Biggles' Mess

[r6dan]

Posted by Terence Lynock on 04/01/2011 15:44:18:

I like this version Dan...........

 

 

 Fantastic!

[Big Bandit]

Hi Terry,

 

It's a Triton I think, with the long Alloy tank and bum stop seat, plus I see the bell mouth extensions on the Amal Monoblock carbs. Serious bike in it's day. Dare I say that in today's world, the suspension, tires and brakes wouldn't cut the mustard, but yo need to be  a seriously hard wotsit (self moderated) to ride one, even in them days.

 

In the 60's a mate and I grafted a 650 Bonny motor in a Berkley three wheeler, that was mental.

 

I remember the old fellers 500 Manx Norton, that was hooligans tool, (now you see where I get it from), and dicing it through the Mallory bends on the A47 on my Royal Enfield 250. I had to let him tough didn't I, cause he was me dad .

 

I frequent Mallory park on a fairly regular basis, (can hear it from my place on race days), (it's 7.5 minutes on the bike and 20 minutes in the car), especially the Post TT, and see quite a few classic bikes. About 4 years they had an Italian flavor for the event and Ago bump stared his MV500 of the line, 2 days before his 60th birthday in the wet, Phil Read bottled it, and Surtees was superb.  If you fancy a drive down for the event, Your welcome back at my place for a post event food and drink.

 

Cheers,

 

Chris.

[mal brewer]

Posted by Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 04/01/2011 16:42:58:

Is that Manx engine in a Triumph frame?

 

BEB

 It's the other way round...........it's a Triumph engine in a Norton 'Featherbed' frame........Mal

[Big Bandit]

Posted by Richard Bond on 04/01/2011 17:07:41:

Luckily I eventually got to ride most of my favourites, plus loads of Japanese superbikes and BMW's, including the K1, from the 70's and 80's.

 Hi Richard, I remember watching the frame of a K1 Kwaka flexing through the Belgrave Island in Leicester just before I mugged him on my RD 250. I think Kawasaki invented the the flexible frame that they now use in spectacles .

 

Chris.

Edited By Big Bandit on 04/01/2011 18:06:51

[r6dan]

need more snow

[Chris Bott - Moderator]

Posted by Richard Bond on 04/01/2011 17:07:41:

All those lovely bikes.

 I doubt if this will raise the blood pressure but it is a library photo of my first non moped bike.
 My only excuse is that when I started work I was earning £1.50 a week., but I did pass my bike test on a 50cc NSU Quickly, which entitled me to ride anything of any size.

 

 This was an NSU Quick 50 with a 4 speed foot change gearbox. Top speed about 35!

 At that time I lusted after Nortons, BSA's, Triumphs, and  Royal Enfields especially the Constellation.

Luckily I eventually got to ride most of my favourites, plus loads of Japanese superbikes and BMW's, including the K1, from the 70's and 80's.

 Ah the NSU quickly...  I was given one of those in bits and also acquired a second engine. They ran really well with some methanol in the petrol, but didn't last long before a strip down was needed. Which was no problem when you have two engines  Those were the days. Mind you, it was a good job it had pedals for those long steep uphills!

Edited By Chris Bott on 04/01/2011 17:54:03

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

Posted by mal brewer on 04/01/2011 17:46:34:

Posted by Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 04/01/2011 16:42:58:

Is that Manx engine in a Triumph frame?

 

BEB

 It's the other way round...........it's a Triumph engine in a Norton 'Featherbed' frame........Mal

Thanks Mal - you live and learn!

 

BEB

[Big Bandit]

I remember in the 70's, a mate was running a Vincent 1000 V twin on a national license. One morning for a meeting at Cadwell Park we had arranged for him to pick me up and the RD250.

 

As it happened my bike wasn't ready (still needed some new reeds for the induction and a bit of fettling with the porting, and I was still kipping when he arrived to pick me up in the van. (been up nearly all night trying to sorting the bike) All I had to ride was an NSU50 so I set out for Cadwell on the thing. Apart from everyone and his dog falling about When I rode into the paddock, we had a very interesting day. when the marshals had cleared off for the day, we thrashed to thing around the Cadwell goose circuit against most of the Honda Monkey bikes that were there and won.Wrecked the NSU, but who cares it was fun. As far as I can remember it had a V belt drive through a varyomatic clutch , and couldn't pull a boy scout off your Granny ooooops .

 

Chris.

[Pete B]

Posted by Chris Bott on 04/01/2011 17:52:16:

 Ah the NSU quickly...  I was given one of those in bits and also acquired a second engine. They ran really well with some methanol in the petrol, but didn't last long before a strip down was needed. Which was no problem when you have two engines  Those were the days. Mind you, it was a good job it had pedals for those long steep uphills!

 

The Quick 50 and the Quickly were different machines, Chris - the Q50 resembled a motor cycle and the Quickly was a moped. Unfortunately, I had a Quickly.............I swear that I travelled further on that pedalling the darn thing than I ever did being propelled..........all corker helmet and sweat..........I blush at the memory......

 

It eventually consumed itself in the back garden when fuel leaked onto the magneto as I was fiddling with it..........

 

Pete 

[Terence Lynock]

The engine started out in my T120 which kissed a Birmingham Corporation bus on the butt pretty hardish and twisted the frame to hell so I bought the bike off the insurance company for ten quid after they paid me its insurance value.

The 5 speed Burman-ZF gearbox alone was worth three weeks wages as I worked at the BSA at the time and requisitioned anything I needed direct from Meriden, I ordered the gearbox which duly arrived and then lost all the paperwork and boxx it came in.

A month or so later I bought 'unknown gearbox' for a fiver scrap value and spent the next couple of weekends grafting it into my Bonny, after the Bonny the complete power unit with box went into a lovely 650SS featherbed which had been factory prepared for production racing but a blown engine put paid to that.

I grafted all the wiring loom from the Bonny into it and it was a cracking bike in the dry but evil as hellfire in the wet, tried different tire combinations but no good, the best were Avon Racemasters, finally wrapped it up when I got cut up on an island in Yardley and hit a nice big solid stone garden wall.

Bike pretty bent,me pretty bent and three months in Birmingham Accident Hospital, rebuilt it and sold it with a warning of just what kind of monster it was, never did know what happened to it, hopefully it got broken up for spares before it killed somebody.

Edited By Terence Lynock on 04/01/2011 19:19:13

[Big Bandit]

Posted by Eck on 03/01/2011 22:55:42:

Thanks, Terry - don't know why, but your joke brought this track to mind straight away. Hadn't heard it for years, but it still raises the hairs on the back of my neck!

 Thanks Eck, that was a blast from the past, really enjoyed it.

 

Chris.

[r6dan]

Channel 5 now...JETS

[ken anderson.]

my first iron horse was a 'triumph tiger cub'......paid £20.00 for it 2nd hand.......not in working cond........walking home with it... i got done by the police for using a bike with no tax and insurance....i pointed out that it was not working and hadn't for 2/3 year's......he said no matter...and i was fined £20.00.......i should point out this was prob well afore a lot of forumites were born.....   

 

 ken anderson....ne...1.   the good old day's/not.....

[jade robson]

i have a magazine named " Radio control Models and electronics" volume 18 number 1 dated january 1977 and wondered if anyone could tell me about it?

[Big Bandit]

Hi Terry so it was, a hooligans  tool , should have tried a TT100, on the back and speed master on the front, they worked for me, mind you my current bike trashed Bridgstone 101's front and back in 2,500 miles. or was it that I did .

 

Chris.

[Big Bandit]

Pete, think it was quickly, not even sure where it came from, but on the morning it's all I had, that was in one piece and running. Oh the shame of it .

 

It wasn't me onest govner !.

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

Posted by jade robson on 04/01/2011 19:36:42:

i have a magazine named " Radio control Models and electronics" volume 18 number 1 dated january 1977 and wondered if anyone could tell me about it?

 

 

Jade, its just an earlier edition of the magazine that hosts this website. The magazine was first published in 1960 and these days is pretty well 100% devoted to radio controlled model aeroplanes. You can still buy it - take a look in W.H.Smiths - although it goes more by its abbreviated title of RCM&E these days. I'm afraid I don't think you've stumbled on something particularly valuable - old copies of the magazine are quite common - but doubtless its interesting.

 

BEB

[Big Bandit]

Posted by ken anderson. on 04/01/2011 19:33:27:

my first iron horse was a 'triumph tiger cub'......paid £20.00 for it 2nd hand.......not in working cond........walking home with it... i got done by the police for using a bike with no tax and insurance....i pointed out that it was not working and hadn't for 2/3 year's......he said no matter...and i was fined £20.00.......i should point out this was prob well afore a lot of forumites were born.....   

 

 ken anderson....ne...1.   the good old day's/not.....

 Ken, and here's me thinking your an upstanding member of the community except when your falling over. I once tried to teach a mate to bump start one of those things, only each time his bum hit the seat and he dumped the clutch in second, he fell off the other side, gave up in the end and suggested that he reverted back to his push bike. Think he gave up and became a social worker after that, not seen him for years.

 

Chris.

[Big Bandit]

This reminds me of days gone by

 

 

 

 

I like it anyway. me Granddad was a miner.

 

Chris.

Edited By Big Bandit on 04/01/2011 20:51:39

[Kozmyk]

Posted by Spice Cat on 02/01/2011 23:18:50:

The Pancake House.

(Pancake; RAF slang I believe for getting on the ground and presumably into the nearest pub)

 

 I always though that a pancake landing was a wheels up affair. After crash landing I guess a visit to the pub WOULD be in order.  ^.^

[Terence Lynock]

When BSA brought out the Lightning Clubman with clip on bars and other goodies they stuck a Dunlop D70(?) on the front which had a triangular section, flat 45 degree sides and a ridge in the centre, they soon changed their mind though after seven bikes got trashed in testing.

The problem was you lent it over for the corners and you could really belt it around a bend and get away with it but they didnt want to come up straight again, no matter what you tried they just stayed on the flats until you fell off. I tried one out  on the test track and baled out on the bend near the cricket pavilion, just closed the throttle and stepped of it.

Edited By Terence Lynock on 04/01/2011 21:58:57

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

Triangular profile tyres? Obviously designed by someone who was "round the bend"

 

BEB

[Terence Lynock]

Has anyone come across blue foam that just wont cut? I salvaged five or six pieces of 2'' slab about 2 foot square when I was in Maesteg a few months ago from a shop that was being refitted.

One piece is so heavy it is like a paving slab, I tried to hot wire it and it cut in about two inches and stopped! another piece cut into sheets no problem but this stuff is tough as John Waynes nether regions, may disect it and find out just whats in the middle of it.

[Terence Lynock]

The tire was Dunlop and had very short curved side walls to a bead then the tread area was V shaped with a narrow ridge at the centre, to my knowledge they all went back to Dunlop and the bikes were fitted with Avons from then on and Dunlop lost a lot of orders from BSA and Triumph.

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

Was that the forerunner to the "trigonic" profile as used for TT100 (K81) tyres back in the days when bikes were proud to show off their engines and didn't hide everything under plastic shells?  Lovely grippy tyres in their day with very progressive breakaway but the back one would only last 4000 miles on my Bonnie.