Competition Bikes
Some of the earliest JM24 Goldstars were developed for off road competition use and a number of teams used them in more speed orientated (enduro) distance events. The British Army purchased, or were loaned some Gold Stars for evaluation, and a number of civilian and Army teams were entered for the ISDT International Six Day trial which was held in Llandidrod Wells Wales in 1938, and in Salzburg in Austria in 1939. The 1938 bikes differed from the standard production models in having a 21inch front wheel and the petrol tank having the tool box removed, for extra capacity? The toolbox, which was an item used on the earlier BSA 'Sloper' model, was located behind the gearbox in the (offside) rear sub frame. Mudguards were identical to those fitted to the lightweight B25 350cc competition model. Both back and front were ribbed, with the wide 6inch flat section rear mudguard being used on the 1950's ZB Gold Stars. Pictures show a smaller 7inch Lucas headlight being fitted rather than the rather splendid 8 inch. In 1939 the Army KM24 Goldies gained a high level exhaust pipe and silencer and the larger 3 1/2 gallon WD KM20 petrol tank, this had a larger 3" inch filler and did away with the rather inconvenient removable fuel transfer pipe on the underside. Instead there were two petrol taps, one eitherside, to replace the previous one. The JM and KM24 Gold Stars must have impressed the Ministry of Defence, as the BSA M20 side valve model was bought in considerable quantity for the Armed forces during the Second World War. (the image below of a competition JM24 has been scanned from from British Forces Motorcycles 1925-45 by C.Orchard and S.Madden) It is interesting to see that the bikes ridden in 1939 had the same registrations as the 1938 bikes, even though the frames were KM series, rather than the previous years JM series. In the late 1940's M24, or M24 based, bikes were use by BSA works and club riders in trials, on two and three wheels, and scrambles, at home and overseas, before the introduction of the ZB/BB Gold Stars, which were game changers.
