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11
Identify these bikes! / Re: Miller Waratah headlamp bulbs ?
« Last post by R on July 26, 2026, 05:58:31 AM »
Hmmm, a bit of scouting around reveals that the parking bulb is a screw in E10 sized torch bulb.
And 3v

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/MukAAeSw171p8K~t/s-l960.webp

However, there are LED versions of these, and some are rated to 24v
And some rated for AC use

Now for the main bulb
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Identify these bikes! / Miller Waratah headlamp bulbs ?
« Last post by R on July 26, 2026, 05:15:40 AM »
My little Waratah (Excelsior) postwar 125cc needs some headlamp bulbs in its Miller headlamp.
Which looks to be 5" or maybe a bit bigger.
It merely has a switch in the top of it

What voltage are these bulbs ?
I wish to use it with a 6v battery.
(and did I read that the originals powered from the flywheel were 4v ??)
There is nothing marked on the existing bulbs.



Quite a big seeming bulb - with dual filaments
And an itty bitty little screw-in pilot lamp (battery 4.5v dry cell powered.)
What should I be looking for ?



And, the little bolt securing the rim at the bottom has nothing to screw into.
Was there some sort of little bracket through the slot in the headlamp bucket ?
Despite appearances, that is 1/4" cycle thread.
So, what am I looking for ?



Hope someone knows these things ....
Thanks in advance







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Identify these bikes! / Re: L'il Villiers
« Last post by R on July 26, 2026, 04:44:59 AM »
Aha, I did wonder that
It was the 1st one I came across in a random search



There seem to be several versions of that decal ?

That exhaust looks like a real leg burner ??
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Identify these bikes! / Re: L'il Villiers
« Last post by 33d6 on July 26, 2026, 01:19:21 AM »
R has both answered your question and provided a nice photo for us as well. The only remark I would make about that admirable restoration is the disappointing tank paint job. The factory paint job included a coloured panel either side (usually red) with lining. Still, no great drama, just money, to get that right.

It’s just a pity to get so close and not give the wee beastie the one piece of frippery that would set it off.
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Identify these bikes! / Re: L'il Villiers
« Last post by R on July 25, 2026, 11:53:06 PM »
The frame number on my postwar Waratah is vertically on the left side of the steering head.

Prewar Excelsior.
Named Fred !
I can vouch not for its authenticity - 33d6 ?



We see that someone has opened the bidding in that auction...
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British Bikes / Re: Troubleshooting a JAP Special
« Last post by Rockburner on July 25, 2026, 10:28:57 PM »
Today, after a bit of car booting, (found a large Elora spanner that will hopefully be useful, 1"W & 1.1/4"W) and wandering around town, I popped back into the shed to carry on prepping the bike.

First I drained the old oil, it turned out to be C40 from the last time the bike was run.
It's bloody hard to see into the oil tank...




I've got a couple of litres of new Morris C40...


And I also have these....


The Morris is nigh on transparent when it's clean...


One tin of Castrol is obviously used.... Euuuw


Will have to get rid of that some how... Dad would have just chucked it on a bonfire! :D

The other tin was still sealed, and is nice and clean.


It looks like the still plenty of room in the oil tank, so I'm going to get some more C40 and top it up to about 3.5 - 4 litres.


In the meantime time I added a dribble of the R30... ;)

After that I messed around for a bit making sure the bike was ready, and prepping a toolkit to carry on the bike, before nipping inside and putting my gear on.

I also remembered to pour some more petrol in the tank! :D

https://youtu.be/6wWpO-eVKDg?is=A56xX3vfWmoTR-Xr

The first ride was, to be honest, both exhilarating and a bit of a let down!  :lol:

I did a couple of loops around the triangle of roads near the house, and it runs fine, handles fine (the something odd, tyre pressure, a bearing or something), however it's pretty gutless. I wasn't expecting a rocket ship by any means, but it still felt a touch underwhelming. It pulls ok up to about 60-65 then seems to completely run out of wind.

I was going to carry on a bit further afield, but looked down at the engine and realised that the cases were covered in oil, so, I returned home to check things over.






That's after just a couple of minutes back on the work ramp




This is main feed pipe to the pump, dripping wet




This push rod tube is loose enough to be rattled, and is definitely one of the sources of the external oil.


There was so much oil it was pouring over both sides of the cases, although sitting it on the side stand for a few moments would have caused that.


This is somewhat concerning though, a pool of oil by the rear left head stud, seems an odd place for it to be, unless the base gasket has gone already..


The exhaust "was" nice and shiny...


The plug actually doesn't look too bad if you ask me.
It's not quite right, but I've definitely seen worse!



I left it to cool off before I clean it up, then may look at reducing the amount of oil being pushed to the head, one of the books says it should be " a drip for every 2 pulses of the pump" (you can see the pump pulses through the window on the pump), but that's a rate for racing WFO, so I think I'll reduce the feed to a drip every 3 or 4 pulses, and try to do some mitigating of the leaks!

There's also lots of other little niggles, the gear lever is a bit high, the nose cone isn't straight, the left fork leg seal has gone, etc etc.... nothing insurmountable though. But some things are fine, the rear brake works perfectly, the front is okay etc. So I need to do a few more things before it's fully ready...

That said... It's the local classic club monthly show tomorrow, and that's only about a mile away from the house... :D
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Identify these bikes! / Re: L'il Villiers
« Last post by cardan on July 25, 2026, 05:11:54 AM »
Quote from: 33d6 on July 25, 2026, 03:16:45 AM
The frame number will tell all.

Indeed. Where is it likely located? I'm happy to ask the auctioneer, but best to tell him where to look.

Leon
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Identify these bikes! / Re: L'il Villiers
« Last post by 33d6 on July 25, 2026, 03:16:45 AM »
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.
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British Bikes / Re: Troubleshooting a JAP Special
« Last post by Rockburner on July 24, 2026, 10:00:09 PM »
So, I couldn't help myself and wandered back over to the workshop this afternoon. :D

My first intent was to sort out that banjo union.

I started by taking it apart and discovered that I'd done it up so tight that the washer under the bolt had disintegrated!


But weirdly, I still don't believe that was leaking!

I started examining all the bits as closely as possible and started to get suspicious about the banjo union itself:


I then dug through all the old odds and sods that I had from Dad's workshop...

And eventually I discovered that I had a nearly new Amal nylon filter!


I think this was part of the upgrade parts I bought for the Monobloc - that's where I found it anyway, in the amongst the Monobloc stuff. It definitely does NOT have that lip.

So, I fitted it, and re-did the petrol pipe on the banjo union as well and ... er... it seems to have fixed it! :D :D

I also found I have a couple of competely useless twin feed banjo unions...


So while I was waiting for fuel to seep through the filter, I had a mooch around the rest of the bike...

And found this:


Buggeration!

So, I started stripping the rear mudguard off the bike:
First off - the catch-tank holder.




That long screw is what holds both the mudguard on, and the catch tank!


Removing the upper bolts


All undone, and it pulls out actually surprisingly easily.


You can see the "cut out" on the side clearly here, and this is the cause of th cracks.


The larger crack is clear :


Sorry - did I jump ahead of myself... yes there's 2 cracks
Lower end


Upper end


Cleaned off the inside and marked the end of the cracks with a white paint pen.


The holes were drilled easily after judicious use of a centre punch


3mm each should be enough. (They look a bit bigger because I cleaned then up a bit with a larger bit.)


The mudguard went back in fairly easily too.
First getting that long set-screw in place


I was sweating having to take the rear wheel out, but I didn't need to: the set-screws at the bottom end are allen-heads, and there's enough clearance to get the long set-screw out of the bracket, luckily.

Once I had the mudguard back into place.. I had a close look at the fitment.... and now I'm wondering why the hell the cut out is there!


I then fitted the tank strap.

First I got the tank out of the way - there's just enough play in the fuel hose to allow this :



More ultra-lightweight fitments...


And I locked-wired the R-clip just to be safe.


The other end of the strap is yet more in the  ultra-lightweight theme


Fitted the seat


Fully bolted down



A while ago I decided that I don't like the Unity Equipe screen that comes with the nose-piece, so I made up a lower, darker version.


It needs a bit more work, the top corners need to be curved off and tidied, but that shouldn't take long with a dremel.



I fired it up again in order to try to get the tick over improved (it either hunts and dies, or revs like crazy at the moment)
Didn't realise that strap was actually pushing against the downpipe... oops! :D


Gassed myself, obvs!


The last piece... Dad's home made primary chain cover.


There's nothing left to fit.


I pondered taking it out at that point..... but realised I'd run out of daylight!  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:

I am interested to see how it runs ... I expect there'll be a fair bit of carb tuning to be done.

Hopefully soon! :D
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British Bikes / Re: Troubleshooting a JAP Special
« Last post by Rockburner on July 23, 2026, 10:24:00 PM »
Quote from: Rex on July 23, 2026, 09:30:56 PM
Good stuff.
I know you believe it to be the fuel filter lip, but on most recent new carbs I've bought the very thin fibre washer is too stiff to flatten and seal, but after a night of soaking and swelling, a quick tighten the following morning sorts it.

I can see the fuel weeping from the upper part of the banjo union, the upper part is wet when the lower part (where the washer is) is dry.

The only other explanation i can think of is that the metal banjo union itself has a flaw, it's the next thing i intend to look at.
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