classic motorcycle forum

Definitely a 1929 Model 1 "Checquerboard" Excelsior. Excelsior only used that chequerboard style of side panel on the tank for the 1929 range. No other year.  I've had one occupying pride of place in my garage for years. Offered to me after a sudden death how could I refuse it? It's turned out to a little ripper and much, much better than I ever expected.
Excelsior won the 1929 Lightweight TT and it shows in the Model 1. It's a well designed little bike with none of the odd hiccups you find in many lightweights of the period.
It was also offered with an optional 172cc Villiers 'Sport' engine plus an optional three speed gearbox. Over the years I've almost accumulated enough bits to erect a second 'top of the range' Model 1 with both engine and gearbox options but have still to find a rear wheel. I want to avoid making one from scratch if I can.
Is there any chance of getting a copy of that photo Jonny? I already have a couple of period Model 1 photos and that one would be a nice addition.
Cheers,

The S7 & S8 always suffered a severe lack of street cred.A distant relative of mine bought one new from the first batch imported into my home state of Victoria. 1947-48 or thereabouts. He is long gone but the bike remains with his immediate family. They're convinced they have an exotic collectors piece worth a fortune and the main squabble is about who gets the money. My, is this bike ugly. The very first of them had a 'clean' handlebar and rather odd forks with no hydraulic damping. Not an elegant sight. Nevertheless he did a lot of touring on it and it never let him down. He loved it.

During my apprenticeship I also worked with an old boy who rode one down down from Darwin to Victoria in the mid -50s and had the newspaper clipping collected along the way to prove it. That is some 3500 miles. It did it quite easily. But given the state of the roads back then he definitely didn't cruise at 57 mph.

 After half a century of development and tweaking by Stewart Engineering the beasts should be ultra reliable by now but they're still ugly and still have no street cred even though owners seem to love them and keep them forever.

Just one of those things I suppose.

Those selenium plate rectifiers die of old age even when not used. If yours is still working properly it would be the only one on the planet.  It's time for a new solid state jobbie. Modern electronics allow us to upgrade old systems and make much better use of  the lower capacity available from original charging layouts. Your scooter will be much better for it.

Personally I follow the old saying that most carburettor problems are ignition, and to me poor hot starting sings of ignition problems.

Cheers,

I can well understand your fear. But then again I think with the paperwork you have plus if you get a copy of the 1929 Excelsior catalogue showing your machine you should be okay. I would even consider a browse through the VMCC Register cards held at head office. The Register was last printed in the 1990's so does not contain info on further bikes registered since then. You may find extra info that's not yet seen the light of day.
Finally, you may have more luck with the marque specialist than I did. I sent the traditional self addressed envelope as required but being in Australia had to substitute an International Reply Coupon for the required postage stamp. It wouldn't be the first time someone in the UK has fallen in a heap at the thought of exchanging the coupon for a stamp. The IRC concept may have originated in the UK but it's frustrating how few of their Post Offices seem to know what they are. Luckily the internet has got around all that except for the odd occasion when only a letter will do.

Last, last thing. There are no 350 ohv JAP engined machines in the 1934 catalogue so a copy of that might also help.

Cheers,

With some half dozen identical Model 1 Excelsior frames from the period sitting about the place I've slowly come to the conclusion that in 1930 Excelsior dithered about how they would number them.  I've two 1929 frames with one numbering system, two with no numbers at all and two prefixed A, the system introduced in 1931. Chats with other Excelsior owners is slowly convincing me that in 1930 they either stamped a few with some sort of orphan number or no number at all. Mainly no number at all. It's no big deal. It's only a problem either when it comes to getting the things on the road as depending on where you live some authorities downright insist on a frame number or convincing people it is truly a 1930 machine and thus eligible to enter in proper vintage events. Best of luck with that one.

As far as the saddle goes Excelsior of the period used a natty more or less right angle forging for the saddle nose attachment that fitted in to the saddle tube and could be raised or lowered to suit the riders preference. These are occasionally missing or replaced with some strange bodges leading to odd saddle configurations. Even if the original bit is there it can sometimes be amazingly difficult to raise or lower and also lead to some strange configurations. Fresh paint can make it even more awkward. Again, best of luck with that.

Finally, too old to ride an Excelsior? Never old friend, never. The late vintage Excelsior is a lovely machine. I never believed all that nonsense about racing improving the breed but in Excelsior's case having won the 1929 Lightweight TT with essentially the same bike as yours I have to agree. They are an agile sweet little machine and a pleasure to ride. Being of an age that my riding is limited and the manager is pushing hard for me to stop altogether I can say that my Excelsior is staying even if everything else goes. The post war Excelsior did nothing to enhance the Excelsior name. The pre-war Excelsior is another beast entirely.

 

Not so Ian, heat failure occurs in all variety of spark ignition systems regardless of how the spark is generated. In fact the last time I experienced it was on a Triumph TR7 fitted with an aftermarket electronic system displaying exactly the symptoms Marty 31 complains of.

Electronic ignition is an improvement but it is subject to the same woes as all the previous systems-just not as often.

Whatever the case, I'm sure Marty 31 will learn a lot sorting it out.