Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - cardan

Pages: 1 ... 47 48 [49]
721
British Bikes / Re: magdyno bsa sloper
« on: February 03, 2009, 04:04:11 AM »
Hi Graeme,
not sure what kind of info you are looking for but Sloper magdynos must have changed a bit over the 1927-1935 span of the model. Vintage ones (and perhaps a year or two into the 1930s) used the one-piece alloy-bodied three-brush Lucas magneto. These early ones lacked the clutch between the drive gear on the magneto shaft and the dynamo armature, so they tended to shake themselves to bits. When you see them these days, the bodies are often damaged where the generator armature has tried to escape through the end of the case! Like most Lucas products, the magdynos are stamped with the date code: 930=September 1930 etc.
Leon

722
British Bikes / Re: Mystery Bike
« on: December 09, 2008, 09:00:45 PM »
Hi Andy,
Yes indeed it is a Douglas - a 2 3/4 h.p. (350cc) from around 1915. I say "around" because in wartime the specification probably got messed around a bit - if not in production then through repairs where there was a degree of "mix-and-match". Post 1914 features are the rear stand pivot on a lug below the rear axle (on the earlier bikes the pivot was on the chain stay in front to the axle) and the one-piece timing cover (earlier motors have a two-piece affair, with the upper cover stepped inboard a little). The front forks are the early pattern with the kink in the front bracing tubes. Around 1915-16 there were new forks with straight front tube, but the early type were apparently still used on some machines. The CAV magneto is unusual. Great photo!
Leon

723
British Bikes / Re: Information on New Hudson?
« on: December 07, 2008, 09:02:31 PM »
I'm not a New Hudson expert, but there is a bit of universality (weird things excepted) about the levers and cables. Try:
Left inverted lever to the decompressor
Right inverted lever to the front brake
For the carburettor double lever:
Upper lever to the air slide (usually rear of carb)
Lower lever to the main throttle slide
If the magneto has variable advance and retard, the lever can go on the left bar.
I guess you don't have to worry about a clutch lever!
Hope this helps - looks almost ready to ride!
Leon

724
British Bikes / Re: petrol tank
« on: October 17, 2008, 12:25:09 PM »
I'd be thinking closer to 1930, when both chromium and nickel plated tanks were used. There's a list of the 1930 models at Leon's BSA page (not his Leon, even if the first bike I restored and rallied was a 1930 Sloper!): http://home.planet.nl/~leonhop3/1930_e.html
You can rule out all the oil-in-sump models (like the Slopers), and from the gear change position it looks like one of the bigger models. How about the S19, a 500cc OHV, which had a nickel tank:
http://home.planet.nl/~leonhop3/1930_s19.jpg

When I restored my BSA c1980 I couldn't get kneepads to fit the protruding lugs, so I rode without. I've checked the inside of my knees, but the marks have faded...

Leon

725
British Bikes / Re: Radco
« on: August 10, 2008, 10:21:18 AM »
I have a friend out here in Australia with three Radcos from about 1913 to 1919. I'll send you a PM with his email address. Early Radcos have a most distinctive front fork, but later ones (either into the war years or immediately post war) use the more usual Druid fork.
Leon

726
British Bikes / Re: Steel rivets
« on: March 16, 2008, 07:56:06 AM »
Hi Rick,
If you only need 5, you could make them on the lathe, or con a friend into making them for you.
Rudges have the shafts rivetted into the flywheels. An experienced friend once advised me to try everything before resorting to un-riveting the shafts, as they are difficult to re-rivet and get a result which is both tight and true. I have seen some very nice jobs where the rivets have been replaced by high tensile (Unbrako or similar) screws. If you're not an expert riveter this might be a good alternative? (Usual disclaimer: I'm not an engineer!)
Cheers
Leon

727
British Bikes / Re: Help needed to recognize old BSA
« on: February 28, 2008, 04:58:28 AM »
Hi Ike,

Not a BSA but a mid-1920s Rudge. I'm pretty sure it's a 350 (there was a 500 as well), which was built in 1924 and 25 only. Rudges of this period were a little different from most other bikes, with a 4-valve engine and 4-speed gearbox. The rim brakes are probably best forgotten.

The bike has a few modifications: not surprising since it was 8 or more years old when the photo was taken. The headlight has been changed, tool box and twist-grip throttle added, and the mufflers replaced by straight-through exhausts.

Leon

728
British Bikes / Re: ariel G special
« on: February 19, 2008, 05:54:04 PM »
Your grandad's Ariel is not a Square Four (which not only has four cylinders, but they are arranged in a square!), but a single cylinder fitted with two high-level exhaust pipes. I think you'll find that it's a bit later than the Model G, but I'll leave more details to an Ariel expert.

The lower photo is a Francis Barnett two stroke, probably late 1920s. Their motto was "built like a bridge" because the frame was made from straight tubes bolted together, triangulated for strength. It is said that the frame would fit in a golf bag...

Leon

729
British Bikes / Re: FNs
« on: January 18, 2008, 08:13:01 AM »
Just an FN tragic I'm afraid.

Leon

730
British Bikes / Re: FNs
« on: January 18, 2008, 05:26:10 AM »
Now that's an interesting photo - do you know anything about it? I suspect that the two machines might be those ridden by Rex Mundy and S.B. White in the 1914 TT, but the race numbers in the photo are not those used in the race.

You can read about the FN effort in the 1914 TT race here:
http://users.senet.com.au/~mitchell/bikes/fn/html/fnrace.htm

Leon

731
British Bikes / Re: FNs
« on: January 16, 2008, 03:47:57 PM »
Hi Dan,

Lovely photo. Unfortunately I can't help with info about your grandad, but I can tell you that he is astride a 1913 four cylinder FN in the photo - the last of the lightweight fours. This model has a clutch and a two-speed gear in the shaft drive. It looks like it might even have footrests instead of pedals - a feature of the very last of this model.

Did you notice the "FN" registration number - just lucky or did he have contacts in the right places?

Cheers

Leon


Pages: 1 ... 47 48 [49]