The BSA Blue Star is a British

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

made by BSA at their factory in

Small Heath Small Heath is an inner-city area in south-east Birmingham, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England situated on and around the Coventry Road about from the city centre. History Small Heath, which has been settled and used since Roman t ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

. The Blue Star range was produced between 1932 and 1936. In 1936 a slightly uprated sports version called the

BSA Empire Star The Empire Star was a standard motorcycle made by BSA at their factory in Small Heath, Birmingham. Named to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of King George V of the United Kingdom and advertised as ''The Masterpiece of the Industry'', the Empire ...

was launched with the Blue Star remaining in the model range and called the “New Blue Star, Q21”. The Blue Star became known for its reliability and handling. In 1937 an entirely new engine designed by

Val Page Valentine Page (1891–1978) was a British motorcycle designer. He worked for leading UK marques including JAP, Ariel, Triumph, and BSA. Page was an innovator whose radical designs include the Triumph 6/1; BSA Gold Star, M20, and A7; Ari ...

featured in the Empire Star and the Blue Star was dropped from the range. The Empire Star developed into the famous Gold Star in 1938 (also known as the M24).. BSA pre war tank logo

The B33-3 O.H.V. 249cc Blue Star was called the ''Blue Star Junior'' and the R33-5 348cc O.H.V. Blue Star was known as the ''Sporting Blue Star''. It was the W33-8 (Q21 in 1936) 499cc O.H.V. that became the most popular, however, and led to the development of the Gold Star. It was known as the "sea beezer" and it was BSAs fifth best seller.

References

Blue Star Blue star or bluestar may refer to: * O-type star (a.k.a. blue star), a stellar classification Animals * ''Linckia laevigata'', a sea star from the Indian and West Pacific Oceans * ''Phataria unifascialis'', a sea star from the East Pacific Busi ...

Motorcycles introduced in the 1930s Single-cylinder motorcycles {{motorcycle-stub