classic motorcycle forum

A poor photo, Leon but I’m confident it’s a Junior.
The two can be differentiated at a glance. The later Junior deLuxe sports a detachable alloy head whereas the earlier Junior had a single unit, cast iron, fixed head and barrel.
There are multiple other minor differences but the alloy head is the most obvious, even to the most casual observer.
That photo shows the top end of the engine as a single dark coloured lump. I think an alloy head would have shown as a light coloured blob even if not clear enough to be recognisable as the cylinder head.

As an aside I’ve been surprised at the sheer number of auto cycles, cycle motors, mopeds and scooters in these records. Not of great interest to us and most disappeared when car ownership became more accessible but an interesting social phenomena all the same. It shows how much people value their mobility and will travel on anything if that’s all they can afford.

Just look at the space available and grab some springs and keepers out of any old scrap engine laying around and see if they fit. Maybe some biking friend has an old set of valve springs and keepers laying around they will let you try. A side-valve engine, the head is basically a slab of metal with holes in it for the plug and bolts. Get some old beverage cans of aluminum and melt them down and pour them into an impression you made in a pile of sand using the old head. You can have someone mill the cylinder side of the head, and with a home drill press and hand tools you should be able to spot-face the bolt-holes, plug hole and tap it for the plug threads.

Gaaahhh! Bloody microfilm records. I think making sense of these microfilmed records is the modern equivalent of a mediaeval torture dungeon. From what I've ploughed through to date it appears that VicRoads microfilmed what they thought were redundant records in bursts from about 1970 to 1983. It seems every now and then they'd do another batch. All roughly in alphabetical order but not necessarily bothering to blend them in correct alphabetical order with earlier batches. Sometimes they did, sometimes not. Cataloguing this stuff has turned from a slow plodding slog to something that would give a zombie a brain melt. Quiveringly dull but with so many bizarre mistakes and confused identities I can't afford to relax. Dippy things like when looking up Benelli records remember to look up the separate BOnelli records as well. Nor can I list how many ways VicRoads could spell Bombardier plus remember they included Bombardier snowmobiles in the motorcycle records (but not all snowmobiles).
Anyway, nothing of interest to note except the surviving Balmain Precision (already in the A-Z) popped up as re-registered in 1960. Reg no 036. I suspect this was an early red plate club permit concession. I hadn't appreciated how long our club permit scheme has been around.
The other thing of minor interest is the Barb. I've found records of four Barb autocycles so far, all immediately pre WWII, double what was previously thought. Each fitted with the up to 1939 Villiers Junior engine, not the later and much better Junior de Luxe. Each survived wartime usage and stayed on the road well into the 1950's. So far I've found no hint that Villiers sent any wartime motorcycle engines out here but appear to have supplied the home market only. Perhaps that stopped the Barb in it's tracks.

   

Brilliant 33d6!! Just the information I needed.  Cheers!! Ian

Hi Ian,
The kickstart spring has a small closed loop at the inner end that is attached to the box by a screw extending through the box with a further locking nut on the outside.
The other end of the kickstart spring has an open loop that slips over with the web of toothed sector.
Replace the kickstart loosely and then when pushing the outer cover home use a spanner on the cotter pin flat to turn the kickstart slightly so as to clear its return stop. Everything should then just slide in place.

The above assumes you have all the parts and the spring is complete and not broken. "Spring loose in the case" is not helpful and could arise from a variety of causes.

Wear on the actual gear teeth is rarely very noticeable. Everywhere else wears, the gear change system, the kickstart assembly and the whole kit and caboodle of the clutch system but the actual gear teeth seem to go on forever. All easily sorted and then ready for another hundred years of use.