Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/141060
..'" N M 11. ... M C> '" > . ::;: ~ W Z W ..J U >- U Th is All Sports Gold Star differs f rom the original only in its alloy rims. front brakes, and the unpainted tank . Price : $1595 . highways. The Go ld Star was ph ased o ut by technol o gy (by multip le cy linders, specific ally) but, like the wax ca nd le, which sh ared th e same fa te, a certain qu alit y lives o n. T h e Gold Star takes us bac k to the day s of d oing t hings yourself. T he Gold Star was never advertised in terms of the p resen t-day phrase " Main te nance-free." I f you ca m paigned o ne of these machines, yo u pai d a lot of atten tion to it ; it demanded lo yalty and p atien ce so riders either loved th em and ro de them, o r cu rsed them and rode so me thi ng else. With a Gold Star, yo u were invol ved. People use d the G old S tar for the o bv io us reas on th at , for a ti me, i t was a good be t fo r winning power, handling, reliability , and so forth . Bu t an other thing probably attracted rid er s, an d thi s su rel y is what a tt racts us in today 's w o rld of th e Honda 4 an d othe r mo re p owerful , more reli abl e mach in es: Individ ualit y. Craftsmans hip . Lin e u p a 197 3 m o t or c y cl e s , with d o z en eye-grabb ing pain t j ob s, electric starte rs; s tamped side cove rs, and, wel l, yo u' d have n o tr ouble spotting a G old Star if so meone tried to snea k o ne in. T his mach ine w as designed w ith racin g, n o t sty ling . as the main conside ration. Ye t t he result is a u nique, re ad ily i dentifiable, and tastefully sy tle d motorcy cle. T he cy lin de r b arrel an d head , an d th e very p rominen tArnal (w hic h st ands for H A m a Ig a ma tc d Ca r b u r e te rs," inci de n ta lly) "G.P_" carb are im me di a te e xp ressio ns of thi s func tio nal sty le. T he dee ply finned head (one o f the modifications after the B34) Was Th is d rawing. fro m the Gold Star M anual. shows some of the English flavor of the bi ke. polishe d at the factory a nice finis hi ng to uc h . T he GP ca rb, th ough less in evidence on AMA profession al machin es today than it u sed to b e, is still in use and h as yet to b e su rpassed iri terms of o utrigh t b eauty . Close looking over th e res t of the Go ld Star pow erpl an t reveals its .~ Head has large valves and a- sym metrica l bolt pattern. Respectab le racing Gold Star s used a lightened, polished, and balanced crank . Cost today : $350 . • - - - - som ewhat cont ro versial , very English , " flavo r". Behind th e cy linde r is a maze of wire s, ho ses and pipes. No effo rt was made to hide these things; they were simply added as necessary . An average model fe atures two breather hoses, three gaslines, three: o il lines, ' a tach drive , H.T. lead (to the spark plug) and an advance-retard cab le hitched to the magneto slip ring. Among these various arteri es is the transmission, of the non-unit type, wh ich must be free to move for primary chain adj us tm en t. There's always something to d o if yo u own a Gold Star. Ignition on Gold Stars is by the f a b u l o u s si gn -of-the -Iion Lucas electricals, The magn e to , a reliable device by itsel f, is held to the base of the cylin der b y a metal strap (see picture) and four lo cating studs. T h is dubious system is made all the more incred ible by th e use o f En glish steel and "butter bol ts. " Though such a guess is dangerous, as man y breakdowns, have been caused by this design as any o ther : in a long race the metal b olt and strap fatigu e, stre tc h , and " release" the magneto, ca usin g an end of sp arks . Assuming your magneto is firmly fas t en ed (b ut no t t o o firm ly - yo u ' ll pop th e bolt) and all yo ur h oses clam p ed, and all y o ur wires wired, picture the following procedure. Ritual is a better word. Firs t, th e Gold Star Manual's full -flavored advice : ..... Th e ignition sho uld be hal/retarded and I th e engine is co ld clo se the air : f lever and floo d the carb ure to r sligh tly as excessive th rottle opening will pr event easy star t ing. R otat e t he engine un t il stopped b y th e co m pressio n, t hen allo w th e k ick starter lever a vigo rous k ick downwards, and at th e sam e tim e release th e exhaust valve lever. " Immediately after this, have a cu p of coffee and read th e mornin g p ape r. T hen , ch ange the plug (flooded) and curse cheerf ully. Go t o a telephon e and cal l three frie nd s wh o are in go od physic al cond ition . If y o u 've d on e this before, call three new friends. Explain th at your ma chin e is "a little touch y t od ay " and th at yo u need a push. If pop ping th e clu tc h a t 15 MPH fails to do the tri ck , re ad th e pap e r again , hav e some m ore co ffee. and ch ange th e plu g agai n . As suming furth er tha t so me ho w yo u ar e actually in the saddle of a Gold Star with a running engine , imagine yourself a clutch . The G old Star does n ot exe mp lify th e term " cammy," it defines it. Rev th e engin e to abou t three ·gran d an d slo wly le t the clu tc h o ut. With luc k , yo u w on't st all ; ra re indeed is th e G old S tar rider wh o hasn't d on e so at least once. You're moving down th e road and the engine is thump-thump-thumping alo n g in its unique lon g-legged wa y. Inside, a cran k su p po rted by tw o sing le ro llers, o ne d o ubl e roll er, and a b all be aring is cheerfully coming u p to sp ee d; th e re liab le Lu cas. magnet o is producin g a spark every o t he r tim e the pist on gets to 38 degre es before top dead cen ter ; and if you're not blocking th e v eloc ity sta ck with you r kn ee, the GP carb is suc ki ng in the fu el with a de ep, vac u umi ng sound . T he farth er up th e tacho me te r ge ts , th e smoothe r the b ike feels and the faster it accelerates. Be sure to shift wh en you ge t to 8 ,0 0 0. A ll this, alas, was yest erday .