was uncomfortable though (I am 5.9+) My upper body weight was on the handle bar straining my wrists. I guess I was doing something wrong, since never have I heard or read this problem in any of the reviews so far.

The best part of this bike are the brakes. I am mighty pleased with those. Honestly brakes are the reason enough for me to buy it. I test rode on a wet slippery part of the under construction road and hit the brakes but did not skid, whereas I am sure if I had done that with my bullet I would have skidded.

This is a community developed bike and it shows. Being a huge advocate of community development projects, this being a beautiful collaboration between Rotax, Ricardo, Redline and Mahindra. All delivering their core competencies. It is put together well.

I wish the bike had a locking mechanism for the side panels like the bullets. I will forever be worried about the safety of the seat and what lies below it. I will have to address that with some after market solution. Center stand is another missing item. We are always tight on space and that includes basement parking space as well. That also needs to be addressed. Grab rail at the end of the seat isnt there! That is an accessory to buy. I hope I can swap that with the saree guard (that is a mandatory part of the bike, so am I told) that has no purpose in my case. My lady love wont get on to the bike in a saree any way and never will I allow that either.

Moving forward, I am anxiously looking forward to after sales support from classic legends dealer. I hope and pray that part of life will be as good as the bike.

I must say, this bike is worth making noise. I wonder why CLPL isn't making enough noise about it. The product is good although a little expensive, it does deserve public attention. Are you reading me CLPL?

Cheers,
Imtiyaz

[Williams_f1]

Hi Everyone,

I had a quick testride of the Goldstar today from Shakti Automobiles PCMC, Pune. Test ride was available easily and within 5 minutes of entering the showroom I was out riding the bike, showroom shared that they already have 8 confirmed bookings, waiting period is a week. Must say the Bikes on display (Jawa-Yezdi-BSA) all are eye candy, hopefully the bikes are more sorted also with the recent updates, Wish them all the Best!

My observations of the Goldstar:

1. The bike had the DB killers removed, another bike at another showroom had the same setup, I thought why so? and I got the answer as soon as the bike was started up, it sounds epic! Clearly this is done with the Interceptor in mind (With all those after market silencers(16-20k), here you just need to take of the DB killer and you are sorted!

2. Off the line torque is awesome (I ride a Duke 200), this should make the bike easy to putter around.

3. Sitting position is not too feet forward and just about right for me and anymore further and I wouldn't have liked it. The engine is not that wide so it doesn't feel like you are on a 650, I find the New RE bikes (Himalyan, Guerilla, Super Meteor 650) a bit too big visually, this felt more "Right" size wise. About the handles - felt right at home, I didn't even think twice about it(I am 5' 10"). While riding I liked the look of the twin pods (they have retro charm about them) but probably not the easiest to read, there is a lot of bike ahead of you, you can almost feel that they tried to give a feel of how the original Goldstar felt.

4. The bike is pretty stable even at low speeds, I could get away without the need to put my feet down at almost zero speeds, bad road - well it just trundles along, its no corner carver though nor is it meant to be.

5. Off throttle (While deaccelerating) it has a hint of Turbo Diesel Whistle, which I really liked!

6. First Gear was low geared rest are long, I couldn't get space to check its cruising ability but should ok with the 5 gear setup.

7. This is the kind of bike you chug along enjoying the countryside yet it has some poke if you want to have some fun, it should be good at variety of things. The spiritual successor to the UCE 500 as many have already said.

Quality, fit finish, spares and maintenance are questions for the future, at first glance it felt better put together than the first gen Jawa-yezdis, Stuart Fillingham a British youtuber said in one of his videos that this bike uses a lot forged components, forged parts are strong but don't have good finish, I don't know how much of that is true but thats the reason he gave for observations regarding the finish on the bike. The bike has couple of years under its belt, being sold internationally so hopefully should hit the ground running.

Thats all folks!

[Mu009]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

I walked into the showroom expecting to see a solid product from Classic Legends that would be a real hoot to ride. While I will reserve my feedback on the riding experience, my initial impressions are that Classic Legends has so much more to do if they genuinely want to compete with the Royal Enfield's of the world, starting off with analyzing how they need to improve the fit and finish of the Gold Star 650!

Damn! This is such a disappointment. After the recent country-wide recall camps from Classic Legends, + this being out in markets overseas for a couple of years, I too was expecting a competitor at least as sorted as the Enfield 650s (however many deficiencies those motorcyles have - they're ultimately just that, deficiencies, not deal breakers).

On a separate note though, really loved reading it. The way you've presented things reminded me of Shumi. Now I'm waiting for a ride review from you almost as much as the Motor Inc first impressions

[gkrishn]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

Why over complicate things with all these odd grey / pseudo chrome finishes?


The silver finish on the casing matches nothing else on the motorcycle. Why not use a single silver colour all throughout the motorcycle, instead?

The chrome on fuel tank, felt like it was some kind of sticker. Did you felt that too?

For whatever 10 mins the test ride was give for, it felt really nice. It was light. Nimble. Loads of low end grunt. And an awesome exhaust note.

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

After having checked out the Gold Star 650 in a nearby showroom, I think it’s time to taper my realistic expectations. Here are some thoughts

Fantastic summary Neil. We had very little time alone with the bike during the rather cramped and chaotic media launch but ever since that first look I’ve been itching to check it out peacefully in a showroom and possibly also get a short test ride but haven’t had the time.

From all the points you’ve mentioned, the one design eyesore that struck me continually was the color and look of that engine case. It just stood out as very artificial, disconnected with the rest of the bike and generally non authentic or “classic” looking. The switch gears etc definitely looks very average quality too. I didn’t get a chance to notice some of the panel gaps etc that you’ve picked up on - CL would definitely do well to address some of these quality or finish issues although personally I don’t expect this aspect to change significantly. I doubt I’ll get the bandwidth to ride this over a longer 30 - 50 kms distance also - showrooms are based around Bandra so only a short crowded city ride will be plausible unless we get a Media test bike.

I still think from an overall visual, the design is really lovely. Hopefully they’ve delivered a capable ride and handling package, that will critical of course.

But the real challenge is getting a credible dealership and after sales network that evokes confidence in more buyers. Crack that, and I still think these bikes can find a good space to operate in. It’s no RE killer of course - not by a long shot, but it can find its own footing regardless if it gets some of these aspects in place.

[thefastelephant]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

As a former Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 owner, I will admit to having a massive soft corner for big singles and the joy of motorcycling that this dying breed brings to the table. With Royal Enfield smartly moving to the twin cylinder A2 segment (Interceptor / Continental GT / Super Meteor / Shotgun 650), motorcycle enthusiasts didnt really have any solid single cylinder options until the Mahindra-backed Classic Legends (also behind the Yezdi & Jawa motorcycles) came out with the BSA Gold Star 650. Ive been following the product since it was launched, hoping that the time spent in selling the bike in international markets, would result in a polished product landing in Indian dealerships.
...

Hi there Neil,

Your reliable little birdy here. One word as someone who knows about motorcycles in India and their brands / manufacturing; "AVOID!"

That motor is sweet. Rest isn't.

Thanks!