Week Three: The Pressure is on

As I sit down to write this the sun is shining and I am surrounded by a chorus of Jet Washers. The Jetsons as I have come to call them have been increasingly busy over the last few days. As for us the fence is painted the lawn is cut, so its back into the workshop to finish the 1930s AJS project in time for the VE Day commemorations. Well that was the plan, but now 8 May will be just another day rather than an extraordinary Bank Holiday Friday.

Bill Crosby RIP

I heard last week that Bill Crosby had sadly passed away. Another legend of the motorcycling world gone, but not forgotten. Back in the 70s I never owned a Triumph but I still knew all the shops and dealers across South London including Reg Allen, which Bill took over in 1958, when I was still in nappies. However, perhaps his biggest legacy will be the London Motorcycle Museum which bought pleasure, nostalgia and education to its visitors. Sadly also no more, I found it difficult to watch Bill and his family preside over the destruction of their collection earlier this year.

I was glad that Ian Dabney was able to provide valuations for a number of their rare Carburettors and was amused to subsequently see Bill in an episode of Henry Cole’s Junk and Disorderly rebuffing Sam Lovegrove’s offer for a Rattrap Carb. “Nooo I’ve been offered a £1,000 for that!”

Also Perry recorded some poignant images of Bill at the museum just before the Museum closed its doors. I think they capture the moment so well.

Diary 30 March – 5 April

I am used to having an editor to keep me in check, so I will try and be succinct, but forgive me if I ramble a bit!

It took about three days to clear the decks after working on a job lot of Carburettors bought at a sale for Kempton. These days Virtual Kempton is Ebay and they are doing quite well after a good clean. The AJS Model 22 has been undergoing a preservation as it is very original.

The bike had been laid up for years and the tank, fuel lines and carb were a real mess. The carb is cleaned, I have sourced some similar fuel line, but am still working on the tank. The bike was striped and cleaned, but nothing more was done to the engine which turned over well and produced a healthy spark. The gearbox was inspected rebuilt and mating surfaces sealed with Locktite 5940.

Several weeks after the recommended curing time the box was back in the bike and filled with the semi fluid grease I sell at Kempton. I had discovered that the primary chain had been lengthened and was held together with some sort of home-made link. I am pleased to say the new primary chain is one of the few replacement parts I have needed to purchase. The mudguards were very rusty, but original and sound. They had been touched up over the years with a mixture of what I suspect was jenolite and red oxide paint. In fact the whole bike had deposits of white over areas of rust.  I reluctantly re painted the mudguards keeping the original hand painted look and worked what I suspected to be Jenolite marks to become a wartime identification marking re-imagining this little survivor as perhaps an ARP Warden’s bike. “What the bloody hell do you think you are doing Manwaring…. Put that light out” The Forks were cleaned up and turned out to be a bit of a challenge to fit to the bike. Some jobs are just easier with two people. The other new purchase was a set of Tyres and Inner Tubes.

Next Time: The final Furlong.

Motorcycle Events of Yesteryear

Now we move onto films of previous Brooklands events. One of Brookland’s largest and most successful events was the Motorcycle Centenary Event. In 2008 I was not yet a member of the team but went to event clutching my Panasonic Digital 8 video camera and produced this video record of the day.  
The Box in the bottom right will open the film in Full Screen mode.

Now a Classic Barry Sheen Memorial Trophy Race from 2016. Watch as Charlie Williams and Mike Farrell do battle on their 1933 Rudge against Nortons and Gold Stars in the rain. Its well worth watching to the end.

The Box in the bottom right will open the film in Full Screen mode.

In Other News:

My order of Tyres for the 1928 Sunbeam Project arrived last week, which is a bit awkward as the bike is stuck at Brooklands. More on that project later.

Vintage Tyres tell me that they are still operating on a mail order basis. They are also offering a 5% discount on orders so check them at at: https://www.vintagetyres.com/

If you are unable to get the 5% off code please feel free to order through me at Sales@fenlandclassics.co.uk and I should still be able to get you the 5% off their web price (before VAT).