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Messages - RichP

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1
The 'PMT' block of Middlesex registrations is one that was reserved for Government vehicles and issued around August 1939.

Most of the vehicles which were known as 'civilian impressed' to differentiate them from official contracts were bought from dealer or factory stocks. That this Panther received a Government plate indicates that it must have been new at the time.

I don't think there is much known about the Air Ministry taking on civilian vehicles. War Department (army) records are more complete.

Is your Grandfather in full uniform ? I'd love to see a copy of the complete photo.

2
British Bikes / Re: pre war
« on: January 04, 2015, 08:49:56 PM »
If it's the girder-forked look that you're after, then probably the ex-War Department models offer the lowest prices and the best spares availability. Many of them have been 'civilianised' or can be made to look pretty much like their pre-war ancestors.

Triumph's Coventry factory was bombed in 1940 which rather drew a line under the pre-war models and Rudges haven't been made since then either.  In WD circles, Triumph 3HWs are thought of as a little difficult for parts but they're far easier than any of the makes or models which ceased with the 1930s.

Only you know whether you truly want something that relates to the the 1930s or you're just after the fun of a rigid 500cc single with girders. If the latter,  then a BSA M20 is probably the most accessible, although a Royal Enfield WD/CO could be cheaper (and it's Overhead Valve).

3
British Bikes / Re: to restore or not
« on: November 26, 2013, 11:18:34 PM »
I've owned my Commando since it was a few years old; It's ever so shiny, has lots of stainless replaced bit by bit over the years and a bit of extra chrome, some parts from earlier models and a few later items...It's like that because I was a poseur in my early 20s (probably still am) and I liked shiny bikes. I've mellowed a bit now and appreciate patina and signs of careful use but I still don't like neglect.

When I reconstructed my 16H, I kept as much of the wonderful dull chrome as possible but the paintwork had been got at and bodged by previous owners (that they painted the nuts and bolts too was a godsend).

My feeling is that pre-war bikes look fine a bit tatty but it looks much less at home on a 1970s machine, they just look doggy. 

4
The Classic Biker Bar / Re: Help Me Identify Grandpa's Bike?
« on: September 15, 2013, 08:12:21 PM »
The registration number is a Chester series which was used from 1904 to 1936 which doesn't tie the year down much. Is it an early 1930s Sunbeam ? Possibly a Model 10 ?

5
British Bikes / Re: Excelsior Manxman Engine Number Font
« on: July 13, 2013, 10:46:25 PM »
If new cases are stamped in the old style but with clearly recorded numbers which are not part of the old sequence, I'd have no criticism of that but any attempt to build 'missing' engines would stink.

I'd love my 16H to have the correctly numbered motor but it has unstamped NOS cases and that's how it'll stay. Anything else is faking history and I won't be a part of that.

6
British Bikes / Re: ignition systems any good
« on: July 13, 2013, 10:43:20 PM »
It puzzles me that this ignition is sold as a 'one size fits all'. I'd understood that Triumphs and Nortons (for instance) required quite different advance curves.

7
British Bikes / Re: most underpowerd bike
« on: June 13, 2013, 09:51:28 PM »
It's funny that you should mention Fantics. I had a 'GT' and at 20:1 premix, it used to fill the silencer with black snot in about 1500 miles. Once that had happened, it lost everything until it had had a torch stuck down it.

I remember having to jump off and run alongside one day up Succombs Hill (1 in 4 but I used to be able to cycle it on my old Holdsworth).

8
Identify these bikes! / Re: Identification help
« on: May 21, 2013, 12:33:35 AM »
It's got Jubbely forks and front wheel. I've seen a few fitted with a Navigator front end but only Ogri's mate Malcolm would fit the Jubilee bits to a Navigator. :)

Do all those lugs mean it started off as a 'deLuxe' with Norton's version of the bathtub ?

9
British Bikes / Re: Norton gone...
« on: April 23, 2013, 10:25:33 PM »
My '72 750 JPN coloured proddie racer (with the two exhausts on one side) went last year. I hadn't ridden it for a couple of years, having always taken the Mk3 Roadster instead. My brother-in-law offered to buy it over a few beers in the garage using the poor excuse that I needed the space.

I could still get on it but I realised that I no longer wanted to ride in the manner that a PR with a PW3 demanded.


10
British Bikes / Re: Binks/Amal carburettors
« on: April 13, 2013, 10:02:24 PM »
The Vintage Motorcycle Club have all the Amal production build cards and from memory, these include industrial and other applications, not just motorcycles.

It might be worth giving them a ring. If they have the cards for the Dennis carbs then these will normally detail which standard parts were used to build the particular option.

11
Identify these bikes! / Re: Grandfather in World War 2
« on: March 21, 2013, 09:03:26 PM »
Everyone agrees it's a Val Page engine then.  Didn't BSA though have the two welded strips along the front guard as a number plate mount ?

12
Identify these bikes! / Re: Grandfather in World War 2
« on: March 21, 2013, 07:47:12 PM »
C61333 was indeed part of a batch of WD serial numbers issued to impressed machines of various makes. (C61001 - C62360).

It dates from the period when RASC were responsible for all 2nd echelon vehicles. The majority of these were dealer or factory stock purchased during 1939/40 and were generally fairly new. The machines taken on by RAOC for the front line units were referred to as 'Local Purchase' which is perhaps a more accurate description of the arrangement.

The vacant front and rear number plate positions were often used for the serial number between the discontinuation of civilian registrations at the outbreak of war and the move to instructing the factories to apply the number to the fuel tanks during 1940-'41.

This bike has the Lucas MT1130 rear lamp which was used by Ariel and BSA and generally seems to have been introduced during 1939 for the 1940 model year. It seems to have been given an all over coat of paint but it has burned off from the chrome exhaust (Is it a twin-port, by the way ?). It's quite unusual to see a 'name' painted so prominently on a motorcycle.

His cap badge looks to be RASC (Royal Army Service Corps) which fits with the number and type of machine. It's a nice sporty mount. I bet he cursed when he had to hand it in for an M20 !


13
Identify these bikes! / Re: witch bsa 1946 is it?do you know?
« on: March 04, 2013, 08:46:34 PM »
Definitely has an eastern European look to it. They had a habit of changing names from year to year and for different markets.

The front brake looks quite Jawa-like.

Late 1950s / mid 1960s ?

14
British Bikes / Re: Featherbed frame Handling Qualities:
« on: January 27, 2013, 08:28:16 PM »
I read somewhere, and it seemed to make sense at the time, that the change to an alternator with longer crank and altered weight distribution around the same time could have been responsible for a change in handling.

The fact that Manxes were wideline is always going to make the Wideline style more desirable.

15
The Classic Biker Bar / Re: Norton 16h
« on: December 03, 2012, 09:19:56 PM »
Cheers Geoff. I've asked for a sixty year old footpump to recondition. I've broken too many modern ones. An internet search hasn't shown a single new good quality footpump. An old one will suit the WD16H better anyway.

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