Restoration Project??

[VintageBike]

David recently found this bike whilst digging some foundations for his shed.  we would like to know what sort of bike this is?  It looks like it needs a good going over with a wire brush to me....







Cheers

Nigel.

[cardan]

Hi Nigel,

Montgomery had a couple of patents for leaf-spring forks (as used by early Brough Superiors), but they all seemed to use only one leaf spring. Do I see two perpendicular leaf springs on this beast?
If so, I think we're looking at a c1919 Frank Baker (Precision) creation, based on one of his patents GB118256. This would make the bike a "missing link" between the many pre-WW1 Precision-engined bikes and the post war Beardmore Precision. Things like the stirrup front brake and chain-cum-belt transmission would fit the date.
Any chance of a close-up of the front springing? Also, do I see twin front down tubes on the frame? They're not half-round in cross-section by any chance?
Quite a nice bit of history to keep under the garage floor.

Cheers
Leon

[cardan]

I passed the photos on to my friend Peter, who revels in seriously-weird things. He identifies it as Royal Ruby:

"It is a 2 3/4 hp touring Royal Ruby of about 1922. The 3 hp has the two side stands but the 2 3/4hp has the conventional rear stand. It is the touring model as the sports model had downswept bars . All models had the Royal Ruby patent adjustable forks fitted with a laminated spring. As well all Ruby frames have patent safety stays fitted to the front down bar connecting the steering lug to the engine and "eliminating all chance of breakage to the front down tube" (i.e. it has 3 front down tubes as it has two supplementarys bolted on either side of the front down tube)."

Sure enough the Ruby Cycle Co. did patent the fork: GB167650. From a quick look, it seems identical with the Baker patent, except that vertical leaf spring in the Baker design is replaced with two flat-steel side plates. The patent lawyers could have a field day! But since neither firm sold more than a handful of bikes...

Leon

[m3bobby]

Its hard to tell from the photo's but is it a viable restoration?? Obviously the only salvagable parts look like the frame, forks and maybe the engine?

It would be fantastic to say you rebuilt this scrapper that was buried in your back yard!!

[Justin_Faithfull]

I doubt whether there is much there you could actually restore, maybe some bits of the engine could be salvaged.
However you could use the parts as patterns to re-create the bike. I have seen a few machines as bad as this, basically rebuilt from the ground up.
Quite a challenge for somebody!

[cardan]

Yes it's not a project for the faint-hearted. Here is what it would look like (from the 1922 catalogue):