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Messages - cardan

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 49
1
British Bikes / Re: Anyone into Scotts here
« on: October 07, 2018, 10:51:12 PM »

Many years of fun and anguish for the purchaser of any of the three lots! Great to see such good quality "junk" is still around.

I assume the BMW will attract quite a crowd - OHV and I suppose pre-war?

Leon

2
British Bikes / Re: Please Identify Bike
« on: August 29, 2018, 09:11:11 AM »

Hi Ung,

Nice one. The bike is an early 1920s P&M (Phelon and Moore), the forerunner to the famous "Panther".

In 1921 (or so) they tried a disastrous motor with fins parallel to the ground, so I suspect this one is 1922-23. Possibly with a 4-speed gearbox rather than the earlier 2-speed-primary-chain setup. Google will provide many photos for comparison.

The bike was a few years old by 1930, which explains the non-standard paint scheme.

Cheers

Leon

3
British Bikes / Re: Royal Enfield 1930s? rustoration help needed idetifying exact model
« on: August 27, 2018, 05:18:08 AM »

I hadn't realised there was a WD version of the the RE 250, but there's a nice discussion here from 11 years ago... http://classicmotorcycleforum.com/index.php?topic=681.0

Leon

4
British Bikes / Re: Royal Enfield 1930s? rustoration help needed idetifying exact model
« on: August 27, 2018, 04:29:54 AM »

Given the issue date of the rego, I assume we're at the other end of the 1930s, so something like a 1939 Model D (250). As 33d6 says, engine and frame numbers would enable a proper id.

Leon

5
The Classic Biker Bar / Re: Manx Norton
« on: August 19, 2018, 11:33:41 PM »

Truly amazing! I wonder if Tony was just around the corner...

Here he is on his Manx in 1961, from https://www.mediastorehouse.com/

Leon

6
Japanese Bikes / Re: Honda Dream 3E from 1953 - top condition, very genuine bike for sale
« on: August 19, 2018, 11:43:47 AM »

I wonder if it's worth LESS after its restoration? A bike is only original once.

Leon

7
The Classic Biker Bar / Re: Manx Norton
« on: August 19, 2018, 04:54:09 AM »

Hi Hughie,

It's interesting to consider the best ways to find information.

First, it helps to ask for what you want: so you're not "looking to find out all I can about a bike racer called tony godfrey who raced a Manx in the iom" but instead you'd like to contact someone who knows him? Fair enough. Sorry I don't know him. I live in Australia and don't know too many of the 65-odd million residents of the UK.

But here's the real suggestion: Tell us what you know about him. Tell us why you want to know more. Post some photos. Give us some hints. Get us interested.

You never know, people can sometimes help in unexpected ways (maybe someone lived around the corner from Tony Godfrey in Bitterne, Southampton in 1962), but in the absence of an interesting story don't expect too much.

Cheers

Leon




8
Identify these bikes! / Re: Great Uncle Ben's 1920's bike...any ideas?
« on: August 17, 2018, 10:35:06 AM »
Quote from: R on August 17, 2018, 10:06:36 AM
Did Calthorpe supply engines to other makers ?

I don't think so.

Leon

9
The Classic Biker Bar / Re: Manx Norton
« on: August 17, 2018, 05:04:54 AM »

https://www.imuseum.im/search/collections/people/mnh-agent-1276374.html

https://www.iomtt.com/tt-database/events/races?meet_code=ALL&ride_id=1968

A long and successful career by the look of it. In addition to Norton he rode Velocette, Matchless, AJS, EMC, Yamaha, Villiers, Kawasaki, Coleshill Seeley, Aermacchi, and Goddard Bultaco at various TT or Manx Grand Prix events between 1956 and 1972. There should be no shortage of information out there.

Good luck.

Leon


10
Identify these bikes! / Re: Great Uncle Ben's 1920's bike...any ideas?
« on: August 17, 2018, 01:06:10 AM »
Quote from: sprocket-in-my-socket on August 16, 2018, 06:33:33 PM
Maybe a customized New Hudson with Calthorpe engine ?

Which had to be canted slightly forward to fit in the frame?

My immediate thoughts on this bike were "Calthorpe", but when I looked at the model range I could make no sense of it. New Hudson (or similar) with Calthorpe motor is not a bad guess. The depression was a time for making do with what was about.

Cheers

Leon

11
Identify these bikes! / Re: Help identify Coventry Eagle, 1928 or 1929?
« on: August 03, 2018, 01:15:48 AM »

The image in the post above comes from The Motor Cycle, 27 Oct 1927 - "First Special Show Number". I had a flip through the following week's issue (you guessed it - "Second Special Show Number") and there is another description of the Coventry Eagle range, which included "LAST YEAR'S MODEL" of the "FLYING 500". So it's likely that image of the 500 from the previous week shows it in 1927 trim, and re-iterates earlier comments about Cov Eagle offering last year's model while they were still available. Based on all this, it wouldn't surprise me if a 1928-numbered Coventry Eagle left the factory in later 1928 or early 1929 with a 1929 JAP motor.

Cheers

Leon

12
Identify these bikes! / Re: Help identify Coventry Eagle, 1928 or 1929?
« on: August 03, 2018, 12:51:41 AM »
Hi Michael,

Nice project.

We seem to talk about Coventry Eagles quite a lot here: use the search box at the top to have a look at older discussions. For example have a look at http://classicmotorcycleforum.com/index.php?topic=5610 where we discussed 1928-29-30 models.

42529 as a Coventry Eagle frame number seems to be more 1928 than 1929, and your frame is of the earlier type with the gearbox mounted from the top, and bolt-on stays from the bottom of the gearbox plates to the lugs dangling down from the frame near the rear axle.

The 1928 models at the Olympia Show in October 1927 included a sports 350 to this spec. The attached illustration from The Motor Cycle shows the 500 - a bit different from your bike with curved front down tube and Brampton (?) fork. But note comments in earlier discussions about Cov Eagle - small firm with varying specification that depended on what old stuff was lying around the factory at the time.

Cheers

Leon


13
British Bikes / Re: 1952 Norton ES2 spark plug
« on: July 19, 2018, 12:34:20 PM »
Quote from: 33d6 on July 19, 2018, 02:08:17 AM
In vintage times it was common practice to hide the spark plug in a deep hole away from the combustion chamber...

My favourite is the EW Douglas (350 side-valve twin) from the late 1920s - the plugs are well masked down a hole, and the ignition timing is a staggering 50 degrees BTDC!

Leon

14
Identify these bikes! / Re: Any help with ID of this 1900's frame ?
« on: June 18, 2018, 01:22:56 PM »

Metric measurements make sense, because the frame is French, from a 1904-5 Alcyon. This model was usually seen with a Buchet motor - it appears there was a lightweight version using a Swiss Zedel motor, but this used a slightly different central lug.

The black-and-white illustration shows the Alcyon-Buchet. I had trouble finding drawings or photos that showed the frame details to compare with the surviving frame, but I did find some photos of a "restored" Alcyon "racer", fitted with an OHV Buchet motor. I strongly suspect this machine is not what it pretends to be, and that the frame is the standard Alcyon frame with the lower tank rail removed to make room for the tall OHV engine. I could be wrong; perhaps it is real. Anyway, if you study the photos I think you'll find - lower tank rail detail apart - that the frame is the same as the one under discussion here.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/amelien/599426892
https://www.flickr.com/photos/amelien/599117041

Cheers

Leon

15
Identify these bikes! / Re: Any help with ID of this 1900's frame ?
« on: June 18, 2018, 12:34:57 AM »

Yes it could be a small v-twin, or equally a single. I haven't looked at Sarolea, but I was thinking of Fafnir. Can you measure the width of the lugs that take the engine plates? Fafnir motors used very narrow lugs.

Against a continental id is that some of the frame lugs are quite heavy, particularly the one at the lower end of the steering head. European stuff was typically quite elegant. Brown Bros was a good thought, but I can't see the funny bottom bracket lug anywhere in the Brown range.

Cheers

Leon

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