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Messages - cardan

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916
British Bikes / Re: barr and stroud cotton project
« on: August 16, 2014, 01:38:17 AM »

Nice bike; pity about the spelling! The B&S G.P. at Sammy Miller's is shown here:

http://blogs.c.yimg.jp/res/blog-93-cb/shncp005/folder/420664/35/7854535/img_1?1330099603

Note the "Grindley" on the sign, but at least this one has "Grindlay" on the tank!

I have a recollection - but apologies if I'm wrong - that the B&S twin has something in common with the "Ever Onward". I think I read somewhere that Ted Beckham built the twin motor into cycle parts to get the rare engine mobile again. Does anyone know this story? I could be wrong...

Leon

917
British Bikes / Re: barr and stroud cotton project
« on: August 05, 2014, 11:21:02 PM »

Came across this photo of a very nice Barr and Stroud engined Beardmore Precision:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/flattank_motorcycles/favorites/with/4674187737/lightbox/

You could win some "technical interest" pots with this one!

Leon

918
British Bikes / Re: barr and stroud cotton project
« on: July 28, 2014, 01:23:17 PM »

Photo of the 1932 Works Rudge mentioned above.

Leon

919
British Bikes / Re: barr and stroud cotton project
« on: July 16, 2014, 03:35:56 AM »

I use 4140 for fork spindles and axles - machines quite nicely on my rather worn-out Hercus. Interesting that Vibrac appeared c1922, presumably as part of the revolution in steels after 1900 and through WW1. I doubt that the development of the sleeve valve aero engine, and the B&S, would have been possible without the developments in metallurgy. Are the B&S sleeves steel or iron?

Leon

920
British Bikes / Re: barr and stroud cotton project
« on: July 15, 2014, 10:54:10 PM »

Great story. We sometimes forget that real people had to make the stuff we play with. I hope the attached photo will help you keep in mind this highlight of your early years! All Vibrac parts on the racy Rudges are stamped VIB.

Leon

921
British Bikes / Re: barr and stroud cotton project
« on: July 15, 2014, 01:23:44 AM »

Fantastic - I look forward to it.

Leon

922
British Bikes / Re: barr and stroud cotton project
« on: July 14, 2014, 06:39:37 AM »

Also in the shed was a pile of Rudge parts. Jack was rebuilding a bike from amongst this stuff that was thought to be an early 1930s Rudge "TT Replica" - an over-the-counter racer which was catalogued.

In trying to get this bike together, it has emerged that the motor in the bike is not a "TT Replica" at all, but instead one of the four 500cc bikes built at the Works in April 1932 for the Rudge team in the Isle of Man Senior TT that year. The frame, subtly different from most other road-going and Replica Rudges, was located in the pile (we should have recognised it from its fetching blue silver-frost paint, along with about 90% of the original parts of the Works bike. Unlike the TW/24 Douglas and the TT Replica Rudges, which were racers produced for sale to special customers, this bike is a real Works Racing Rudge, verified from its engine and frame numbers and many unusual features of other parts of the bike. The gearbox, for example, is stamped STT/CR, presumably Special TT Close Ratio or similar, and contains a full set of close-ratio gears and shafts made from Vibrac, a particularly durable steel. The crankcases are made from a Rolls Royce special alloy RR50 and are stamped accordingly.

So this Rudge has actually circulated on the Island in a TT, in the hands of one of the Works riders. Still researching that part...

And yet most of my bikes, from which I get so much pleasure, are not capable of more than 60kmh. Yes it is glorious fun! I think Nick may be able to supply a photo of a PV-Villiers, a bike I'd be more than happy to own and ride!!

Cheers

Leon

923
British Bikes / Re: barr and stroud cotton project
« on: July 13, 2014, 05:32:21 AM »

My friend Jack (who you know 33d6) had a collection of British racing bikes from the 1920s - Rudges, Nortons and Douglases. Of these, the Douglases are his favourites. Unfortunately time has caught up with him and at 90 he's in failing health in care. The "RA" Douglas was one of his favourites, but he never managed to get it all together. I've spent the last couple of years tidying his rather large shed, some fraction of which was a treasure trove of racing Douglas stuff - several restored bikes, several project bikes, and a large collection of parts. Thanks to the Douglas Forum I've become somewhat of an expert on racing Douglases of the 1920s, in particular the RA variety.

There are a couple of running RA Douglases in the world, a couple of pretty good ones that are in collections but not running, and a few which people are restoring or trying to restore. Information is sparse, but it turns out that Jack's RA was even rarer than first thought: it started life as a 2 3/4 h.p. (350) Model TW/24. So rare is this model that no-one had ever seen a photo of one, or even mention of the model in a catalogue or advertisement. It seems that all went to Australia.

I managed to find enough parts in the shed to do a loose build of a (494cc) motor and gearbox, then with a small number of extra parts from around the place I built up the bike. I took the bike into show Jack in his care facility a couple of months ago, and of course the promise was to return with the bike running! I've now got all (??) the parts to build the bike up in its original 350cc form, so it should be a little ripper: the only surviving 2 3/4 h.p. Isle of Man Model Douglas. I'm doing the final build on the motor at the moment.

It's a bit modern for me, but the challenge, technical interest, and, in particular, the personal link make it a very special machine. Fun is where you find it!

Cheers

Leon

924
British Bikes / Re: barr and stroud cotton project
« on: July 12, 2014, 10:45:15 AM »

Makes perfect sense to me: too much of this idling stuff! And let's face it, full throttle on a 1911 Douglas isn't likely to hurt anyone.

Seriously, the veteran and vintage eras have something to offer that isn't often available in later times: a sense of experimentation. There's something joyous about the attempts to do something better than it had been done before, even if it turned out, with the benefit of hindsight, to be a slightly goofy idea.

The RA Douglas is named after the Research Association brake it uses front and rear. This has a disk of Ferodo-type braking material, onto which a grooved aluminium shoe presses. Not exactly a disk brake, but along those lines. The connecting rods are forked at the little ends, so the pistons have just one central web through which the gudgeon pin passes. It revved to 6,000 rpm, won the TT in 1923, and gave us Dirt Track racing out here in Australia. It's light, fast and unusual. And it's different.

Better or worse than a B&S-v-twin-engined Perry Vale? Neither; it's the same. Together with the Douglas with the spring-open throttle, they have that certain something that appeals.

Leon

925
British Bikes / Re: barr and stroud cotton project
« on: July 12, 2014, 10:04:50 AM »

No.

926
British Bikes / Re: barr and stroud cotton project
« on: July 12, 2014, 02:40:34 AM »

If he emails you offline, I'll have NOTHING to amuse me!!!! What could be more interesting than when B&S meets PV. The Lock Ness Monster pales in insignificance...

Leon

927
British Bikes / Re: bosch mag german ?
« on: June 24, 2014, 11:25:09 PM »

We see these occasionally out here in Australia. Presumably they were fitted originally to single cylinder Indians and Harley Davidsons from 1912 (when the "waterproof" design was first used) into the early 1920s. Viewed from the drive end, most Bosch magnetos are anticlockwise, to suit the usual British setup of chain drive from a gear-driven cam. Many of the New York magnetos are clockwise because of the gear drive used on American bikes.

Leon

928
British Bikes / Re: Royal Enfield vintage sports sidecar mystery
« on: June 24, 2014, 11:18:39 PM »

Sorry that I can't add anything specific, but out here in Australia we very often receive high ground clearance versions of the "home" product. For example, in the early 1920s the 17C Norton was the "colonial" version of the well-known 16H 490cc SV. The two models are very similar but the 17C has 2" more clearance under the crank case than the 16H (6" compared with 4").

Maybe your chassis is just a high clearance version of the usual chassis. Sporting trials were very popular in the 1920s, and often took in some poorer roads where high clearance would be an advantage - did RE offer the chassis for this type of event? A good contact would be the Royal Enfield marque specialist at the VMCC.

Cheers

Leon

929
British Bikes / Re: Help neded for my new Triumph 1918
« on: June 23, 2014, 11:16:10 PM »

Lovely bike! Because this model Triumph was built in such large numbers, you should have no problem with the missing parts.

"I want to keep it in this state."  Excellent idea; it looks great like it is.

"The painting of the tank is it original?"  No, but it looks great like it is! The TRIUMPH logo is from a later model bike.

"I am looking for some missing parts:
The black part of end of the advance ignition handle (see foto)" You might have to make one, or have one made. Some of the modern plastics look very similar to the ebonite end. Keep an eye on ebay for a lever with an original end.

"Tire size" 26 x 2 1/2" beaded edge. The Ensign tyre is a popular one at the moment.

"The size of a ball bearing wheels" All the balls are loose in the cycle parts: wheel bearings, steering head bearings, lower fork bearings (where the fork rocks back and forward). Measure up a sample - you can buy good quality steel balls on ebay.

"A front rim" Vintage rims in New Zealand do a nice beaded edge rim, and can drill to match your original, or try http://www.veterantriumph.co.uk/

"The wheel nuts front (or dimensions)"  Be careful here. I think the threads are 20 tpi, but they are a cycle thread form, and NOT UNC. Ordinary nuts of this form are on ebay, or try http://www.veterantriumph.co.uk/

"Nut rear wheel (or dimensions)" See above

"What oil to use?" I use a simple 50-weight oil in my early bikes - not too many additives.

"Is that there are professional reproducing parts?" http://www.veterantriumph.co.uk/

Good luck! Make sure you clean out the motor quite thoroughly before you try to start it.

Leon

930
The Classic Biker Bar / Re: 6HP JAP CLUTCH
« on: June 23, 2014, 12:41:36 PM »

Hi Tony,

What a lovely beast!

I have an interest in such things, but I'm not expert. A friend is a real cycle car tragic, and he reports that all the suspension parts and axles are "pure Chater Lea". Any chance of a few more photos? Do you know who assembled the car?

Cheers

Leon

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