BSA Shooting Star
Real ownership data from 201 UK Shooting Star motorcycles — mileage, MOT pass rates and the faults that actually come up, taken from DVSA test records rather than opinion.
Most common Shooting Star problems
Ranked by how often each fault appears in this model's MOT history.
| Fault | Severity | Share of faults |
|---|---|---|
| Brakes | major | 10.4% |
| Lights and indicators | fail | 8.4% |
| Tyres | fail | 4.9% |
| Other | user entered | 3.8% |
| Suspension | fail | 3.7% |
| Electrical | fail | 2.9% |
| Steering and head bearings | fail | 2.9% |
| Chain and sprockets | fail | 1.4% |
Advisories (wear noted but not failed) are excluded above; the most common is suspension.
Shooting Star mileage and reliability by year
Use this to judge whether a specific bike is high or low mileage for its age.
| Year | Examples | Median mileage | Miles/year | First-time pass |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 5 | 8,734 mi | 260 | 92% |
| 1970 | 8 | 5,894 mi | 176 | 94.34% |
| 1969 | 7 | 8,173 mi | 89 | 90.32% |
| 1968 | 7 | 5,221 mi | 86 | 90% |
| 1962 | 8 | 26,632 mi | 212 | 86.96% |
| 1961 | 24 | 7,603 mi | 76 | 90.7% |
| 1960 | 21 | 21,890 mi | 147 | 93.58% |
| 1959 | 20 | 7,427 mi | 115 | 97.59% |
| 1958 | 11 | 11,155 mi | 378 | 98.33% |
| 1957 | 6 | 22,456 mi | 525 | 92.68% |
| 1956 | 6 | 20,876 mi | 30 | 97.87% |
| 1955 | 14 | 5,750 mi | 170 | 90% |
Shooting Star questions, answered with data
What are the most common problems with the BSA Shooting Star?
Across 201 UK examples, the most frequently recorded MOT faults are brakes (10.4% of all recorded faults), lights and indicators (8.4% of all recorded faults), tyres (4.9% of all recorded faults).
What is average mileage for a BSA Shooting Star?
The median BSA Shooting Star in the UK has covered 8,504 miles, and typically rides about 166 miles a year. Half of all examples fall between 3,051 and 31,989 miles.
Is the BSA Shooting Star reliable?
93.63% of BSA Shooting Star MOT tests are passed first time, with an average of 0.33 faults recorded per test. This is measured from DVSA MOT records, not owner opinion.
Based on DVSA MOT test records for 201 BSA Shooting Star motorcycles registered in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.