I worked for a BSA dealer in New York state and we sold several B-25s and they never offered any deep troubles, only tune-ups. I saw the factory competition models race at Unadilla, N.Y., Dave Nichol being a main rider for them and watched as they dominated the day with those very lightweight specials. They didn't rev high at all. lots of mid range grunt - no kickstarters were fitted as I recall. I had experience with Italian 250s in years before and they were in a class by themselves for mechanical quality.

I had a Starfire in the mid-70s. Such a brilliant little machine. The secret to increasing its longevity was to fit a police model (fleetstar) piston, which reduced the load on the weak, big end bearing by lowering the compression ratio. Wish I still had it, reg. no. BUK 99H.

The Starfire was too little, too late as ,even when it was introduced in 1967, it was already obsolete. By the time it was introduced, Honda already had their CB72 and, later in 1969, their CB250, Suzuki with their Super Six 250, Yamaha 250 models, all of them could run rings around the Starfire. The Starfire was typical of the late 1960s thinking from British bike manufacturing, which turned out to be a disaster after 1970, when the old industry went in to rapid decline, basically ending in 1982 with the closure of Triumph Meriden.

The demise of the range was due to BSA Motorcycles becoming insolvent in October 1971, resulting in the loss of over 4,000 jobs, I wan an apprentice at the time and and redundant

My brother had a Starfire that was gutless. This video's commentary shows what might have been part of the problem: too high a gearing. What a good-looking bike that was, though.

I bought a secondhand BSA Starfire when I was seventeen (1976) and I think I pushed it as many miles as I rode it. I stripped the second gear so I used to rev it hard in first then miss second ( just kept the clutch in during second gear) and then select third gear. It struggled but I didn't have the money to fix it then. I can't remember selling it but I obviously did. My next bike was a Kawasaki KH250 triple. Very reliable and so much more ahead of its time than the Starfire.

many years i owned what appeared to be a 250 Trophy with a 3T engine, the conversion was so good it looked like a factory job, i bought this bike from a dealer and it was listed as a 350 Trophy twin. over the years i have been told it could have been a factory bike but i have never seen another, this leads me to believe it was a very well done conversion

I always wanted a Starfire way back in 1970 but my apprentice pay packet of less than £20 a week could not stretch to make payments on the bike which listed at £250 in the showroom, 😭

It was Plymouth (Chrysler Corp.) that owned the Barracuda name,

Loved mine unfortunately swapped it for an XS250 for courier work because I thought it would be more practical I was wrong

Well done thank you. I own 1967 StarFire. Do not ride it too much but it always starts on the first kick and it is a pleasure to ride. I also have a 70 TRW in pieces. Yet another project started and not completed.

Beautifully explained.

Brought back a few memories....good and bad. Tangentially but picking up where you left off, I always thought the Triumph Trail Blazer was a great looking bike but suffered the same fate. Love your vids.

I have a starfire and did the same to make it a little better around town , also the original Amal carburettor was not to flash hot . I put a better one of and it runs better , great video thanks

How many rpms are you pulling on yours say at 55mph?

I purchased ( on the tick) a new BSA 250 Gold Star ( the name alone raised a few hackles) it looked good with its off white frame and Blue paintwork,but the fun stopped there. In the 3500 miles I had it . The head gasket blew ,I fixed it myself,the gearbox was kaput, lights blew ( shop fitted zener diode) the frame cracked ,had to take it to be welded, and to add salt in the wound my mates old Enfield Crusader sports still blew it off. . Utterly disgusted I went for a used Honda cb250 which initially worried me because of its sophistication,” What if it goes wrong “. . Of course it was great although I did manage to lock the gearbox up by over revving it!

Can't help thinking that if BSA or Triumph had made a 250 twin based on the Tiger 90, it may have kept the Hondas at bay for at least a few more years.

No mention of the b25.

I have a 250 triumph trophy in a box , maybe I need to get it together🤔