Junkyard Villiers find - Waratah history

[cardan]

Excellent. That one was easy.

Just back to the Acme fork, if I may. Here are the pre-war and post-war forks. Sackville and Webb (?), respectively?

Leon

[33d6]

That is correct Leon, got it in one.

Also note the different Villiers headlights. Flat back prewar, bullet shape postwar. Tracking the various Villiers headlights over the decades is yet another world of mystery. Plus what people illustrated in their catalogues and what they admitted to in the written specifications adds a further layer of fun. Different toolbox pre and post war as well.

Back to the B&W/Wolf tie up. My 1936 Wolf catalogue shows their first Unit model but is quite different and obviously not the B&W Wasp. My 1937 catalogue doesn't have the Unit model at all. The 1938 catalogue has the Unit back again and is as per the B&W Wasp. I don't know if my 1937 catalogue is incomplete or Wolf didn't do a "Unit" for 1937.  Can you throw any light on this?

[R]

Any chance of a scan or pic of this Wolf beastie.
Not often seen in the wild ...

[R]

Perhaps I'll eat those words.
The world is littered with them

https://cybermotorcycle.com/gallery/wolf/images/Wolf-1932.jpg
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/hBgAAOSw56Re3mcY/s-l1600.jpg
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/aGcAAOSwyQtV7ZD~/s-l500.jpg
https://www.picclickimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNjAw/z/TbQAAOSwGmddfhsA/$/WOLF-Motorcycles-Range-98cc-250cc-_57.jpg

[cardan]

Also note the different Villiers headlights. Flat back prewar, bullet shape postwar. Tracking the various Villiers headlights over the decades is yet another world of mystery.

So if there was a period photo of an Acme with the pre-war muffler, toolbox and fork but a bullet headlamp?

My Wolf photos are said to be from the 1937 catalogue, from http://www.historywebsite.co.uk/Museum/Transport/Motorcycles/Wearwell2.htm . One of my favourite websites.

So Bennett and Wood looks OK: Wasp and Hornet from March 1937 through 1938 as rebadged Wolfs, followed by Acme from March 1939 "built" by Bennett and Wood. I don't mind too much "couldn't compete with the BSA Bantam" as a reason to cease production in 1949, but the end of the 9D the same years is also worthy of note.

Utility is not bad, if a bit confusing. Are there surviving photos or perhaps a catalogue? I don't have any real evidence supporting the "rebadged Montgomery" story, but it's certainly plausible.

Cottman Colt is probably ok, as rebadged Model A Royal Enfield, but I can see anything prior to 1939, which is the year RE went to a vertical engine and single-down-tube frame. A surviving CC has the 1939 RE frame, a 1939 RE engine number, but (confusingly) an earlier cylinder with the central exhaust, as used with the twin-down-tube frames. The CC brochure shows the 1939-on RE layout with the exhaust on the RHS. The surviving CC had strange all-encompassing engine plates - not sure if these were an RE feature, but they don't look right.

Waratah is ok.

Simplex was Turner Bros effort c1936 - they were in all sizes 125, 148, 196, 250 - and were imported, but without an illustration I can't say more. Interestingly Turner Bros were at 291 Elizabeth St in 1936, a building owned by W. T. Cottman, who was the Singer car distributor at the time. In 1940 Turner Bros vacated 291 - they had the building next door at 295 - and Cottman moved in to 291, so it bacame home of Triumph, Indian, and the Cottman Colt!

These 1930s efforts in badge engineering are not particularly important, but it's nice to get the record straight. As for whether imported bikes with Australian names should appear in a book on Australian motorcycles, I'm relaxed. If you came across a "Cottman Colt" or a B&W Hornet or a Utility JAP you won't find mention in a UK book!

Cheers

Leon

[Mark M]

I asked Graham Scarth Chairman of the Royal Enfield Owners Club in GB about these Cottmans as I have a passing interest in late 30s Enfields.
He said: I found the discussion started by "Murdo" on the classicmotorcyclesforum site
where he eventually gives a frame number of 10094. This is seven below the
start of our records in 1937 so would be a duplex front down tube frame (no
photos posted) if it was a Model A or possibly a Model T.
Also found photos of a Colt undergoing restoration and it is definitely a
rebadged Model A of the 1939 on type with vertical engine and all welded
frame shared with the Model D and S / SF with separate oil tank.
I could just see an A prefix number on front of crankcases but not clear
enough to read the digits. The frame has an extra triangulating tube added
just behind the steering head gusset plates, not present on other RE frames
for these models that I have photos of.
I hope this helps.
REgards, Mark

[cardan]

Thanks Mark.

Murdo's 1937-ish frame is presumably real RE.

The photos of the Cottman Colt under restoration are here: https://historicvintagerestorations.com/portfolio/cottman-colt-225cc-1936-motorcycle/

In one of the photos I get A6554 for the engine number, which is I think 1939. The gusset  that Graham mentions must surely be an Aussie repair from the 1940s - surely the RE factory would never do anything that agricultural! Nice to confirm that the Cottman is just a rebadged Model A. As I noted above, the restored CC has the central-exhaust cylinder, but not sure if that is original as even the CC brochure shows the 1939 right-hand exhaust.

Cheers

Leon

[33d6]

Do you know the exact date or history of that Acme “period” photo Leon? Is it factory fresh or one that has been on the road for a while and possibly had a slight headlamp dingle. There just isn’t enough information available to make any practical comment.

As for the frame gusset on the Colt that is about par for the course for British Lightweights of the period. It show's a typical frame breakage repair. Two of my Excelsior have the same repair. Personally I think it arises from a combination of not being able to grease the front forks effectively and unsealed Australian secondary roads of the day. They were rough. Stiff forks transferred much of the battering to the main frame loop which lozenges causing the top tube to break. The repair invariably includes a strengthening gusset.

My further response includes replacing all grease nipples with modern zerk type so I can use a decent grease gun and really get grease into the forks. It makes a real difference. As you can gather I detest those el cheapo straight nipples factories always fitted and what I think about those nasty brass Pom-Pom grease guns is unrepeatable.

I suppose it all depends on whether you want to have a stock catalogue show bike or a riding bike. Lightweight two-strokes are too much fun to just have them as show ponies.

Cheers,

[cardan]

Do you know the exact date or history of that Acme “period” photo Leon?

Unfortunately no, but it came from something to do with the postal service, and given a female rider I'd guess wartime. The bike looks pretty new.

Searching, I came up with another Acme photo from April 1940, clear enough to show the bullet headlamp rather than the "tobacco tin" version shown in all the 1939 photos. So I guess it was available from 1940? Were the headlamps specific to Villiers?

Cheers

Leon

[33d6]

They were a common Villiers headlamp but sometimes you find Miller stuff entangled in there. Sometimes marked Miller and sometimes with the VEC badge on them. I have no idea what the connection was.

I've just spent a few minutes measuring both the flat back and bullet shape types to find they are identical in all ways except for the "bullet" shape extension on the rear. The internal parking battery bracket across the back is in exactly the same place in both. All the extended bullet end does is give a little more internal space behind the battery mount. I suppose that may allow re routing of the wiring to give slightly better access to the parking battery. It's a pain to get in and out so most owners I know have tried it once to see what it's like then gave the whole nonsense a miss. I put the parking battery thing down to just one more of those mysterious English rituals that mean nothing elsewhere.

As far as when the bullet type headlamp was introduced it may very well be they were just on the verge of use when WWII started as shown by the Acme ad. Some made it on to bikes but mostly they didn't and had to wait until peacetime came around again. Its just a general rule of thumb that flat back are pre war and bullet type are postwar. Possibly they may have been ready for general release on 1940 ranges. I don't think we'll ever know.

[Mark M]

The parking battery thing was a GB law requiring parked vehicles to exhibit a sidelight at night on the traffic side of the vehicle. When this came in and when it was lifted I can't say. Many drivers of cars had small weatherproof bulb holders connected to a battery pack which could be clipped over the wound up windows to satisfy this requirement. I just checked the RAC website and it says this is still in force but applies to roads with a greater than 30mph speed limit and only to vehicles actually on the road. GB Construction and Use regulations require that the pilot light works when stationary and the engine is off for the same reason.
REgards, Mark

[Rex]

Given the amount of battery-less small bikes on the road it must have been largely ignored even then.
I remember as a kid in the 1960s there were still cars parked in my parents road at night with either those little red and clear lights clipped on the driver's window or those road works paraffin red lanterns hanging off the door handle.
 A rule consigned to the past by the time I started driving though.

[cardan]

Sounds good - I think that with the changes in Acme spec there is at least an idea how to date one in a photo.

Against my better judgement, I also had a look at the "Australian" autocycles, in particular the prewar or early-war versions. Of the makes we've been discussing, I don't see one from Utility or Cottman, but Waratah had the Waratah Junior (first mentioned in public in June 1939), and Acme had the Acme Junior (certainly from mid-1941, although there is a later advert for a 1940 model). Both were powered by the 98cc Villiers Junior, and I'd guess both were imported bikes, rebadged. I've not seen an illustration of either, but I'd like to if anyone has one.

Malvern Star certainly had autocycles from 1940, and in all likelihood they built their own cycle parts from the beginning. They had a huge bicycle manufacturing facility (in 1940 they claimed that 4,000,000 Malvern Star spokes were used annually), and could knock up a decent frame. Just postwar, they were particularly proud of the all-welded frame on their autocycle, rather than the usual brazed-up tubes and lugs. Anyway, here are four iterations of the Malvern Star if anyone is interested.

From what I can see, Malvern Star autocycle frame numbers fitted into the general Malvern Star sequence - see https://www.bicycles.net.au/forums/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=51805&start=0 . In the 1940s, 1Mxxxx means made in Melbourne in 1941, 8Mxxxx is 1948, 0Mxxxx is 1950, 51Mxxxx is 1951 etc.

Cheers

Leon

 

[33d6]

Somehow I can’t get enthusiastic about auto cycles of any nationality. Later mopeds yes, they usually have a bit of style but to my eyes auto cycles have always just been overweight shop delivery bikes. No style at all. I also learnt to ride on my mother’s Malvern Star push bike. Bloody great heavy thing it was. Not remembered with fondness.
Any way, the Malvern Stars as shown. The top three are fitted with the later Junior de Luxe (not Junior) introduced around 1940 and made throughout WWII providing economy transport for certain occupations that were on call 24/7. The classic one always quoted is the midwife. Babies do not arrive to schedule.
The bottom photo shows the last style of Malvern Star auto cycle fitted with either a 1F 2 speeder or 2F single speed engine. They appeared in the dying days of the auto cycle. They sold poorly. Their day was over.
Auto cycle sales were directly aimed at cyclists, not motorcyclists so you usually find they even have seperate sales catalogues and are not shown in the makers motorcycle catalogues.
About the only use I ever found for auto cycles was to give someone a taste of what early veterans were like to ride. High, rickety, with no brakes and underpowered.

[cardan]

Sorry to inflict pain! So the Villiers Junior (non-deluxe) is the one with the diagonal fins?

Leon