barr and stroud cotton project

[R]

Is this the Grindley-Peerless that is in the Sammy Miller museum?

Very unlikely.

http://i0.wp.com/megadeluxe.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/1929-Grindlay-Peerless-500cc-Brooklands1.jpg?resize=1280%2C755

[cardan]

Nice bike; pity about the spelling! The B&S G.P. at Sammy Miller's is shown here:

http://blogs.c.yimg.jp/res/blog-93-cb/shncp005/folder/420664/35/7854535/img_1?1330099603

Note the "Grindley" on the sign, but at least this one has "Grindlay" on the tank!

I have a recollection - but apologies if I'm wrong - that the B&S twin has something in common with the "Ever Onward". I think I read somewhere that Ted Beckham built the twin motor into cycle parts to get the rare engine mobile again. Does anyone know this story? I could be wrong...

Leon

[cardan]

Thanks to Howard's Flickr site https://www.flickr.com/photos/flattank_motorcycles/5007131776/, here's a Grindlay Peerless Barr & Stroud from the 1926 GP catalogue. Interesting to compare with the ex-Beckham Sammy Miller machine.

Leon

[murdo]

Nice bike; pity about the spelling!


Spelling fixed.

[mark2]

http://i1208.photobucket.com/albums/cc370/speedie11/IMAG0022.jpg

[cardan]

Sorry Murdo - I was referring to the spelling on the petrol tank of the nickel-plated GP, where the sign writer has gone with Grindley!

Leon

[murdo]

No problem Cardan, I like things to be spelt right too.   
Actual problem came because I copied from the magazine, so Jim Scaysbrook got it wrong too! 

[R]

The 2 placards that are near Sammy's bike 2 have different spellings for Grindley/Grindlay Peerless too !!
So everyone is hedging their bets....

[JFerg]

You are right, Leon.

Ted's V Twin, which is now Sammy Miller's V Twin was built up from a collection of Grindlay parts.  The frame was from a single, and too short lengthwise for the V Twin, so Ted stretched it.  2" or so from memory.  I don't think that matters.  It is far more important that the thing is seen as a complete and going machine.

cheers,

JFerg

[cardan]

Hi JFerg,

I found a pic of the bike from the early 1970s. It was then fitted with Harley/Castle front forks, different exhaust, etc. It looks more "GP" now, but I think the fork, front wheel, and other details are still not quite right, even though the paint and plate are flawless!

Yes for such an unusual engine there's a good argument to have it out and running, rather than just sitting on a bench. The problem is that these composite machines tend to very quickly take on an identity that arguably they are not entitled to. I doubt the card at Sammy Miller's museum tells the true story of the bike.

Cheers

Leon

[33d6]

Ted Beckham detailed his search for a V-twin Grindlay Peerless plus his consequent rebuild attempts of what he found in several letters and articles in the VMCC Journal.

It was a lifetime journey.

As a result we have a very full history of the bike including knowledge of what he did and why he did it. He got as close as he could and he tried hard.

I amused myself over a number of winter evenings ploughing through 40-some years of the VMCC Journal copying off every snippet of sleeve valve contained therein giving them all to JFerg so along with his own material he has possibly the most extensive file of B&S material two obsessive nutters could compile including all the Ted Beckham correspondence.   

There is little doubt in my mind that this V-twin GP is as close to accurate as could be achieved and any improvement will only come from the freak discovery of an original unmolested example.

It may not be spot on Leon, but one man spent a lifetime trying to get it right and luckily for us he actually documented what he did. So, regardless of how the bike is placarded in Sammy's Museum, the full story is well known.

On an entirely different note. Get JFerg to tell you of him exhibiting Ever Onward yesterday at a display of sleeve valve engined vehicles. Daimler, Arrol-Aster, Falcon Knight, Willys Knight, etc. You should have seen the nonchalant grin when Ever Onward started with one kick in front of a gawping crowd and just sat there effortlessly booming away.

Cheers,