The second and final selection of photos from my wanderings around the Bristol Show last weekend. So many more marvelous motos that I didn't get to snap due to the crowds but I hope you enjoy the selection.
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| A Raleigh Light Delivery three wheeler. This one is the 'Factory Truck' version. This is the forerunner of the Reliant motorcar. Reliant was formed as a breakaway from Raleigh when in the mid-thirties Raleigh management decided to halt three wheeler production. |
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| Raleigh 500cc Sports. |
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| Lovely early Greeves. A 1955 20T trials model. Last year of the rubber in torsion rear suspension. Note also how the early models have cast ally engine plates. |
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| The Gold Star Owners Club had a brace of pre-war Goldies on their stand. |
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| Royal Enfield Bullet diesel conversion. One of the nicest I've seen. Rather than using an industrial unit this motor is from an Aixam microcar. It is 487cc, water cooled, cruises comfortably at 65mph and gives 150mpg. |
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| Nice period badge seen on Matchless JAP special. |
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| And here is the business end of the Matchless JAP. I couldn't get a decent snap of the whole machine such were the crowds it drew. Goes to show that you don't need anything shiny to interest folks. The running gear is a 1931 Matchless Silver Hawk frame (with cantilever rear suspension as original) into which a 750cc JAP sidevalve twin has been inserted to replace Matchless' ohc V4 unit. |
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| And t'other side of the Matchless JAP. |
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| Just one of the many crackers on the Vincent Owners Club stand. A Python engined HRD. Python was the name Rudge gave to their motors when they supplied them to other manufacturers. |
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| Other side of the HRD Python. Note the four valve bronze cylinder head. |
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| Something rather special. A 1935 works HRD racer used in the 1935 TT. It was rebuilt for the 1936 TT with a Zoller supercharger fitted. However the supercharged arrangement proved unsuccessful in practice so was removed for the race. |
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| One of the two pre-war HRD twins on the VOC stand. |
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| Incredible the work some people put in to their bikes. This Moto Morini Dart has had a 501cc motor fitted to replace the original (either 350 or 400). The bodywork is not merely carbon fibre stickers, it's the real deal. Each panel has been replicated in carbon fibre. Wow! |
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| Very impressive handiwork and the bike is obviously used too. |
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| If you're going to have a chop do it properly. This Triumph based beast was on offer in the autojumble. Recently imported and carrying an American plate there was no price tag... It looks like it has been fairly recently built, a close look at the frame and it seems to be new. Great homage to the golden era of chops. |
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| 1929 Harley Davidson model DL 750cc. Nearly finished and very shiny on the Wessex Veteran and Vintage VMCC stand. |
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| A couple of the pre-war Douglas ohv machines at the show. Very very desirable bikes. I've never ridden one but they often get rated as one of the best vintage machines. With their popularity in vintage sprinting they can evidently be made to really fly too. The machine to the fore is a 1922 S2 and the one aft a 1928 RA. Very dull names for such exciting machines. Note the disc brakes on the 1928 bike. |
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| Close up on the 1928 Douglas RA currently undergoing restoration. The RA stands for Research Association - or British Motorcycle and Cycle-Car Research Association to give them their full title. The RA were the chaps behind the disc brake design and as far as is known it is the first disc brake fitted to any vehicle. The brake is not a disc as we know them today - the disc itself is angled inwards (ie very slightly conical) and a v is cut in to the friction material on the caliper to mate with the disc. The caliper is on a pivot and when the brake is applied it is pulled down on to the disc. Though reputed to be good for their day, if slightly grabby, the RA discs can't have been a resounding success for they were not widely taken up. |
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