Built
for Bob Pearson's fellow Scot Denis Gallagher to ride in selected classic
events, this red, white and green stunner has a special 8,000rpm short-stroke
engine built by the unrelated Phil Pearson, the Norfolk-based Goldie specialist.
The 348cc motor is two inches shorter BSA's stock DB32, with only six
barrel fins instead of nine. Employing Pearson-made crankshaft flywheels,
it has bore and stroke dimensions of 82 x 66mm, radically altered from
the standard 71 x 88mm.
Phil built it after
studying data supplied to him by former BSA development wizard Roland
Pike who experimented with short-stroke Gold Stars of 250 and 350cc.
In 1956 using the 82 x 66mm configuration, Pike achieved a peak 38.6bhp
at 8,000rpm, compared with 38.1bhp at 8,000rpm he obtained from a production
350cc Manx Norton which bent a valve in exceeding 7,750rpm
If this engine gives similar or better output, it should be highly competitive on real road circuits with the experienced Gallagher in the saddle.
Modern
touches are the 36mm Mikuni VM carburettor, a high level exhaust and twin-plug
interspan ignition powered from a PAL magneto converted to be a generator.
The gearbox is a six-speed Quaife/TO type with a magnesium shell, driven
through a Norvil Commando clutch and primary belt drive. An oil filter
is sited at the rear of the timing case.
Painted red, the frame is a Titchmarsh Seeley MkIII with a Ceriani fork and disc brakes front and rear. The fairing livery matches that of the Nourish Weslake Seeley twin ridden for Bob Pearson by Gallagher.
In its first season the Seeley Goldie finished third in the pre-TT Southern 100 in 1999, took several third places in Ireland, and finished second behind Bill Swallow on an Aermacchi at East Fortune.