The Empire Star was a

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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

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. Named to commemorate the

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of King

George V of the United Kingdom George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. George was born during the reign of his pa ...

and advertised as ''The Masterpiece of the Industry'', the Empire Star range was produced between 1936 and 1939, when it was developed into the

BSA Gold Star The BSA Gold Star is a motorcycle made by Birmingham Small Arms Company, BSA from 1938 to 1963. They were 350 cc and 500 cc Single-cylinder engine, single-cylinder Four-stroke engine, four-stroke production motorcycles known for bein ...

and World War II stopped production.

Development

Developed from the popular BSA Blue Star and designed by Val Page, the Empire Star range had the benefit several ideas Page had been developing at his previous employers,

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and Triumph motorcycles. With a heavy frame and iron barrelled pushrod valves the Empire Star still had the legacy of the earlier BSAs however, and Page continued to lighten it and introduce engine tuning ideas throughout production. The

overhead valve An overhead valve engine, abbreviated (OHV) and sometimes called a pushrod engine, is a piston engine whose valves are located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with flathead (or "sidevalve") engines, where the v ...

Empire Star was available as the ' 'B22', the ' 'R5' and the 'Q8' models. Based on the standard Blue Star the 'Empire' featured an alloy primary chaincase with a special high compression piston and a hardened cylinder bore. It also had some modern features, including a new foot-change gearbox and dry sump lubrication. BSA launched the range of Empire Star models in 1936 with an effective demonstration of their reliability - a ' model was subjected to an endurance test of at

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields, ...

, averaging speeds of over round the oval track. This was followed by a endurance ride around the UK, visiting the

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, Wales and the

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. The whole trip was completed successfully without the need for any spare parts - an important selling point for BSA in an increasingly competitive marketplace. The outbreak of World War II ended production of the Empire Star in 1939 as the BSA factory switched to making

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and producing the

BSA M20 The BSA M20 is a British motorcycle formerly made by Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA) at their factory in Small Heath, Birmingham, Small Heath, Birmingham. Although initially viewed as a near failure by the War Office in 1936, the M20 evolve ...

for the

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Racing success

It was the top of the range Empire Star, which saw most success in competition. In 1937 at

race track,

Isle of Man TT The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May and June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907 Isle of Man TT, 1907. The event begins on the UK Spring Bank Holiday at the e ...

winner

Wal Handley Walter Leslie Handley (5 April 1902 – 15 November 1941) born in Aston, Birmingham,
Kolumbus.fi Walter Leslie Ha ...

won a race with a fastest lap at on a specially modified ''500 cc'' Empire Star. The motorcycle used by Handley had a special racing carburettor, a new design of magneto and close ratio gearing. Handley had been persuaded out of 'retirement' especially for the three-lap race, which meant at top speed on the uneven and deteriorating banked oval track. It took skill and experience to win, and Handley was awarded one of the traditional Gold Star badges. This inspired BSA to develop the BSA Gold Star. Also in 1937 BSA competition team rider Bert Perrigo won both the Colmore Cup and Victory Cup trials on a B25 Empire Star.

References

External links

BSA M23 Empire Star Motorcycle 1938 (Video)
(Note: This bike has an M22 engine number, not M23) {{BSA motorcycles, state=collapsed Empire Star Standard motorcycles Motorcycles introduced in the 1930s Single-cylinder motorcycles