Watsonian Centenary Rally

Watsonian Sidecars put on a celebration rally for their centenary this August. Held at Stoneleigh Exhibition Ground in Warwickshire it was a little more low key than expected but mid-August is a busy old time for events and it was still entertaining. Sidecar events are always fun for the amount of ingenious home engineering on display. Part of the interest in attending was inspiration for a personal Bullet / Monza project - more to come. Inspiration was indeed received and a pleasant morning was had oggling the combos..

Beautifully turned out ex-works 1953 350cc Royal Enfield Bullet ISDT combo.
Loads of unique features and perfectly thought out for long distance eventing.
350cc top end on a 500cc bottom for extra flywheel effect.

This home made brute utilised a BMW K100 frame as the basis
with a mid-engined Vauxhall Astra 1.6 diesel turbo providing
forward motion.

Gear lever though what was the petrol tank!

Good access to that diesel motor. Plenty of power and excellent
economy was claimed by the owner / builder.

Cut and shut Reliant Robin body shell provided the donor for
this sidecar. Beautifully made, it follows all the correct Reliant
styling features shrunk and is not just a crudely cut in half
abomination. Married to a Moto Guzzi California 1100.

Very immaculate Lambretta TV175 with Watsonian Bambini sidecar.

Work in progress Lambretta with Bambini and Czechoslovakian
PAV trailer.

Panther M120 with rare Blacknell sidecar.

Styling on the bathtub Thunderbird nicely matches the
Watsonian Monza chair.

Vincent Comet put to serious work.

Dayton Albatross Scooter 1955

The mighty Dayton Albatross was one of the finer British scooters. It missed the point of a scooter somewhat, but if your taste in scooters veered away from a stylish Italian lightweight and what you really hankered for was a big slab of British small wheeled beef then the Albatross was designed for you. Initially introduced in 1955 with a Villiers 1H 225cc single motor, a couple of years later the 2T 250cc twin engined version was added to the line-up, also under the 'Albatross' moniker.

Debatably the Dayton was the nicest of the British scooters. The DKR Defiant was a very similar machine with the same Villiers engine but lacking the style of the Albatross. There was a reasonable market niche in the fifties for 'super scooters' and the Albatross was a good match for the market leading German models from Heinkel and Maico. There's a reasonable survival rate and the twin cylinder models are amongst the most sought after of British scooters.

1955 Dayton Albatross brochure page 1.

1955 Dayton Albatross brochure page 2.

1955 Dayton Albatross brochure page 3.

1955 Dayton Albatross brochure page 4.

The Royal Enfield Cycar

The little 150cc two stroke Royal Enfield Cycar was listed from 1933 to 1936. Lightweight to take advatage of a cheap taxation class it wasn't a bad idea at all and given that motorcycles were, at that time for many, a grim commuting necessity the straplines of 'safe, clean, simple and economical' may well have been good selling points rather than the complete motorcycling turn off they would be today. There're a few survivors, more than you would expect for a small commuter bike, strangely I've heard of a few in the States. Not great for distance or speed but a nice evocative thirties machine that will always be something of a curiosity.

Royal Enfield Cycar brochure page 1.

Royal Enfield Cycar brochure page 2.

Royal Enfield Cycar brochure page 3.

Royal Enfield Cycar brochure page 4.

Sammy Miller Autojumble

The bi-annual Sammy Miller jumble has settled down into being a fine little local parts fair. Garage clear out stalls selling quality junk and lots of folks turning up on interesting bikes. As usual spent too much on 'bargains' myself and left empty pocketed and loaded with prime rusty crap... Here're some pictures from the bike park.

Immaculate Guzzi-engined Triking three-wheeler.

Same Triking, wider angle.

Same Triking again, different angle..

Great period BSA M21 combo. Plenty of period old duffer touches and patina.
Avon handlebar fairing, canvas panniers, white plastic handlebar grips, rust, oil
and plenty of signs of being used as it probably has been the last
sixty years. Along with cockroaches M20s will survive the apocalypse.

Harley shovelhead flat tracker on Ford flat bed caused a lot of envy.

Closer up of that Harley flat tracker. Road legal.

Civilianised Royal Enfield Model CO in nicely used condition.

Couldn't work out if this Tiger 100 was restored a while back or original.
Either way it looked good. I'm not a massive fan of postwar Triumphs but they are
great looking bikes and the pre-unit Tiger 100 is the cream of the crop.

That patinated Triumph again. Missing rocker cap. Vibes, what vibes?

Dunelt Lightweight Model K

Dunelt were known for their 'supercharged' two stroke engines. Built in a range of sizes up to 500cc it was the Model K 250cc that was the most successful, perhaps proving the point held in motorcycling folklore that the ideal maximum size for a two stroke pot is 250cc. The Model K was their longest produced model and the holder of several Brooklands records including the Double Twelve Hour Record in 1928. The below brochure is from 1926 and heralds the new model. More information and pictures on Dunelts on this site by Lars Erik from Sweden.

1926 Dunelt Model K brochure.

Beta Alp vs Enfield Bullet

A ride out on the green lanes of Dorset with Matt on his Beta Alp and myself on a 350 Royal Enfield Bullet in trail trim, the subject of a previous post on preparing a Bullet for long distance trials.

The route started at Blandford and then took the byway leading from Pimperne towards Tarrant Gunville, thence along a drove to Chettle and Chettle House. After that another byway leading to Tollard Royal past a rather strange folly on the Rushmore Estate. Apparently it was originally planned to be a mobile phone mast and then the mobile company pulled out of the deal. Granting the planning permission was rather controversial and understandably so. Incongruous and gigantic as it is I've lived in the local area a long time and have never heard about it before lest seen it. I rather like it and follies fall in to category of noble english eccentricities for me.

Beta Alp and trials Enfield beside the Rushton Estate 'pavillion'.

This was the first time since modification that the Bullet had been used on the rough since its 'makeover'. In general it was very pleasing. Enough power, plenty of character and good off road handling. Warm starting became a problem in to the ride and I'm hoping that a tuffnol carb spacer will be the cure to this as it seems that the carb is overheating. Riding down a steep muddy slope into Tollard Royal was the only time that the bike really showed its weight as it became a bit of a handful to both slow down and keep stable! It was a good hill so at the bottom I turned around and tried it out on the way up. Hill climbing was able though the Vredstein tyres slightly lacked grip and it was evident that gearing could be dropped slightly lower (it's currently running standard gearing (16 tooth on the final drive) and a wide ratio box).

The ride continued and took us from Tollard Royal up to the top of the Dorset Ridgeway just above Zig Zag Hill. Heading West after five or so miles we took a drove down the North side of the ridge which took us onto the next ridge over the border into Wiltshire and heading West again we rode a very smooth track along to Salisbury Racecourse.

Swapping bikes to have a go on the Beta and it is evident how much trail bikes have progressed in the more than sixty years since the Bullet was designed. Suspension is far better, power is linear rather than pulsing. It felt less powerful though probably output from its 200cc is similar to the 350 Bullet. With a far better power to weight it did seem to surge forward a lot more quickly and was certainly more responsive on the throttle. In terms of general green laning though there was not much advantage over the Bullet. The edge only came when the going got tougher and the long suspension travel and light weight shone through.

The Beta Alp is a very civilised tool for green laning. It is quiet, easy to live with and very inoffensive. Therein also lies its weakness. Whilst the Bullet overflows with character the Alp has the feel of a generic small engined modern bike. It's not a criticism as such, the Alp is a tool that performs its job almost faultlessly. It doesn't give the same satisfaction that the Bullet does, but then define satisfaction. If your satisfaction is in getting on your bike, pushing a button and getting off onto the lanes for a predictable ride then the Alp is for you. If you want your bike to have soul and are not averse to spanner work a Bullet it is. Of course, the comparison between the two bikes is really as irrelevant as weighing up between a seal and a parrot but when two bikes are out and you swap over what else can you do. Ultimately you can't lose if you're out on the bike on deserted tracks in beautiful countryside in the summertime...

Post workout 350 Bullet.

Pie and Pint Run

A pie and a pint. A perfect raison d'etre for an evening run on an unexpectedly fine June evening. Pictures from the Dorset VMCC meet.

Late model Triumph 21.

BSA Thunderbolt detail. 

1955 Royal Enfield Bullet.

Well-used pre-war Panther replete with umbrella.

1949 Matchless, perfectly original, two owners from new and always in the same street.