classic motorcycle forum

Hi Simon,
Nice to see someone having problems from actually riding their vintage bike.
Both problems are fairly common to vintage bikes regardless of make and have quite easy fixes.
Firstly it is routine vintage practice for the first start of the day to pull in the clutch lever and kick the bike over a few times to free off the clutch plates. They can get sticky for no apparent reason and if it is a vintage bike that can sit for a few weeks between rides it can be even more noticeable.
Secondly, if the clutch is in good order but still suffers from dragging it can be a small problem caused by excessive wear on the gearbox mainshaft thrust washer. This is a small plain bronze washer that controls endplay in the mainshaft and when worn out allows excessive endplay. When there is excessive endplay much of your clutch lever movement is wasted taking up the endplay before ever it starts to separate the clutch plates and the clutch will  drag.
Put in a new thrust washer (very easy to make) and the results are magical.
As for your oil problem, does your Model P have the semi automatic hand oil pump on the tank or an oil pump down on the engine? Or both? The only time I have encountered the problem you describe is with a mechanical pump on the timing chest and as modern oils will eventually seep through any vintage pump no matter how good it is I now fit a tap to the oil line. Don't  worry about forgetting to turn the oil on before going for a ride. You won't forget. How many times have you forgotten to put your trousers on before leaving the house? Forgetting to turn the oil on is just as embarrassing. You won't forget.
Happy riding, Bob
PS, now for the cheeky bit. The Model P was introduced for the 1925 season. No 1924 models.

Hi Martin,
Sturmey Archer made the LS gearbox from 1922 to 1930 (3 speed with the number prefixed either "LW" or :HW").
There are a large number of variations to be found because they were made with different casings, diffferent kickstarters, different mainshaft lengths, etc, etc, to suit customers requirements.
You need to say what bike you want the box for.
The Vintage Motor Cycle Cl ub Library holds a lot of original Sturmey Archer literature and you need to go through it closely to work out what suits your bike.
I got to know Sturmey Archer boxes quite well through my interest in vintage Matchless. Matchless used Sturmey Archer boxes on all their models except one thoughout the 1920's until Sturmey Archer stopped making bixes around 1933 or so.
They are easy to work on but the number of variations found makes life a bit frustrating at times.
Cheers, Bob

There was an F W Barnes closely associated with the Zenith motorcycle company in its heyday. I'll look around and see if I can find a little more but it might take a little time.
Cheers, Bob

I don't remember any great flaw in the Tina engine design but there was some sort of urban myth at the time about them taking off unexpectedly.
If I remember rightly it has automatic transmission and  some sort of pressure switch arrangement in the seat. The rider has to be seated for the switch to be turned off and the drive to engage. No rider and it stays in neutral.
The myth tells the story of the loving owner crouched beside the bike tuning it up when his girlfriend came across and leant on the seat to see what he was doing!!
Basically the Tina was like many other British scooters that came in on the tail end of the scooter craze and like all of them wasn't a patch on the Vespa or Lambo anyway. It came and went fairly quickly.
Cheers, Bob

You will be able to get a copy of 1936 catalogue from the VMCC Library and probably a spare parts list also.
Cheers, 33d6

Hi again,
You've given enough info to go on with so I'll start boring you with it all.
It has 148cc motor, not a 147. This is important. Although both were made by Villiers they are quite different and C/E used both. Yours has a Mk XII-C motor introduced in 1931 & will cruise about 35-40mph, flat strap about 50ish. Eats hills.
The C/E was one of the better quality prewar two -strokes and well made. You will be able to get a copy of their 'Book of Service' from the VMCC library, it is open to the general public. It is about 50 pages and has everything you need to know.
Join the British Two-stroke Club and/or the VMCC. They will welcome you with open arms. Like all old bikes there are traps for new players but nothing serious or expensive. Villiers engines have an undeserved poor reputation. When sorted out they are very, very good.
I don't know where you would buy inverted levers in England, I'm in Oz.
Cheers, Bob