classic motorcycle forum

Its the engine prefix before the / that is the identifier. For example the full engine number would be something like 716/*****, the 716 being the identifier and the * asterisks actually being the individual number of the particular engine. Unfortunately 716 is listed as being for the later type 1F Villiers as shown in that Socovel picture you gave us and not for a 9D.

There is a lot of the fun in tracking down the identity of a mystery bike. It's very satisfying when you get there. My 1930 Radco took me years to identify. It is so agricultural I thought it was a homemade bitsa so didn't try too hard but chasing down another vintage bike I was amazed to find a picture of the frame in a 1929 copy of 'Motor Cycling' explaining how it was the all-new frame for the 1930 range. You just have to keep plugging away and you'll get there.

Cheers,

Hi again Horace,
It's fun trying to identify old bikes isn't it.
The Villiers master list remains as before. There isn't one and it's only sad obsessives like myself who explore the mysterious workings of the Villiers factory. The major list of what is known can be found in a Roy Bacon book "Villiers Singles & Twins" but it doesn't touch exports. People like myself are slowly adding to Roys list but as before the identifier prefix 765 remains a mystery. There is no complete master list on the net.
As with all motorcycles (all vehicles for that matter) the major identifier is the frame or chassis number. That is what most authorities rely on. Engines are far too easily exchanged for them to provide reliable vehicle identification. I would be waving the frame number around far more than the engine number.
As the Socovel is of Belgian make and you live in Luxembourg you should be able to track down the old factory and who now has whatever records remain. Some local library, town hall or historical society near to the old factory will have what you want. It's just the standard research techniques you learnt in uni, that's all. You'll soon know whether or not you have a Socovel. 
Best of luck, 

That sounds like a late 40's Ambassador. It was their first attempt at making teles and that design only lasted one year, after that they tended to buy in MP's (Metal Profiles) forks. They were already buying in Webb girders for the bike at the bottom of their range. It was an Ambassador of that era and a prewar Excelsior that got my mate and I back into playing with Villiers stuff

If the frame is from a Victoria your seller could technically be right in calling it a Victoria, regardless of what engine or tank or forks are fitted.
Many State authorities regard the frame or chassis as being the major identifying part of a vehicle regardless of what else has been done to it. Its like a hot rodder saying he drives a '27 T Ford bucket when all that remains of the original '27 T Ford is the chassis rails. The engine, drive train, wheels,etc,etc are all from something else. It's still seen as a '27 T Ford.
Maybe this bike fits in the same category.
Cheers,

 

Absolutely spot on Andy for year and model etc, but a 6E, not an 8E. That was just a slip of the typing finger I'm sure.

And Hi to you, esometisse. I'm out in Oz and things were a little different out here. The go-cart scene started around the mid 50's and the 197cc Villiers engines was ideal for the most popular class. Bikes powered with the 125cc and 150cc engines might survive but not those with the 197 E series. Go-cart racing was extremely popular because old 197 Villiers were so cheap.   On top of this Japanese bikes arrived here well before they did in the UK. The first Hondas arrived in '56 and both Yamaha and Suzuki were well established by 1959 so old British lightweights were very much el cheapo crash'n'bash stuff. No wonder they are thin on the ground nowadays.

Later Metal Profiles forks might have been okay. I've never worked on late examples but their early 50's examples were just variations on the James and Fanny Bee pogo sticks. Sun fitted MP's and I made new sliders for my mates Sun Cyclone so got a good look at them. At least with Fanny Bee and James I could get factory manuals and find out how they came apart before I started but getting info on the Metal Profiles forks was a stinker. Finally we got some hand drawn sketches from the VMCC Library which were a great help. I could then pick what was bodges by the previous owner and what was factory original. Sometimes it's silly what you'll do to get a bike back to original specification. I've learnt my lesson.
Cheers,

This is a curious one.
Raleigh only used a saddle tank at the very end of their production life. They stopped making bikes in 1933 and used pannier tanks with a broad tank cover strip down the middle right up until about 1930. Even after that they remained very keen on instrument panels in the tank as well as copious use of chrome plate through to the end.
As your tank has no provision for instrumentation and no chrome plate it might be for an economy version of the bottom of the range 297cc sidevalve model particularly as the bottom of the tank has no cutout for ohv gear as many do.
I would suggest the best person to approach would be the VMCC Marque Specialist for Raleigh. Their website is www.vmcc.net
Cheers,

If you look at the forks on deans bike you will see the wheel spindle is at the front and about two inches above the bottom of the fork.
Then look at the various Fanny Bee pictures you've cited and you will see the wheel spindle is fully at the bottom end of the fork leg.

Neither make of forks are particularly good. This was in the early days of tele forks and they are basically just pogo sticks with a wheel slung between them. Hydraulic damping on lightweights was still a few years away. The best that could be said about both makes is that they give a better ride than equivalent lightweight girder forks of the day.

I suppose I have to confess that as well as the '51 James I also have the equivalent Fanny Bee in my shed. These forks are very familiar.
Cheers,

The front forks are James, the seat is BSA and I think the the frame is Fanny Bee. In other words a perfectly normal brew up of parts that many of us would put together in the 1960's-70's so we could go racing at minimal cost (and even then at zero cost it was still more than we could afford)
Machines like yours can be made into sweet little green-laners that will hold up their head in any company in a range of events. Being a Villiers engine bits are readily available at sane prices and giving it a working lighting system is a doddle.
Give us the frame and engine numbers and we will identify precisely what you have.

You're a lucky man. You have a fun bike that you can run with pocket money.

Cheers,