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Messages - Barny

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British Bikes / Re: 1920s villiers supersport TT
« on: May 28, 2018, 06:17:18 PM »
Hope these pics help. It would be nice to find it the correct ignition etc. but I live in the west of Pembrokeshire - another few steps and you're in the Atlantic. Spares and knowledgeable enthuisiasts here are a little like chickens teeth. I would be very happy to try and source the correct bits but would need advice on what I'm looking for. It would certainly make sense to be able to adjust the timing on the backplate. I do not think it could be returned to autolube, much as I would like to. The oil tank is present in the fuel tank but the crankcases have been drilled and the faces profiled rather crudely to run with a petrol oil mix. All bearings appear to be new, alloy piston, rings and bore look very good.
I bought this from a dealer who said it was a '23 Excelsior. The engine was so tight it could barely be turned over. The shoulders on the new mains that have been pressed into the cases were compressing and seizing the crankshaft.

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British Bikes / Re: 1920s villiers supersport TT
« on: May 28, 2018, 09:56:41 AM »
Thank-you 33d6. I will upload some pictures of the engine, ignition and carb if I can tonight. I do appreciate the help and it would be great to get this engine right. I get the impression somebody has spent time, money and effort on this already and then given up. When I got the bike it had obviously never run since it's rebuild. I have the feeling the poor starting and running issues may be related to crankcase pressure but given everything is new there I would like to know everything else is right before going down that road.

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British Bikes / Re: 1920s villiers supersport TT
« on: May 25, 2018, 02:58:13 PM »
Thank-you 33d6. The engine is a mongrel of sorts, 196cc supersport barrel piston and head on 1E crankcases, new piston, rings and bearings throughout. The new mains have been changed to "petroil" type and the crankcases adapted to provide feed. The original pressure and feed lines to the oil tank blanked. It has a later carb and ignition. Crankcases are 1929 the barrel and head of a similar era. Carb and ignition from 50s. Whist I am sure you disapprove of this set-up it is what I have and can afford and it would be useful to have an idea of ignition timing. I can get there by experimenting if you really object to helping. I recently posted a picture of the bike in an attempt to identify it - thanks to some very helpful and friendly members it would seem it is a 1928 Levis. A mongrel throughout but I enjoy it.

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British Bikes / 1920s villiers supersport TT
« on: May 24, 2018, 02:58:25 PM »
Hi, does anyone out there know what the ignition timing should be on a Villiers 196cc supersport TT engine from the late twenties? Thanks, Barny.

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Identify these bikes! / Re: Does anyone know what bike this is?
« on: April 11, 2018, 07:39:39 PM »
THAT'S IT! I was beginning to wonder if it would remain a mystery. Wrong engine of course but I'm overjoyed. Someone has obviously spent a bit on it fairly recently, why they decided to label it an Excelsior I'd love to know. The frame numbers may be too vague to get a rubbing for a registration but at least it can wear its true colours. It would be fun to find the right engine!
Thanks.

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Identify these bikes! / Re: Does anyone know what bike this is?
« on: April 09, 2018, 07:49:08 PM »
Thanks 33d6, I have joined the VMCC and will post any results I get.  I have been over the bike quite closely and my impression is that the frame, forks, stays, wheels and gearbox date to one era. I am basing that on fit and level of corrosion more than any knowledge of vintage bikes so you may well be right about the back wheel. the mudguard stay obscures the grease nipple and the brake stay would be in the way of the stand. The tinware is a very recent addition as are the engine plates and back brake set up although whether to an original pattern or pure invention I don't know. The rear brake pedal is a barely altered bantam. It gets worse,  the tank hangers appear to have been put on to suit the tank.  I owned a Levis years ago, an unrestored flat tank two stroke belt drive with a retro fitted clutch clamped to the down tube. Quite different to this! I have thoroughly cleaned the area of the frame numbers but they are so hard to decipher that I may be on a hiding to nothing. Still, it makes me smile and takes up little space in the junk room.

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Identify these bikes! / Re: Does anyone know what bike this is?
« on: April 08, 2018, 05:37:50 PM »
Thanks John, well spotted. It is certainly similar, the double top tube and tank supports particularly. The castings are all slightly different but it is the closest I've seen yet. I have been cleaning away at the frame nos. which now appear to read 19758. The seller, a trader, claimed to know little about it. The frame forks, wheels and gearbox appear to be original but the engine plates look very new with none of the pitting the rest of the bike shows. A very intriguing puzzle.

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Identify these bikes! / Re: Does anyone know what bike this is?
« on: April 07, 2018, 12:15:45 PM »
Thanks for that - it is all useful. The engine is 1E6528 an autolube of the right era, as you say the carb and electrics are later. On the advice of John Harding I stripped the engine before trying to start it. It has had the pressure and oil feed lines blanked, everything new throughout, crankcases and mains altered for petroil mix. It looks as though it has never been run which I find suspicious.  The frame has to be the starting point and at the moment I haven't a clue what it is. Like you I suspect it is not excelsior. Petrol tank is an original although not necessarily to the bike. All other tinware looks to be repro. The numbers on the frame are hard to distinguish - my interpretation probably wrong but they are original and stamped not cast. Sun seem to have used druid forks in the 20s but I cannot find anything to mach the frame. All very frustrating. Any advice on where to go from here much appreciated.

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Identify these bikes! / Does anyone know what bike this is?
« on: April 06, 2018, 03:57:16 PM »
I bought this recently, one of those spur of the moment purchases thinking it would be fun to register and ride but I am not sure if it is the Excelsior it claims to be. The engine is a 197cc villiers supersport TT, 1930 ish. The only markings I can find on the frame appear to read 197SS. It has Druid forks. The most distinctive feature of the frame is the double top tube. Any help at all identifying this bike would be greatly appreciated.

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