BSA ROCKET GOLD STAR
PART THE FIRST
‘I’m not a Rocket Gold Star aficionado,’ said owner Andrew before we’d even started talking about his unique adventures with the final iteration of BSA’s pre-unit 650 twin. Despite building an RGS replica, and then resurrecting a genuine Rocket Goldie which emerged - somewhat the worse for wear - from the Manchester Ship Canal, Andrew is clear that ‘there are plenty of people who know far more than me.
‘The main problem with Rocket Goldies,’ he explains, ‘is the word “original”. Not everybody agrees on the definition and not everybody agrees on the specifications of a Rocket Goldie. There is a great deal of folklore about Rocket Goldies which has, to some extent, drowned out the facts. There are plenty of experts (and plenty of self-appointed experts) who will tell you, with absolute authority, that a 2BA screw you’ve used has got the wrong profile head…
‘So, to anybody planning on building a Rocket Goldie to “original” spec: good luck!’
Of course, there is an accepted template to follow and you might be fortunate enough to secure a genuine RGS with plenty of provenance. Then, says Andrew, ‘there are facts which can be derived from factory photos and owners who bought them new. But the RGS was sold in many forms and was, to some extent, bespoke. So anybody restoring a Rocket Goldie has
