1
British Bikes / Re: Troubleshooting a JAP Special
« on: August 23, 2026, 11:16:11 PM »
A 12" coarse file, which has a name that the site thinks is not ok to publish.
Leon
Leon
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2
British Bikes / Re: Troubleshooting a JAP Special
« on: August 22, 2026, 10:13:28 AM »
And/or boiling them in a water + strong detergent?
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Identify these bikes! / Re: Precision Big4 frame ?
« on: August 20, 2026, 11:59:09 PM »
This is what rusty ones look like - in the same place.
Leon
Leon
4
Identify these bikes! / Re: L'il Villiers
« on: August 20, 2026, 11:45:14 PM »
Right side of seat lug. Or somewhere else. Or none at all! Some of the numbers are quite lightly stamped. https://classicmotorcycleforum.com/index.php?topic=6473.msg33253#msg33253
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Identify these bikes! / Re: L'il Villiers
« on: August 18, 2026, 11:43:19 PM »
I'm going with "cheap and cheerful". Actually these things only look really cheap 60 years later when the fork spindles have rusted solid in place, and the nose of the saddle and the handlebar levers have 1/4" free play.
So come on R, time to give your little Waratah a wipe over with an oily rag and a light reconditioning. If the original finish shows unambiguously that it was a Waratah from birth I think it's worth leaving it rather than repaint, so just the mechanicals? But not before you dig down to the Healing frame in the shed and get that frame number for me!
Leon
So come on R, time to give your little Waratah a wipe over with an oily rag and a light reconditioning. If the original finish shows unambiguously that it was a Waratah from birth I think it's worth leaving it rather than repaint, so just the mechanicals? But not before you dig down to the Healing frame in the shed and get that frame number for me!
Leon
6
Identify these bikes! / Re: L'il Villiers
« on: August 16, 2026, 11:51:27 PM »
Fingers crossed that the buyer has the combination of expertise, parts and information to restore the bike. The comment about the frame number is a good one, as the old bike movement seems to have drifted into an era of "dating by blatant assertion". Even "identification by blatant assertion" is applicable for Waratahs given the Excelsior origins! At least this one comes with the provenance of an original (or at least very old) tank transfer, and enough remaining original parts with numbers to make an decent guess at the date.
Anyway, here's a "1939 Waratah" from Old Bike Australia a few years back. Or it might be a 1945 Waratah, or maybe a 1941 Excelsior, or....
Cheers
Leon
Anyway, here's a "1939 Waratah" from Old Bike Australia a few years back. Or it might be a 1945 Waratah, or maybe a 1941 Excelsior, or....
Cheers
Leon
7
British Bikes / Re: Troubleshooting a JAP Special
« on: August 09, 2026, 01:45:01 AM »
Worth keeping an eye on the tappet clearance: if it moves more you'd better investigate. If it doesn't move, it's not unusual to see hardened steel caps (think shallow bucket) on top of the valve stems to increase the effective length of the valve. With the rocker arm acting directly on the end of the valve stem it's important that the stem is hard enough to stop it either wearing or mushrooming.
Leon
Leon
8
Identify these bikes! / Re: L'il Villiers
« on: August 09, 2026, 12:41:22 AM »
OK: it's weird I know but I have made a study of Excelsior frame lugs. Perhaps not as late as the bike in question, but I think the same ideas apply.
Prior to WW1 the firm of R. Walker & Son were makers and wholesalers of frame lugs and fittings. One of their large customers was Excelsior, which at the time was still attached to its origins as Bayliss Thomas. During the war (1917-ish, I recall), RWS purchased Excelsior and I think their ownership carried on until "the end".
Thus "Excelsior" "made their own lugs and fittings" while RWS sold similar lugs to other makers, in the UK and (especially) the colonies. They offered lug sets for a range of bikes, both in the UK and in Australia. In Adelaide, for example, the lightweight set was used by Elliott Payneham for some of their Villiers-powered bikes while J.N. Taylor used the heavyweight set for their V twins. My 1921 Victor Blackburne, made by Taylor, has stamped on the engine plates: "RW&S 6&8 JAP 8 B". My bike uses the 8hp Blackburne twin, while others (like the bikes built by Taylor for Swastika) use 6 and 8hp JAPs.
Unsurprisingly the Australian bikes share many features with the Excelsiors of the period. When Excelsior went to a whacky enormous steering head castings for their big twins around 1921, the same big lugs appeared on some Australian bikes, like Lou Borgelt's personal Swastika JAP.
The RWS heavyweight gearbox lug (or Australian copies of it) appear widely in Australian bikes in the early 1920s.
The Waratah on sale looks like it has a star dropper welded to the front down tube!!
Leon
Edit: I have only a couple of illustrated adverts for R Walker & Son lugs and frame fittings, from 1919 and 1924, both showing lightweight sets. Because sales were wholesale only, adverts don't appear in the usual magazines. Happy to see more if there are any out there!
Prior to WW1 the firm of R. Walker & Son were makers and wholesalers of frame lugs and fittings. One of their large customers was Excelsior, which at the time was still attached to its origins as Bayliss Thomas. During the war (1917-ish, I recall), RWS purchased Excelsior and I think their ownership carried on until "the end".
Thus "Excelsior" "made their own lugs and fittings" while RWS sold similar lugs to other makers, in the UK and (especially) the colonies. They offered lug sets for a range of bikes, both in the UK and in Australia. In Adelaide, for example, the lightweight set was used by Elliott Payneham for some of their Villiers-powered bikes while J.N. Taylor used the heavyweight set for their V twins. My 1921 Victor Blackburne, made by Taylor, has stamped on the engine plates: "RW&S 6&8 JAP 8 B". My bike uses the 8hp Blackburne twin, while others (like the bikes built by Taylor for Swastika) use 6 and 8hp JAPs.
Unsurprisingly the Australian bikes share many features with the Excelsiors of the period. When Excelsior went to a whacky enormous steering head castings for their big twins around 1921, the same big lugs appeared on some Australian bikes, like Lou Borgelt's personal Swastika JAP.
The RWS heavyweight gearbox lug (or Australian copies of it) appear widely in Australian bikes in the early 1920s.
The Waratah on sale looks like it has a star dropper welded to the front down tube!!
Leon
Edit: I have only a couple of illustrated adverts for R Walker & Son lugs and frame fittings, from 1919 and 1924, both showing lightweight sets. Because sales were wholesale only, adverts don't appear in the usual magazines. Happy to see more if there are any out there!
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Identify these bikes! / Re: L'il Villiers
« on: August 07, 2026, 12:36:16 AM »
Is it the remains of the leg shields on the down tube?
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Identify these bikes! / Re: L'il Villiers
« on: August 07, 2026, 12:29:24 AM »
No, unfortunately no reply to my message supplying info on the engine date and asking for another look for the frame number (with extra tips about where to look). Since I'm not a buyer, I don't feel that I can push it.
If you look at the bike, there are a lot of bits missing, and plenty of work to be done on the bits that are there. I worry about the front down tube that looks funny in the photos... Anyway, hope someone enthusiastic buys it! It's wartime origins are interesting.
Leon
If you look at the bike, there are a lot of bits missing, and plenty of work to be done on the bits that are there. I worry about the front down tube that looks funny in the photos... Anyway, hope someone enthusiastic buys it! It's wartime origins are interesting.
Leon
11
Identify these bikes! / Re: L'il Villiers
« on: July 30, 2026, 05:01:46 AM »
Brilliant - very interesting indeed.
I spent last night reading military vehicle forums about the ML James. Incredibly well documented due to the military contracts that governed their production and delivery.
Of interest to us is that MLs were delivered between 1943 and 1945, with frame numbers up to ML8500 - there were contracts to supply 10,000 but the last 1500 were not delivered to the military. ML numbers beyond 8500 ended up (mostly) on the postwar civilian market.
Now here's the interesting bit: All the ML engines (Villiers 9D) were all AAAxxxxA numbers, with xxxxx mostly between about 20000 and about 28000.
The experts there agree about the A suffix on the 9D engines: "Unfortunately records of Villiers 9D engine numbers do not appear to have been retained but it is thought that they were fitted to WD James ML's at random without any particular sequence. The suffix "A" after the engine number was a mark applied by Villiers to signify a post-1939 9D engine with the revised crankcase sealing method (the "gland" seal on the driving side), the "A" signifying "amended"."
They also suggest that, unlike the ML frame numbers, the Villiers engine numbers don't seem to appear in strict order. Nevertheless, the Waratah engine number AAA24024A is right in the middle of the 8000+ engines that went into MLs for the military, do it's likely well into wartime: 1942, 1943 or even 1944?
So, what date for the Waratah?
I've been back and searched wartime newspapers. New Waratah adverts petered out towards the end of 1941 (ignoring Ted Bailey's unchanged long-running advert in "The Propeller" claiming to have New Waratahs on hand), but there was a surprise advert from P&R Williams offering "a few New Waratah Motor Cycles" in December 1942. No mention of the model, but let's guess 9D engines.
The post war, I found an announcement of "limited quantities" of 1945-model Waratahs in September 1945 (all 9D). The "Brand New 1946 Model Waratahs" landed in July 1946.
As I see it, the Waratah for sale could be either a "1942 surprise shipment" landed in December 1942 or a "1945 model" landed in September 1945. I'd guess bikes in both shipments might look pretty prewar, with the "1946 model" having what we call postwar features - new frame, gear change through the tank, etc.
I'll try again for frame number.
Leon
I spent last night reading military vehicle forums about the ML James. Incredibly well documented due to the military contracts that governed their production and delivery.
Of interest to us is that MLs were delivered between 1943 and 1945, with frame numbers up to ML8500 - there were contracts to supply 10,000 but the last 1500 were not delivered to the military. ML numbers beyond 8500 ended up (mostly) on the postwar civilian market.
Now here's the interesting bit: All the ML engines (Villiers 9D) were all AAAxxxxA numbers, with xxxxx mostly between about 20000 and about 28000.
The experts there agree about the A suffix on the 9D engines: "Unfortunately records of Villiers 9D engine numbers do not appear to have been retained but it is thought that they were fitted to WD James ML's at random without any particular sequence. The suffix "A" after the engine number was a mark applied by Villiers to signify a post-1939 9D engine with the revised crankcase sealing method (the "gland" seal on the driving side), the "A" signifying "amended"."
They also suggest that, unlike the ML frame numbers, the Villiers engine numbers don't seem to appear in strict order. Nevertheless, the Waratah engine number AAA24024A is right in the middle of the 8000+ engines that went into MLs for the military, do it's likely well into wartime: 1942, 1943 or even 1944?
So, what date for the Waratah?
I've been back and searched wartime newspapers. New Waratah adverts petered out towards the end of 1941 (ignoring Ted Bailey's unchanged long-running advert in "The Propeller" claiming to have New Waratahs on hand), but there was a surprise advert from P&R Williams offering "a few New Waratah Motor Cycles" in December 1942. No mention of the model, but let's guess 9D engines.
The post war, I found an announcement of "limited quantities" of 1945-model Waratahs in September 1945 (all 9D). The "Brand New 1946 Model Waratahs" landed in July 1946.
As I see it, the Waratah for sale could be either a "1942 surprise shipment" landed in December 1942 or a "1945 model" landed in September 1945. I'd guess bikes in both shipments might look pretty prewar, with the "1946 model" having what we call postwar features - new frame, gear change through the tank, etc.
I'll try again for frame number.
Leon
12
Identify these bikes! / Re: L'il Villiers
« on: July 29, 2026, 09:09:21 AM »
Forget the ISDT, here's the 125 Waratah on the home sporting trial front, prewar.
Leon
Leon
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Identify these bikes! / Re: L'il Villiers
« on: July 29, 2026, 07:49:46 AM »
From the auctioneers: " The engine number is AAA24024A was located running vertically down centre of the gearbox. Will add the photo later.
Frame number is not visible, will send a photo of the steering head casting."
What do you think 33d6? Are we very-late-pre-war, wartime, or very-early-post-war? I don't think I'd argue if someone said "1940", but I don't know the significance of the suffix "A" on the already "AAA" engine number.
The flat-back VEC headlamp (Acme progressed bullet shaped VEC headlamps on at least some 1940 models) and the fact that new Waratahs weren't landed until July 1946 (but which time we might expect post war numbers?)... yes just pre war maybe?
Re the frame number, I told them, "The frame number is usually on the left side of the steering head casting." Anywhere else it might be? A photo would be good.
Cheers
Leon
Frame number is not visible, will send a photo of the steering head casting."
What do you think 33d6? Are we very-late-pre-war, wartime, or very-early-post-war? I don't think I'd argue if someone said "1940", but I don't know the significance of the suffix "A" on the already "AAA" engine number.
The flat-back VEC headlamp (Acme progressed bullet shaped VEC headlamps on at least some 1940 models) and the fact that new Waratahs weren't landed until July 1946 (but which time we might expect post war numbers?)... yes just pre war maybe?
Re the frame number, I told them, "The frame number is usually on the left side of the steering head casting." Anywhere else it might be? A photo would be good.
Cheers
Leon
14
Identify these bikes! / Re: L'il Villiers
« on: July 28, 2026, 02:23:00 PM »However, the 1939 Excelsior brochure shows high level exhausts as std fittings on the 125cc Universal,
so you'd expect the Waratah here to be the same ...
I have a pretty poor illustration of a 125cc (8D presumably) Waratah in December 1937 and it certainly has high level pipes like the GO Universal Excelsior.
I've emailed the auctioneer re engine/frame numbers for the Waratah.
Leon
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Identify these bikes! / Re: Miller Waratah headlamp bulbs ?
« on: July 26, 2026, 12:43:50 PM »Easily identified as the engine number ran vertically down the rear of the gearbox in the last of the AAA series, AAA****A whereas they then moved to the postwar engine numbering system found on a raised boss on the right hand side gearbox end plate...
There must be a bit of overlap: here's a "postwar" number running vertically down the back of the gearbox, on a very original postwar Acme, maybe 1947-ish. 351/1287 is a pretty low postwar number, so I assume they were on the back for a while before moving to the end plate of the gb?
Leon