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Messages - 33d6

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1
The Classic Biker Bar / Re: Where to get a speedo hub drive from?
« on: July 29, 2021, 02:47:55 PM »
A local Matchless rider has a push bike speedo very neatly mounted in a pretend Smiths speedo casing. He has a neat black plastic sheet under the glass having a rectangular slot revealing just the speedo numerals.
It looks utterly normal but is nothing more than a tin can painted black with a home made clip on lid. It’s brilliant, looks just right and it stops any silly nit picking by some bloodyminded bureaucrat.
Nothing to stop you doing something similar.

2
The Classic Biker Bar / Re: Where to get a speedo hub drive from?
« on: July 29, 2021, 06:01:48 AM »
Haven't got to the GPS type yet. I've still got a supply of the old sort and can't wear them out.


3
The Classic Biker Bar / Re: Where to get a speedo hub drive from?
« on: July 28, 2021, 11:28:31 PM »
Easy. You use a push bike speedo. One of those diddly things that clip on and off the handlebars and measure your speed via a magnet attached to the front wheel.

They’re not only dirt cheap, they are far more accurate than the old mechanical speedos.

As for the new replicas, the only bronze one’s I’ve seen available are sold by the VincentOwners Club spares people and are expensive.

4
British Bikes / Re: Tuning villiers carb
« on: July 23, 2021, 09:58:30 AM »
Yep, made by the gazillion.

5
British Bikes / Re: Villiers factory 1940s
« on: July 23, 2021, 02:40:35 AM »
Not helped by no greaseable "sealed for life" suspension components which weren't and an odd pneumatic actuator on the carburettor (can't remember whether choke or throttle) which also rapidly gave up the ghost.

Sadly just another vehicle rushed on to the road without sufficient development and with the cost accountants having more say than the engineers who designed the stuff.

 

6
British Bikes / Re: Tuning villiers carb
« on: July 23, 2021, 12:34:48 AM »
That is a standard Villiers throttle lever for use for use with a Villiers carb having the rod type mixture needle control.
Villiers also did a twin lever for the dual cable ‘de luxe’ needle control system but I find best of the lot is the postwar style of a seperate lever for each action. Trying to keep a smooth action on a dual lever is much more finicky than having seperate levers which you can adjust individually. My preference is the individual Villiers throttle lever as shown and a seperate LEFT hand needle control on the left side of the handle bars. In short, the common postwar setup as fitted to the postwar 6E and other E series engines up to the advent of the later S series carburettors.
Villiers Services should be able to supply the complete postwar set up.
As for your engine sprocket arrangement that is an absolutely stock Villiers arrangement. One of three they catalogued to suit the convenience of buyers. They were  just an engine manufacturer, they didn’t know what the buyer intended to do with their engine so catalogued various engine sprocket drive arrangements. That is one of them.

7
British Bikes / Re: Tuning villiers carb
« on: July 22, 2021, 03:12:48 PM »
The separate Dynamo setup was the deluxe set up in the 1930’s. Bike rectifiers were in their infancy so effective battery charging from the lighting coils was still to come. Your type of setup for battery charging and thus steady lighting was basically the only practical way to go. Be cautious of using bicycle chain to drive the Dynamo. Proper timing chain lasts longer.
I’m curious about how the bike is on the road with a 22 tooth sprocket. The common Albion box of the period usually had a rather wide ratio spread with first gear so low you could pull a tank with it. With a 22 tooth sprocket I’d expect first to be more like first on a modern bike but top gear to be more like an overdrive and only usable on dead flat or down hill surfaces. How is it?

8
British Bikes / Re: Tuning villiers carb
« on: July 22, 2021, 03:07:21 AM »
Blurb on its way.

Now we've settled that one can I ask a question?  How many teeth on the engine sprocket?

Thanks,


9
British Bikes / Re: Tuning villiers carb
« on: July 21, 2021, 03:29:32 PM »
I don’t know if the cast iron piston makes a great deal of difference to the carburation as it has identical dimensions to the correct alloy type including the shape of the crown. That’s fine in theory but you will soon find out why the world moved to alloy pistons whether the carburation is spot on or not.

The original factory carb set up for your engine is an MW carb fitted with a no 2 jet and a no 4 needle.

If you send a message with your email address I will send you an info sheet with all the relevant info you need for setting up the carb.

10
British Bikes / Re: Tuning villiers carb
« on: July 20, 2021, 02:40:28 PM »
I love these questions.
Do you mean that you have a prewar carburettor on a prewar engine? If so what engine is it?
I ask this because Villiers did some minor improvements on their original carburettor design and stamped ALL their carburettors Mk II from the late 20’s on.
As the Mk II was stamped on the float bowl which is interchangeable with the earlier type anyway, the Mk II designation isn’t that helpful.
Further to this Villiers used only a limited number of standard bodies regardless of engine but changed the internals around to suit, so for example a carburettor set up for a 150cc engine will clip straight on a 175 or 250cc engine but
won’t work well.
So, I’d like to help but what have you actually got? What Villiers engine are you playing with?

11
British Bikes / Re: Remington - another British-made 'Australian' bike
« on: July 15, 2021, 05:12:14 AM »
Oh heck. Looks like another plough through the AOMC Montgomery records.
Not having much joy hunting up a 16mm microfilm reader for the Utility records. Microfiche and 35mm readers no problem but 16mm is a different story. I even have to explain what microfilm is in some places.

It’s okay if I can get beyond front desk personnel. Most just look at me in horror.

Still got plenty of libraries, institutes, historical societies and god wot to pester.

12
British Bikes / Re: Remington - another British-made 'Australian' bike
« on: July 14, 2021, 03:38:16 PM »
About all I can come up with are Verus or Omega with a leaning towards Omega. Unfortunately like everyone else they didn’t waste much advertising space on the smallest and cheapest in their line up so pictures are hard to come by.

13
British Bikes / Re: Utility motorcycles
« on: July 08, 2021, 02:25:55 PM »
I’m told 16mm microfilm readers were rather top end in their day. The 16mm film rolls come in a cassette so are fairly well protected from careless handling and storage. The next week or so sees me tackling the local libraries and universities looking for a reader/scanner/printer.
The net shows combined 35/16mm machines so it should be entertaining.

14
Identify these bikes! / Re: Verify/ID 197CC SUN
« on: July 08, 2021, 02:06:38 PM »
Yes, it’s a 1F engine from a 1949 James.

15
British Bikes / Utility motorcycles
« on: July 08, 2021, 05:41:48 AM »
Hi Leon,
You asked about Utility motorcycles.
As in the old joke patter, "I haff good news und I haff bad news".
The good news is I have all the Utility engine number records sitting in front of me. The bad news is they are on 16mm microfilm and I don't have a reader. Even when I do get a reader I've been warned that most if not all are handwritten- in pencil- and were well faded before microfilming anyway. Apparently in the years before computerisation took hold the Motor Registration Branch as it was then had the bright idea of microfilming a lot of the early records. Nothing wrong with microfilming, it is still a sensible way of recording and archiving stuff but unless you take care the quality drops a bit. Poor quality originals become rather poorer microfilms.
I gather modern microfilm scanners can improve things but as I know absolutely nothing about reading old microfilms in 2021 I'm on a very steep learning curve starting from absolute zero. All advice carefully listened to.

Cheers,

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