classic motorcycle forum

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

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

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

Looks like the sliding tap is correct.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/9383961@N05/2829534285/in/album-72157607123448789/

Leon

Hi Mike,

A quick google shows most restored Cov Eagles of this type use a sliding push-pull (hexag-on) type tap, with a flat slide and cork seals in the body.

However I think I spy in some period photos and adverts an Ewarts-type push-pull tap - the one with the single-ended cylindrical slider with the cork seal attached.

If you want the bike to be very correct, perhaps contact the Cov Eagle marque specialist at the VMCC, or try John Hodson via https://www.coventryeaglemotorcycle.org.uk/index.html to get the real story.

In either case, instead of the tap screwing into the fitting, there is obviously a couple of brass pieces required to complement the tap: a top bit with a thread, and a bottom bit, to secure the tap in position.

Interesting detail - let us know if you come up with an illustration of the original.

Cheers

Leon

The rule of thumb is that the number of crosses should be less than the number of spokes divided by 9. Thus 4-cross is ok for 40-spoke wheels, possible for 36, but unstable for 32 or anything less.

If the wheel is asymmetric - different flange sizes or different offsets - the lacing pattern is sometimes different on each side.

If you follow the link in the post above to my spoke length calculator, you'll find suggestions there for how to deal with asymmetric wheels. Make the appropriate measurements, plug the numbers into the calculator, and it will tell you the spoke lengths required.

Have fun.

Leon

Ain't it all fun.

Yes, it is!

For the record, the last time I saw a Utility was in the early 1980s, in the hands of a chap called Fred Delfine (?), but that was a Utility-JAP. He lived up in the Dandenongs somewhere, and was burnt out in the bushfires. I don't know if that Utility survived, but I'm sure they're around, possibly not identified.

But back to Alex's dad's Villiers. Of course we're not guaranteed that it's in original condition in the photos, but some of the identifying points would be:

1. The heavily valanced front guard, and the heavily valanced front half of the rear guard

2. No rear axle stand visible, so it probably had a centre stand

3. The headlamp with ammeter and switch

4. The gear change gate up high on the tank, with a lever that looks straight-ish beyond the pivot

5. One-piece pressed steel tail-light and number-plate mount

6. Squarish-looking stuff under the saddle (battery/toolbox) where the round autolube tank goes on the vintage models

Anyway, I reckon most of this stuff adds up to late 1930s James, but I'm way short of an expert on such things. That tank has me a bit mystified - maybe they had some old ones to get rid of on the "colonial model"? I don't suppose Waratah bought a batch of bikes from James?

Cheers

Leon