1972 BSA B50SS Gold Star, 499 cc. Registration number RDT 15...

Hammer

£2,800

1972 BSA B50SS Gold Star, 499 cc. Registration number RDT 159L. Frame number HE14680. Engine number HE14680.
The B50SS is a "Street Scrambler" single-cylinder 499 cc ohv motorcycle, produced by BSA from 1971 until their closure in 1973. It was the last of the big capacity unit-construction singles; it had an alloy engine with a bore of 84 mm and a stroke of 90 mm. As well as the road version, special models were produced for off road competition use. BSA's earlier 500cc single was the iconic Gold Star, a pre-unit machine with a duplex frame similar to that of the Golden Flash twin. The Gold Star was not considered suitable for the progression to unit construction but the name was revived when the 250 cc BSA C15/Starfire was eventually developed into the 500 cc B50 (via the B40 & B44). The dry sump B50 included features such as "oil in the frame" and the electrics in a single removable 'pod'. BSA kept production costs down by using parts across a range of models, launched in 1971. About 5,700 were built. Some B50s were modified for off-road use by specialist builders such as Eric Cheney.
B50 bikes were successful in both road-racing and off-road events. A modestly modified B50 Gold Star 500 ridden by Nigel Rollason and Clive Brown won the 500cc class in both the Thruxton 500 miler and the Barcelona 24 hours, and won the Zolder 24-hour race outright. After the demise of BSA, Alan Clews bought up remaining B50 part stocks and set up Clews Competition Motorcycles, producing successful CCM motocross bikes based on the B50.
This, matching numbers, example was first registered on the 4th December 1971 and has had intermittent use over the years, a 1991 MOT has the mileage at 11,416, by 1993 in had risen to 11,847, our vendor acquiring it in 1999 when the MOT was at 12,530 miles, the last MOT was in 2003 at 14,560 miles. Today it is at 14,775 and the unrestored example will need some recommissioning before use.
Sold with the V5 and various MOT's.