classic motorcycle forum

Aren't all the motors more-or-less the same? If not, post a photo.

Re engine numbers:

B18075, B19452, B19452 are 1925
B30170 is very late 1926
B32786 is 1927 so probably wedge tank?

Re the frames that don't fit the motors, BSA had 350s, 500s, and twins, with vertical and sloping motors, through the mid-late-1920s. That's assuming they are BSA and not something else entirely. Frame numbers will tell.

Cheers

Leon

Sure to be the frame number, but you're going to have to contact the Velocette Owners' Club to verify what I am about to say.

I have a number of Velocette books, including Ivan Rhodes' "Technical Excellence Exemplified". In the back it has a table of engine, frame and gearbox numbers with invoice dates.

Under a sub-heading that says "Larger percentage of KSS, KS, KT, KE plus odd KES" (presumably in the works records at the time) it has frame number 1436 for Dec. 1927, and 1461 for Jan. 1928, so let me guess your frame KT1440 is from a model KT of 1928. Manufacturers started making "next year's model" in August/Sept the previous year. That said, Rhodes lists various frame prefixes, but "KT" is not among them.

Anyway, the dating table is somewhat cryptic. There is a bunch of 1xxx frame numbers in 1931-2 (looks like a mass typo to me), and also the short-lived 1930 model KTP had its own frame number series, starting at 1, but it doesn't look like that got as high as 1400.

I reckon 1928, but better check with an expert!

Cheers

Leon

Velo frame numbers are reasonably well known - happy to look it up if you like, but I can't do it if I don't know it. 95% of British frame numbers are stamped on the seat lug or the steering head.

Leon

What about those handlebars? 

"The bees knees" I'd say. I'd love to step into the photo and have a chat with those two.

Leon

Hi Phil,

It's worth pointing out that Ian has a long record of being extremely helpful, and always civil, both here and elsewhere.

In this case, he makes an excellent point. The question is not so much the thread size on a brand new B31, but the thread size on a particular 70-year-old B31. They could easily be two different things. Measure the threads on your bolts with a micrometer/vernier and a thread pitch gauge, and look up the corresponding thread (Radco's The Vintage Motorcyclist's Workshop has comprehensive tables). If it's bizarre or unexpected then it's worth asking on a forum, but otherwise...

Leon

Practice makes perfect! Enjoy. Don't forget to oil the nipples - the thread and the outside - for smooth tensioning, or use anti-seize if you're going stainless.

Cheers

Leon

Hi Kennij,

These washers were used a lot on bicycle wheels, to spread the load from the nipple. I've also seen them used on vinatge steel and alloy motorcycle rims  for the same purpose, so if you have older alloy rims it might be a good idea to use something similar. However on a dimpled rim, properly drilled so that each spoke hole points towards the appropriate hole on the rim, nipple washers should not be necessary.

A couple of warnings. Nipples come in 0.025" steps in diameter, so make sure your new nipples are a good fit to the holes in your rim. Tighten the spokes carefully and uniformly and by hand. It's surprisingly easy to damage a rim or hub with over-excited used of an electric screwdriver!

Cheers

Leon

Fabulous Helmut - thanks for posting! Looks like the white splash is good for 1929 as well. Of course CE was a pretty small manufacturer, and around 1930 their "bread and butter" was the little pressed-frame two stroke, and their glamour bikes were the big twins, so the singles may have been produced in pretty small numbers with somewhat variable spec. But the CH-1929 photo is pretty good evidence that the bike was around in that year.

I wonder if Charles Howell rode the bike to work at the studio?

Times have changed.

Cheers

Leon