Mahindras owned Classic Legends which revived the iconic Jawa and Yezdi motorcycle brands is launching another iconic motorcycle brand in the BSA.
BSA or Birmingham Small Arms started off as a firearms maker, but by 1950s, it had evolved to become the largest motorcycle maker in the world at that time, before it faded away.
It played a big role in the second world war with over 126,000 units produced for the armed forces.
Classic Legends acquired the BSA brand back in 2016. On Thursday, it drove in the iconic BSA Gold Star motorcycle in India.
The original Gold Star was born in Britain in 1938. Now, Classic Legends has gone great lengths to ensure the classic British styling and every detail like the tank's iconic shape to the engine's character captures the spirit of the BSAs of that time.
At the same time, it will also get modern features. The Gold Star is powered by a liquid cooled single cylinder 652 cc engine, it gets brembo brakes with dual channel ABS and Pirelli tyres. It also gets features like USB port and 12V socket. It will get six colour options.
Despite a slew of products by Classic Legends , the mid range market remains dominated by Royal Enfield. In July, for instance, Classic Legends retailed 2,131 units, compared with Royal Enfields's 57,325 units.
Anand Mahindra, chairman of Mahindra Group, pointed the company had faced several impediments like COVID-19, which had slowed things down in the past few years. But the products created so far as well as the R&D had been unparalled. He is confident that the strong product line up will eventually help.
"If your product is terrific, you will succeed at some point in time. That is what will happen here too very quickly," he said.
The company had announced last year plans to spend Rs 1,000 crore over three years towards product development, distribution and marketing.
Prices of the Gold Star start at Rs 2,99,990 ex-showroom and bookings are already open across select dealers.
"We have got over 450 dealership outlets currently. This motorcycle is currently been identified at 52 dealerships. We will keep on expanding it within our network. They will start bookings straightaway," said Ashish Singh Joshi, CEO of Classic Legends.
The bike was launched in the UK in 2021 and has since also been sold in other markets like Europe, Turkey, New Zealand and Philippines.
After launching now in India, the company aims to launch Gold Star in the US, Australia and Japan.
