classic motorcycle forum

I disagree with the 'reinforcing the weak spots' idea. Why spend money, time and effort shoving reinforcing tubes inside other frame tubes when a more thoughtfully designed headstock lug and fitting decent grease nipples would have prevented the whole issue happening in the first place. Not much chance of that happening in British lightweight world was there. Their whole world seemed to revolve around their race to the bottom of cheap and nasty. Price seemed to be the sole criteria for the majority.

My '39' Montgomery is a perfect example. I never appreciated how a firm could use the one rear axle lug for every machine in its range, from a 125 two-stroke to a 1000cc vee-twin. And make same universal lug right or left handed by bashing off the the various unwanted bits to suit either the left or right side of the frame. Or how one could further cheapen a set of pressed steel forks seemingly identical to those on my Excelsior by not fitting the friction dampers used by Excelsior and eliminating all means of link and spindle adjustment with an anti-rattle Thackery washer on the end of each spindle. I won't go on to mention the centre stand made of angle iron nor the saddle mounting using the same angle iron. In the end its just so nasty you have to love it. Its pure runt of the litter territory.

We do digress. Its a pity we don't have the frame number. I'm curious to know whether this Waratah is one of the mis-war imports or immediate post war.

One final note. Leg shields were a standard fitment on the Excelsior version. They don't show up well on the usual catalogue illustrations but they're there. They were attached to the front down tube by the usual clamp on cross pieces. One look at the carburettor position and you can see why Excelsior fitted them.   
   

I think we have it pinned down. All that remains is to find out the frame number to confirm it.

The 8D/9D engine did much better in the ISDT than you think R. The Dutch make Eysink, were the other user besides Excelsior and the record is 1937, three Eysink entered winning two bronze and the other retiring with a frame breakage. 1938 saw one Eysink and the Excelsior entered, both winning bronze. 1939 was the ISDT run on the verge of WWII where the entire British contingent left before the event was over. The Excelsior owner "retired" on the second day but we don't know whether he actually retired or left when told as no one really reported on the activities of private entries. It was all about the official teams. Those representing the country, the Army teams, Club teams and the like, private entries rarely got mentioned much and rarely photographed. Usually they just turn up as background in the odd photo. No Eysink were entered for 1939. Finally Eysink had three 9D  powered entries in the first postwar ISDT and won a Gold and two Silvers.
Not a bad effort all up for a 125cc Villiers.

I look forward to any reply from the auctioneer. It'll make interesting reading.

Yes, that would be the earliest postwar number I've seen and never seen one stamped as per the WD engines before. It's always tricky to pin down exactly when Villiers made changes. I think changes were gradual, as they finished off current orders they introduced the new system. There would have been a tapering off of the old way and an increasing use of the new. At least we know now that Villiers had decided on a new numbering system a little before they were completely ready to implement it as we know it today.

There's always something new to learn with that 9D engine. Along with the 98c JDL (Junior de luxe) autocycle engine they were the only two to be produced throughout WWII and it shows in a number of odd little ways. Nothing dramatic but interesting to the sad Villiers obsessive (me).

They also seem to have survived in surprising numbers.

Cheers,

That immediate postwar period your Waratah/Excelsior hails from can be maddening. As Carden rightly points out it was a time of shortages and confusion so what was fitted was what was available, not necessarily what the factory said should be there. On top of that Villiers made a variety of lighting systems for the 9D so you have both the desperate times variations plus the factory standard variations and on top of both these is the regular dry battery parking light arrangement that accounts for your odd little Edison screw in bulb.
We'll deal first with your parking light bulb. The Edison screw thing. This is just an ordinary torch bulb of the time meant to run off two 'D' size batteries. Same as found in any hand torch of the day. If you remember in your childhood, shops sold these funny flat pack batteries with two 'D' cells side-by-side for bicycle use rather than the separate two in line as normally found in hand torches. One of those flat pack batteries clipped in behind the reflector inside the headlamp and powered your wee little edison screw bulb. A horrible set up but met English law of the time. You seem to have that one sorted anyway.
Now for your headlight. You need to ascertain what you have. All are 6 volt pf course. Firstly you have to check whether you have an 18 watt or 24 watt system. The armature assemblies of both are identical. The difference lies in the width of the flywheel magnets, 1&1/8" for the 18 watt version, 1&7/16" for the 24 watt job. What are yours?
Secondly we come to how the lighting coils are actually wired up. Commonly separate coils are used for the head and tail lamps so two separate circuits. Usually obvious as there are two leads coming out from the back plate. Red lead being the head lamp and the black the tail lamp. But Villiers also made some systems with a head lamp lead only so only having one lead out.
Finally Villiers also warn of poor earth connections. The earth lead of the tail coil is soldered to the side of the coil cheek and the earth lead for the headlamp coils is clamped between the coil cheeks and the armature back plate. Both are noted for causing mystery troubles.  Dim lights and mystery black outs.
That's enough to keep you occupied for a day or two, I'll be interested in your findings.
One last thing, What is the engine number? I'm sure I've mentioned this before but the initial batch of postwar Excelsior coming to Oz were fitted with ex-WD engines. 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. What is yours? Cheers,

     

Looks like a regular pre-war Model 0 Excelsior to me but with the slightly sturdier pressed steel forks as used on other model Excelsior at the time. Easily identified by the frame number. The post war Excelsior had both a different frame and the gear change through the tank nonsense. We all know that the Waratah was simply a rebadged Excelsior  and this is just another example.
The frame number will tell all.

The prewar model looked quite different from the postwar job with its utterly different exhaust layout and different inlet manifold. Nothing that makes any difference to the performance but just makes the beast look different from the other hordes of 9D powered bikes. The tight money woes of the thirties plus the looming war clouds where everyone knew petrol would be scarce and fuel economy was going to be a big thing led to a surprising number of manufacturers to bring out a 9D powered bike. I have a 1939 Montgomery and a 1940 Excelsior on the bench at the moment. There's little difference between that Waratah and my 1940 Excelsior.

You'll note also the Amal carburettor, not Villiers. These are fairly easy to find as it's more or less the generic Amal of the time for all the 150cc four-strokes made then. Royal Enfield, New Imperial, Excelsior, Triumph, BSA and so on. As the UK introduced a major tax break for up to 150cc machines in the early 30's, sooner or later every firm and their dog seemed to have a go at making a nifty 150. There's more survivors than you think but they all suffer the same equal restoration cost problem. It costs much the same to restore a 150cc bike as it does to restore a larger one so enthusiasts spend their money on the bigger machines letting the 150's gather dust. Pity about that. They make a refreshing change from yet another 500 sidevalve single.
The trick lies in finding out the jetting specifications and so on as it should be different from those used in four-stroke applications. I may have it somewhere but Amal carbs don't figure much in my world so I'm unsure. 

This may be helpful searching for commercial catalogues or not but our State Library has also improved its website and search function so you can really drill down and hunt out really obscure stuff. Its surprising what they have.
They also give lots of info on where stuff is held elsewhere and occasionally you can access it through their site.
Most old motorcycle stuff is now held off site and may take up to five business days to arrive. This is absolutely no problem as they run a 'click and collect' service. Order what you want from home, they acknowledge the order, then text you when its arrived to look at. They will hold it for five days before returning it to the archives and will hold it longer if you ask. They really make it easy.
As you can gather I'm a big fan. Have a browse.