1902 New Hudson

[cardan]

I've had the pleasure recently of recommissioning a 1902 New Hudson that has not run for many, many years. Perhaps not for 110 years.

Although the bike has had a coat of paint some time - say 1950s - the painter was careful to paint around the New Hudson transfers on the tank. The atmospheric-inlet-valve Minerva motor has New Hudson cast in the crankcase, so I'd guess at least a dozen were built. The motor is like new inside, and still has its original valves and spark plug as shown in 1902 Minerva literature. The fuel tank is also Minerva, and features the Minerva version of the surface carburettor and the original Nilmelior high tension coil, made from wood and ebonite. The fuel used is Shellite, required for its high volatility compared with petrol.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OgpzB2hQzg

Great fun.

Leon

[R]

Marvellous, just marvellous.

What was all the (hidden) jiggery pokery at the beginning ?
A blood transfusion. ?

Back tyre needs more air....

[cardan]

The coil was in the tank, but the battery was on the ground!

I've just fitted a new-old-stock pair of Michelin 28 x 1 3/4" beaded-edge tryes. They were very dry and a bit mis-shapen, but after a wipe-over with glycerine they seem not too bad and went on very nicely. Just preparing for the test run.

Leon

[mini-me]

still turning them up down under then?

Jealous.

i like that Daimler, i have a soft spot for old Daimlers. Must have been soft in the head to have sold my 1936 15 for a fiver, and he drove it away.

[murdo]

Quite impressive after all this time.

[cardan]

The New Hudson is a "recent" import from the UK. I spent the first 70-odd years of its life in the UK, in the hands of the family of the bicycle shop owner who had it for sale new in 1902. The story was that the bike was "new old stock", but while the motor could be new - not a mark on the valve faces, for example - the bicycle isn't as it has wear on the brake pads, pedal rubbers etc. The bike is New Hudson of course. It's possible that the New Hudson-branded Minerva kit was fitted to a second-hand bicycle. Maybe "the shop bike". Too far down the track to find out now. The NH came to Australia with a large collection of vintage bicycles, and when that owner quit his bicycle collection the whole lot went to the current owner. That's provenance. Third owner from new!

Yes there is stuff here, but it is now coming from collections of the first generation of collectors who saved the stuff in the 1950s.

Leon

[P.V. Motorcycles]

That looks like a lot of fun.

I had to look 'Shellite' up - appears to be naptha or similar.
I'm not sure where you'd buy a big bottle of it in the UK - you'd need a lot of little tins of Ronson lighter petrol to fill 'er up!

Nick

[cardan]

Yes it is great fun.

Shellite was/is a Shell brand name, but is now widely used to describe a hydrocarbon with specific gravity in the range 0.68 - 0.72. This means it is very volatile, which is the main requirement for a surface carburettor where there is no jet to spray the fuel, but just evaporation off the surface of the fuel.

I think the main use for Shellite is for camping stoves, but it's also a solvent for specialist applications. I was lucky that a major hardware chain had it on special for half price: only $4 (2 GBP) per litre instead of $8. Knowing my luck, they were probably selling out their last stock. I have enough 1 litre plastic bottles to get me as far as I'm likely to go on it.

Leon

[R]

Shellite is available from industrial suppliers, as a solvent in 20L drums.
It is listed as a light naptha product.
Probably no fuel excise on it either, so in bulk it may be inexpensive.

What would these bikes have run on when new ??

Fuel for many years (decades ?) came in square 5 (?) gal tins.
Before the era of the fuel pump.
Aircraft owners were warned to always only used unopened tins.
probably applied to discerning motorists too...

[murdo]

During the 2nd WW years, my dad used to run his Royal Enfield on Shellite, kerosene and mothballs (napthalene balls) to make his petrol ration go further. He got pretty good at cleaning plugs too.

[R]

No moths in the muffler then !!
Did he say what it smelled like ?

Power kerosene was a very good fuel - quite unlike lighting kerosene, which burns very sooty.
Difficult to start it with though, folks have said.

[mini-me]

I once ran a Bantam on a paraffin/petrol mix, but only because I didn't remember what I had put in what can.

It went surprisngly well.

[cardan]

All fuel before about 1901 was 0.68 specific gravity, and was purchased in bottles or tins. With the advent of spray carburettors around 1902, it became possible to volitalise and burn heavier fuels which were cheaper and easier to refine in quantity. In 1902 the majority if motorcycles used surface carburettors; in 1903 the majority used spray carburettors (FN and Longuemare being two of the most popular) and fuels became heavier, but still in tins. Since a surface carb won't work with the heavier fuels, particularly in cold weather, many 1902 bikes like the New Hudson were obsolete in 1903.

Leon

[mini-me]

many 1902 bikes like the New Hudson were obsolete in 1903.

so the chinese were not the first then?

[R]

Since a surface carb won't work with the heavier fuels, particularly in cold weather, many 1902 bikes like the New Hudson were obsolete in 1903.

What about with a change of carburettor though, is this possible ?
The motorcycling press of a few years later and later had an armada of carb types for sale, as replacements for the fitted OEM.
Updating to the latest was a way of life, even back then ?