An Owner's Honest Review of the 1956 BSA Gold Star DBD34

In this video we get our friend Dave Mitchell's honest review of the 1956 BSA Gold Star DBD34 classic cafe racer motorcycle.

In this video we take a look at Dave Mitchell's stunning BSA Gold Star DBD34 500 CLASSIC BRITISH CAFE RACER MOTORCYCLE.

Dave is a mechanic and engineer by trade and knows a thing or two about classic motorcycles. This video is just over 14 minutes long. Feel free to use the chapters below to skip to the part of the video that interests you most.

0:00 Introduction
1:38 Carburettor
2:18 Brakes
2:36 Engine
2:57 Non standard components on this motorcycle
3:15 On board riding shot with good sound quality to hear the engine
3:49 Castrol R oil in the fuel
4:23 How it feels to ride
5:16 Living with the BSA Gold Star
5:38 Triumph clutch installed and why
5:54 Suspension
6:16 Brakes
7:09 Lighting and electrics
7:29 Suspension and handling
8:00 Starting
10:09 Reputation of British bikes
11:13 Keeping the engine reliable
12:20 What is the BSA Gold Star good for

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THANK YOU TO
Dave Mitchell for his time filming on the day and taking his bike out for a ride (not that he needs much of an excuse). Dave runs Mitchell's Classics which is a classic British motorcycle servicing and restoration company.
Mobile: [phone]

Dave is a huge fan of Goldtop clothing (he is not sponsored by them) and wears a Goldtop shirt, scarf, gloves and jacket in the video.

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This video was produced by The Classic Motorcycle Channel and Talk To Camera.

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[chriswillis]

What a beautiful machine. I've been waiting for this all week and, boy, was it worth it. Excellent documentary, well explained, and great views looking through those twin clocks.

[nigelradcliffe]

My DBD 34 was a ‘56 version. The con rod snapped on the way to work. Crankcase split and at 16 couldn’t afford the repair bill. Loved it.

[aircraftserviceusa]

I bought my first BSA 62 years ago and have owned at least one BSA ever since. I currently have a DBD34 Clubman and a DB34 in Tourer. Dave is so right about starting can hurt you. In May 2020 I snapped my achilles tendon starting the DB34 and still is still not fully healed! That has not stopped me from riding, even at 75, but only thanks to Bob Pearson's electric starts now fitted too both bikes.

[tazalitaylor]

Fantastic BSA Motorcycles, i ran a well rebuilt 1951 A10 chopper Every day for 2 years was reliable once i needed to adjusted the 6 spring clutch , ,,,boy o boy it pulled like a train 2 up uP Steep long hills at fantastic speed felt like the Millennium Falcon with vibes that smoothed out at hipper drive speeds 85mph in mid winter ice frosted up me beard .. Great Vid Thank You !

[jimifed]

We had a local Goldie enthusiast in N.J. U.S. He always road one of his Gold Stars to events like the Norton Rally at Washington Crossing park on the Delaware river. For years we crossed paths at swap meets but he always had so many people around him that I didn't know how to approach. One day I just walked up and said it's about time I talked British bikes with you, still can't believe how down to earth and humble he was even to the point that he kept turning the conversation back to what I was working on and my brit bike experiences though he was the accomplished one. You just don't meet people like that anymore. Glad I did cancer got Carl a few years later.

[malcolmsmith]

very down to earth vidio, very nice chap and enjoyed it very much, had 500 goldi when i was 18 now 76 and still miss it, mine was wup856

[walkerhjk]

My very first bike was a 1951 Excelsior Talisman twin, a 250cc 2 stroke twin cylinder. Changed that to a new 1955 Ariel 350cc and that to a 1955 Ariel 650cc Huntmaster, Lovely bikes, I had several other BSAs but had to leave them behind when I came to NZ in 1962.This video really revived old memories!

[peteroreilly]

That was always my dream machine as a teenager. I had most of the popular bikes of the time and some not so, but never got the Goldie I always wanted. Now I'm just too old. Thanks Dave for letting me see again all that I missed. lovely video.

[BAJAFLATOUT]

My dad had one of these machines and sold it for about £110 back in the day. About 25yrs ago one of the new owners of it found his old log book in the side panel and contacted my dad and brought the bike to my dad to see it again and have a ride, it was amazing to see my dads reunion with his old bike. Made his day seeing it again 👍🏻 great video thanks

[johnjackson]

An excellent review from a man who really knows what he is talking about. How come he has not got his own tv motorbike show like the other guy has ?

[robertjames]

I scrambled two Gold Stars way back, a 500 BB and a 500 DBD, both sold as scramblers by the factory. They were potent and reliable motorcycles and I had a heap of fun on them as a regular club rider. I had one DBD34 Clubman that I found fast, furious and sometimes obstinate to start. I swapped out the RT2 transmission for a standard road box and replaced the GP carb with a spare 10TT9 from one of the scramblers. It became a different motorcycle, handling and performing with a little less speed but a lot better starting behavior. The Goldie was the best of the best and still is if one can afford one.

[danielrenowski]

Piękny motocykl prawdziwa historia Brytyjskiej motoryzacji pozdrawiam.

[PhilUys]

As a Goldie owner myself for the last 30 years, your video is spot on.

[aeroearth]

Thanks for posting this. I didn't think the DBD34 Gold star came out until 1957. Mine was a 1956 DB34 which I converted from Touring spec. to full Clubmans spec. over time.
Had a problem with the lights getting dimmer the faster I went. Wrote to Bruce Mainsmith at the time and he was stumped also. Finally worked out that the magdyno assembly has a fibre (Tufnol) gear driving the dynamo gear and is driven off the magneto main shaft via a face clutch with a five (?) "fingered" leaf spring. Over time the clutch face on the fiber gear wears down and starts to slip at speed. Fix for this penniless Engineering student at the time was to just retension (bend) the spring fingers. As I had also adjusted the voltage regulator in an attempt to compensate for the slipping clutch, I then had to adjust it back a bit or risk blown bulbs.
The decompression system on that bike in the video is either out of adjustment or something is worn. What must happen is when the decompression lever is activated that lifts the exhaust valve off its seat via a cam in the rocker box assembly and all compression is instantly lost. I used to flood the Amal float chamber for a rich start and as the engine fired, lift the throttle open slightly. There was no idle stop on the 1 1/2" GP carburettor as it is a racing instrument. Curiously at the time it was reported in the motorcycling press that most Gold Star sales were in London and I did ride from my Southampton home into London and back a few times. Bit exciting riding around Hyde Park corner with a Clubmans Gold Star.

[merrick]

Thanks so much for this David. I rode a Gold Star as a daily rider in the eighties and watching this brought it all back to me. Cold rainy mornings in peak hour traffic, keeping the revs up at lights, hoping moister wasn't penetrating through the points cover plate, the whiff of the occasional drop of oil combusting on the white-hot exhaust. A beautifully balanced handling bike, the power to weight ratio and frame BSA got very right. The previous owner did a rebuild, sprayed the tank British racing green, and added a set of drop bars, so along with its inherent style, exhaust note and pull away punch, it was a real head turner. Watching this has made me appreciate again, how fortunate I was to have this riding experience in my life.

[stephaniekent]

my friend used to strip his down every winter and rebuild it completely, even got the frame and tank repainted and the chrome all done, then re register it as a new bike, we all thought he was mad, but 90 mph in first made it all worthwhile and that sound! I had one as well but was not as skilled as him, so I sold it and got a velocette venom, a bit easier for me, good video, thanks from New Zealand

[allsearpw]

Music to your ears, magic machine, not for the faint hearted . Really glad to see you love it .

[Juan_Kerr___]

great video, just tell it like it is no BS, beautiful bike and great camera work, a nice watch.

[ianlawrie]

Most insightful as one has become accustomed, you made the pertinent sighting of today’s traffic as a deterrent to stalling though also the satisfaction of quiet road escape. Most enthralling 👍👌

[rickcarlsgaard]

Cool bike, great advice. I bought a '71 Norton at Elite Motors in Tooting Broadway & put 7k miles in Europe in the Summer of '71. Vacation of a lifetime!