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The only picture I have so far of the bike in its heyday is the one I posted recently in another discussion http://www.vintagebike.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=3567.0 , which shows Harry Butler on the bike after setting the initial records. The "square" line of the exhausts is very similar to the original 1929 pipes, as is the overall look of the bike. But then, maybe the restorer had this photo to work with. Yes the fins on the head and barrel look pretty weird, but you are looking at a pretty original Villiers equivalent of a double knocker works Norton!
Now 33d6 - if you are shedding a tear at the photo of the bike, I'm not sure what your reaction would have been when I started it up for the first time. (The first time for me, and likely the first time for 20-30 years.) That sound! Ripping calico? A cammy Norton on the pipe? Unreal. I'm not sure what the neighbours thought, but it's clear that a road run will require muffling of some sort. Perhaps better still was the aftermath: perfect silence and two large-bore pipes smoking in whisps. I could like this little thing!
I was out rallying today, and one of the older club members told me that when the bike was rallied in the 1960s it was banned by the club because it was too noisy. Apparently it used to fly, but the noise and smoke were legendary.
The plan is to do some research around the bike - much info exists, but the verifiable needs to be sorted from the apocryphal - and to get it running, possibly for the road. There might be quite a bit to do. In turning around the top rear fork lug (to put the spindle behind the head stem rather than in front) I was worried by the fork spindles, which seemed to be nickel-plated bolts rather than high tensile spindles. The back brake drum and rear sprocket have a great deal of play on the hub. Spoke tension is all over the place. Tyres are old and hard. I can see the balls inside the rear hub. The front brake anchor is a 1/4" bolt. You know the stuff...
OK: if I want to ride it on the road, what type of exhaust will give me performance, an appropriate period look and a reasonable level of quietness? A coffee pot seems like a good idea (if a bit funny to look at on a 1929 bike), but any idea of design parameters?
Leon
The only picture I have so far of the bike in its heyday is the one I posted recently in another discussion http://www.vintagebike.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=3567.0 , which shows Harry Butler on the bike after setting the initial records. The "square" line of the exhausts is very similar to the original 1929 pipes, as is the overall look of the bike. But then, maybe the restorer had this photo to work with. Yes the fins on the head and barrel look pretty weird, but you are looking at a pretty original Villiers equivalent of a double knocker works Norton!
Now 33d6 - if you are shedding a tear at the photo of the bike, I'm not sure what your reaction would have been when I started it up for the first time. (The first time for me, and likely the first time for 20-30 years.) That sound! Ripping calico? A cammy Norton on the pipe? Unreal. I'm not sure what the neighbours thought, but it's clear that a road run will require muffling of some sort. Perhaps better still was the aftermath: perfect silence and two large-bore pipes smoking in whisps. I could like this little thing!
I was out rallying today, and one of the older club members told me that when the bike was rallied in the 1960s it was banned by the club because it was too noisy. Apparently it used to fly, but the noise and smoke were legendary.
The plan is to do some research around the bike - much info exists, but the verifiable needs to be sorted from the apocryphal - and to get it running, possibly for the road. There might be quite a bit to do. In turning around the top rear fork lug (to put the spindle behind the head stem rather than in front) I was worried by the fork spindles, which seemed to be nickel-plated bolts rather than high tensile spindles. The back brake drum and rear sprocket have a great deal of play on the hub. Spoke tension is all over the place. Tyres are old and hard. I can see the balls inside the rear hub. The front brake anchor is a 1/4" bolt. You know the stuff...
OK: if I want to ride it on the road, what type of exhaust will give me performance, an appropriate period look and a reasonable level of quietness? A coffee pot seems like a good idea (if a bit funny to look at on a 1929 bike), but any idea of design parameters?
Leon
