Back in April, 2022, Mahindra-owned Classic Legends announced that the official launch of the 2022 BSA Gold Star would be delayed. How long? At the time, they said it was expected sometime in May, 2022. That month came, and it went—and now it’s July, 2022. So, what’s happening with BSA’s revival?
After some setbacks, many of which were COVID-related, the two heads of Classic Legends say things are back on track for an imminent release. In an exclusive interview with the Classic Motorcycle Channel, CL co-founder Anupam Thareja and CL CEO/BSA director Ashish Singh Joshi sat down to chat about some pre-release details—and it’s well worth your time if you’re at all interested in the 2022 BSA Gold Star.
Speaking on the delays, they said that COVID played a role, but also that BSA was working hard to find the right distribution partner for the U.K. They believe they’ve found it with Lucas Distribution, and are looking forward to working with them. The dealer network will start with between five and nine places to start, expand to 20 over the following couple of months post-launch, and eventually settle around 40 or 50 in total across the U.K.
What about international distribution? Currently, BSA says it’s in talks to distribute bikes in Europe next, starting with France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Following that rollout, the plan is to expand to places like North America (including the U.S., Canada, and Mexico), as well as Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea. Much further down the line, there’s talk about expanding to South America as well—but that’s several steps ahead, and there’s a lot to do before they get there.
Notably, when Anupam Thareja was asked what the BSA Gold Star is going to cost, his answer was quite passionate. (Both he and Joshi are riders themselves, in addition to businessmen—and if I had to guess, that’s probably why.) He said that he can’t give an exact number before they officially launch it, but that he understands the psychological effect of staying around £10,000 (about $11,847). Furthermore, he said, he “won’t let any bean counter tell me that I have to make money on this bike.” Above all, he says, he wants people to ride it.
Of course, it’s one thing to say something like that, and quite another to do it—but it’s a heartening attitude. Obviously, BSA is a business, but hopefully this means there can be some kind of balance.
Where will BSA’s bikes be made? Prior to COVID, the company said it wanted to make its bikes in the U.K. However, because of the pandemic, the Gold Stars that are about to launch were made in India. Still, BSA is also currently in talks to potentially open a production facility somewhere in the West Midlands of the U.K. It’s not clear whether Gold Star production could move there, or whether any future such facility would be for other BSA models going forward. The future electric BSA that’s in the pipeline will, however, be built in the U.K.
Finally, BSA says it has other bikes in the pipeline, including a twin. Neither man wanted to discuss details just yet. Instead, they seemed to want to make sure that people know the company has a model map up its sleeve, even if it’s not ready to show all its cards just now.
