Velo Orange mudguards review

I dithered for a fair while before coughing up for these Velo Orange mudguards. Why? Well, they are not cheap (though not exactly hugely expensive at around £60 either) and I generally like to use second hand parts on my bicycle projects.

However these 'guards were exactly the right style I was looking for for my Bob Jackson 'Randonneur' / 'Porteur' build so after deciding that nothing else would do I reluctantly put my hand in my pocket.

Bob Jackson Super Tourist with a hint of French glamour...

First thing to say is that I am delighted with the visual result of these mudguards, I was worried that they would be slightly too showy but in fact they set off the rest of the cycle perfectly. They very much are the icing on the cake and yet stand out in their own right too. I have never before had so many compliments about the attractive mudguards on my bicycle! Even to the extend of pedalling past a couple of middle aged ladies and overhearing one exclaim to the other, 'ooh what lovely mudguards', yes really, it did happen!

The honeycomb mottling of the aluminium is pure 1950s French.

So, we've established that they look good, now on to the fitting. The 'guards' are available in two different widths. I went for the wider as I'm running 35mm tyres on the Bob J. Partly my fault as the frame is really made for 32mm or less but the clearances on the guards were absolutely minimal. It took a lot of careful setting up to get the lines right and no rubbing on the tyres.

The fitting kit is of good quality but a couple of grumbles here. The instructions state that quality cycles have a threaded hole underneath the fork crown to mount mudguards. I'll call BS on that one, hardly any do. A clip is provided to mount on to the brake hole on the fork crown but there's some bending to do to get it to sit right. Furthermore, and I know I am being petty here, but, the clip should always mount behind the fork crown and the bracket be hidden underneath. The Velo Orange clip is designed to go forward of the crown and looks just a little less neat than it should as a result.

As for the rear mounting...why is there no mudguard bridge provided? Luckily I had one spare but really it should come with the kit..

Otherwise all was good, they are a slightly trickier than usual mudguard to mount and take some time but the end result is well worth it.

Bracketry is fiddly but of good quality.

Tight tight clearance on a 35mm tyre.

Eek noooo! The clip must be behind the fork crown!

At the same time I swapped from down tube shifter to stem
shifts. Way better comfort and control. Not sure why they never
really caught on.

Norman Lido

It's not so often you come across photos from back in the day of mopeds. Perhaps folks just weren't as proud of them or as enthusiastic about them as they were of their motorbikes. So, for me, it was nice to find this snap of a chap with his Norman Lido.

Norman Lido from circa 1960.

Norton Model 18

The photo looks like it was taken in the sixties and I would say that the bike is an early post war Model 18, probably 1946/ 7 as it still has girder forks. Pre and post war Model 18s are distinguished by the cradle frame of the post war machines. The bike is well cared for, possibly even restored and the owner looks pleased with it: he should be as well - it is a class machine.

1946 Norton Model 18.

The True Spirit of Classic Motorcycling

For me this is pretty much what it is all about, an encapsulation of the enjoyment to be had in running a vintage / classic machine. Riding with friends, keeping old machinery working, seeing places and, most importantly, having fun.

A long weekend point to point checkpoint event circumnavigating Belgium with sub 125cc machines. You may not understand the Flemish text but there are a lot of pictures along with the write up to get the gist of it...

http://6volt.blogspot.com/2018/06/1000km-rit-rond-belgie-2018-verslag.html

Royal Enfield full range catalogue 1924

Here's the very fine Royal Enfield range for 1924. Two strokes to the fore, then the 350s and a jump to the big v-twins. The 350 Enfields of the era are particularly nice machines, I've had the luck to put in a few miles on the side valve model and it is really charming. The ohv ones get good reports too.

1924 Royal Enfield model range page 1.

1924 Royal Enfield model range page 2.

1924 Royal Enfield model range page 3.

1924 Royal Enfield model range page 4.

1924 Royal Enfield model range page 5.

1924 Royal Enfield model range page 6.

1924 Royal Enfield model range page 7.

1924 Royal Enfield model range page 8.

1924 Royal Enfield model range page 9.

1924 Royal Enfield model range page 10.

1924 Royal Enfield model range page 11.

1924 Royal Enfield model range page 12.

1924 Royal Enfield price list.

Matchless M3 combo 1925

As the years passed Matchless got more and more of a reputation as a solid, dependable ride to work kind of a bike despite their racing efforts and illustrious history. In the flat tank era however Matchless were slightly more glamorous and innovative machines.

The below snaps are of what I believe to be a M3 model from 1925. A rather tasty big v-twin, normally used as a sidecar tug and with quite early electric lighting.

Glamorous v twin 1925 Matchless combo
in a street of terraced houses.

'Taken in our backyard, July, 1926'

Shiny new BSA B31

This rigid framed BSA B31 is so shiny that it's got to be a new purchase. Lucky chap too managing to buy a machine like this brand new in post war Britain where pretty much all output went to export and very little was released to the home market.

I checked the details and sadly JYH 495
is not around any more.

Lovely bike but the control cable routing is awful. Hard to
believe that it would leave the BSA factory like that.

And happy new owner well togged up
for bad weather.