Rockers!

Not all rockers rode Gold Stars... Here's a bunch of more typical lads back in the day on regular fifties Brit fare hanging out by a bandstand.

Rockers on a day out.

NSU Supermax brochure 1956

The NSU Supermax is a machine that's firmly on my bucket list of bikes to own for a while and try out. Quirky but functional design, high quality and high performance. What's not to love! This brochure from 1956 is a lovely piece of fifties teutonica.

For more on the NSU Supermax visit this site: http://www.nsusupermax.com/

NSU Supermax brochure front cover.

NSU Supermax brochure page 1.

NSU Supermax brochure page 2.

NSU Supermax brochure page 3 (plus part page 4 so
as not to crop the bike).

NSU Supermax brochure page 4.

NSU Supermax brochure page 5.

NSU Supermax brochure page 6.

NSU Supermax brochure rear cover.

Briggs and Stratton Scooter 1919

This rare as hens teeth 1919 Briggs and Stratton scooter has just come in to stock at Dutch Lion Motorcycles over in the Netherlands. I've never seen one in the flesh before and it seems that there are only a few left worldwide. The scooter is in beautifully original condition and it would be absolutely criminal for whoever buys it to even consider doing anything more than a mechanical restoration.

The Briggs and Stratton Motor Wheel attachment was a development of the British Wall Autowheel. The design was first brought to the States by the A O Smith company and marketed as the Smith Autowheel. Some improvements were made on the original design including a disc wheel and more importantly doing away with the drive chain by running the wheel directly from the camshaft. The Smith Motor Wheel ran from 1914 to 1918 and in 1919 the rights to manufacture were sold to Briggs and Stratton. Briggs and Stratton made a couple more changes with a slight raise in capacity and a move over to a flywheel magneto.

As with the Wall Autowheel in the UK the American engines were used for an ingenious number of applications, from water pumps through to buckboard four wheelers. It is hard to say if the scooter sold in any numbers, presumably it rode the wave of the post first world war scooter fashion, ie sold strongly for a year or two and then died a quick death. The design concept is very similar to the ABC Scootermotor from Britain. Probably awful to ride but a great display piece, the Briggs and Stratton scooter is likely something that you will not see offered again for a long time.

More info on the Smith Motor Wheel and Briggs and Stratton Motor Wheel on these sites: 

Andrew Pattle's NACC moped archive.

The Online Bicycle Museum.

The Briggs and Stratton Scooter is available from:

Dutch Lion Motorcycles.

Briggs and Stratton Scooter advert taken from:

The Smithsonian Institution America on the Move exhibition site.

1919 Briggs and Stratton Scooter.

1919 Briggs and Stratton scooter.

Briggs and Stratton scooter petrol tank detail.

Briggs and Stratton scooter advert.

Elswick Lincoln Imp project update

Elswick Hopper Lincoln Imp - brilliant name!

The Elswick Lincoln Imp project continues and the end is nearly in sight. As is the way of things progress has been slower than predicted and there have been more challenges than envisaged at the start...

Beginning to look like a proper cycle.

Sourcing the parts was the initial hurdle and many a happy hour has been whiled away on ebay. The look I wanted to go for was period sympaphetic rather than period correct and I like my old bikes to look old so nothing requiring refinishing was purchased. Components have been simply cleaned and repaired where required.

The clearances on the Elswick frame are huge so after trying out a pair of spare 700c wheels it was clear that there was no way I could go down that route unless I had hub brakes. No calipers were going to have that much reach. I found a wheelset featuring Campag Nuovo Record hubs on Wolber rims in 27" and they do the job nicely. As the finished article may see a few tracks as well as tarmac I went didn't go for slick tyres and settled on some amber wall Schwalbes. They were at the cheaper end of the Schwalbe range and to be honest are nothing like as nice as the more expensive ones. Ho hum, you get what you pay for....

Mafac 'Racer' brakes.

Mafac brakes seemed like a good idea plus they are slightly unloved and hence not too expensive. The calipers arrived in a small parcel. Hmmm... they seem like two fronts rather than the pair I thought I was buying. I decided to use them anyway though the reach at the rear seems to be slightly short so I may have to rethink. Levers are also Mafac and without hoods look just the ticket.

Headset and bottom bracket bearings were seized so came apart, got cleaned and reassembled with new bearings. A Williams cottered chainset is ideal.

Williams Chainset.

The Campagnolo Nuovo Record rear mech
took some effort to fit..

I found a Nuovo Record rear mech cheap (it has a small graze from an encounter with the road). This threw up a minor challenge. The rear dropouts on the Elswick are Benelux. Now, I had thought that threads for rear mechs were standard. Apparently not. Also the radius from the centre of the mounting bolt to the pivot stop on the Benelux was about three mill greater than on the Campag mech. Rather than give up and use a different mech I decided to cut a metric thread in to the hanger for the Campag mech and took to the mech with a needle file to increase the clearance. In the end it all went together fine but I've ended up with no pivot stop on the mech. I'm fairly confident that it doesn't need one and that the chain tension against the spring of the mech will hold it in the right place. Proof will be in the testing. If it does need a stop a small plate between the hanger and the mech pivot bolt should do the job. I bought a pair of clip on Campag levers assuming that I could take them apart to fit on the braze-on lever mount. Wrong so another one for braze-ons was bought and the aforementioned went in the parts bin. The Benelux system is also different here as there is no flat on the braze-on spigot to act as a stop for the lever friction damper so the flats are going to have to be carefully filed. 

Mafac drilled levers look the part.

GB stem with On One Mungo moustache bars.

The stem is a GB item and bar On One Mungo moustache bars, nice shape, easy on the back and unbeatable on price.

Just a saddle, chain and pedals left to source and then iron out any issues with the rear brake and mech. Visually I think it needs mudguards. Some original Bluemels in bright red would look nice but I might just go for modern thermoplastic for knockabout durability, after all this one has been built up as a rider rather than a display piece.

The Dancing Chain book review

Came across this gem in Foyles a few weeks back. 350 pages of solid gold for bicycle nerds from author Frank J Berto. A large format hardback history of the derailleur from the beginnings to present day.

Excellently researched, well written and very well illustrated with period pictures and reproduced adverts. Heartily recommended for the more anorak inclined amongst us. A really useful reference for identifying gear mechs. I paid £40, not bad value considering its size, but then found out that it is easily available for £28 from that scourge of the book trade, Amazon.

Significantly better would be to buy a copy from the author, who has also has a fine dedicated website:
http://www.thedancingchain.com/

The Dancing Chain front cover.

BSA A7 plunger

A trio of period snaps of a BSA A7 plunger. If I had to be pinned down on the year I would go for 1949.

BSA A7 plunger 1949.

BSA A7 1949.

The same BSA A7 decked out for touring.

Triumph Motorcycles brochure 1952

Beautiful Triumph brochure from 1952 when Triumph could make a fairly legitimate claim at being 'The best motorcycle in the world'. 

1952 Triumph brochure front cover.

1952 Triumph brochure page 1 (plus part page 2 so as not to
crop the picture of the Thunderbird).

Triumph brochure 1952 page 2.

Triumph brochure 1952 page 3.

Triumph brochure 1952 page 4.

Triumph brochure 1952 page 5.

Triumph brochure 1952 page 6.

Triumph brochure 1952 page 7.

Triumph brochure 1952 page 8.

Triumph brochure 1952 page 9.

Triumph brochure 1952 page 10.

Triumph brochure 1952 rear cover.