Isle of Man TT

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Over the course of the sunniest race week in recent history, the 2013 Isle Of Man TT races culminated in a titanic battle between the legend that is John McGuiness and young pretender Michael Dunlop. If you have never watched a superbike on full-noise tearing trough the kink at the end of Cronk-y-Voddy or flat-out past the pub at Sulby you are denying yourself one of the world’s greatest motorcycling experiences. You’ll get goose bumps and the hairs go up on the back of the neck every time one of the 180mph projectiles hammers past a few feet from your pint and a few inches from disaster.

The TT attracts all manner of bikes and enthusiasts from around the globe and I managed to pick out a few examples of older machinery from amongst the legion of R1s and GSXR1000s.

This 1932 Rudge Ulster was spotted at the Ramsey Sprint where its owner had completed 7 or so runs up the 1/8 mile curved strip. 1932 is the only year Rudge made the Ulster with fully radial head and associated complex valve gear which makes it a very rare bike indeed.

The bike has been modified with a foot change and, more importantly, runs methanol through a later concentric carburettor. I’ve looked for the results online and will edit the post once I locate them but, if memory serves, this amazing bike clocked over 70mph on the 1/8 mile strip.

The bike show at Laxey is always worth a visit and the first bike I came across was this Scott. I’m not sure of the model or year but it certainly caught the eye with the chrome tank glinting in the sunshine.

Along the prom a bit further was this fabulous Norton CS1

The first of the “cammy” Nortons was released in 1927 and, with the CS standing for camshaft, this bike would have been the Fireblade of its day and many were raced with great success both at the TT and internationally. The CS was produced until 1929 and was the foundation for the International and Manx models that would follow.

After a sedate lap I parked up on the pit lane to watch three guys roll up on three near identical Norton 500T trials irons. I had seen them once or twice over the course of the week and they had spent the week embarrassing the riders of more modern machinery exploring the myriad of paths and trails that cover the Island. It must be a fantastic way to explore the place and get to vantage points that defeat the rest of us. Here is a shot of two of the bikes apparently following a well-needed jet wash.

This was my first TT for a few years as I have been visiting the Manx GP of late where the weather changes fast and can often challenge even the hardiest sheep. But this week showed that when the sun does finally shine, the Isle of Man is not only one of the most exciting places you could visit but also one of the most beautiful.

Pumping oil

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Original Sunbeam pistons are thin on the ground and it seems that the rings to go with them are scarce too. The 1930 Model 90 was fitted with a 7.5 : 1 piston of Australian manufacture. This works well enough but is around 80g heavier than an original. We suspect that this accounts for the increased vibration that is apparent when compared with the Dodson bike or any of Archie’s for that matter. It’s really not a big deal but as we had a spare 7:1 Sunbeam piston and cylinder left over from the 1928 rebuild we thought we’d try it out for the summer – should we have one this year.

The bore of our spare cylinder although worn was deemed serviceable and after a light hone we sourced a set of three plain NOS compression rings. A stepped oil scraper would often have been used in the lower position but none were available. The top ring height was 2.35mm whilst the other pair were 2mm but the ring gaps were huge running from 0.015″ to over 0.020″.

Ever helpful FW Thornton located a brand new set of 80mm rings which were supplied un-gapped and with a stepped scraper to boot! Happy days, until I tried to slip the piston into the bore. Just as I reached for the mallet to help things along I realised that the radial depth of the new rings was too large for the piston. Sure we could increase the ring depth of the piston but there’s not a lot to play with and we really don’t want the top to come off.

Peter Woodward came to the rescue with a stepped scraper of the correct radial depth and height which I duly collected along with a handy selection of other rings with which to experiment. This ring also gapped massively and, ever the perfectionist, I ploughed on and fitted it together with the best of the compression rings that could be mustered.

Hey, what do you know, we made a super-efficient oil pump! And although the smoke was horrendous at least it was dense enough to cover my shame when stopped at traffic lights. After 20 or so miles the situation hadn’t improved, the plug quickly oiled up and after a £10 taxi home I collected the bike in the van.

The bike felt good with the lighter piston and the loss of 0.5 : 1 compression from the Australian item was not immediately noticeable. In an ideal world we would use a 7.5 : 1 as per the one in the photo at the top of this post. If anyone has a good ‘un available, please let me know. These are a little heavier than the 7 : 1 but should work well on today’s fuel. Interestingly, the Sunbeam pistons are stamped with a “7” or “7 5” on the inside of the crown to identify the type.

Failing that, we may have to get some new pistons manufactured if we can find a cost-effective supplier. So, watch this space or contact me to place your order….

1930 Rudge Ulster to the back of the queue

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After being picked up at auction a few years back, this pretty 1930 Rudge Ulster has probably been neglected for too long now in favour of other projects. A brief outing yesterday confirms that it does go as well as it looks being fast, light, comfortable and with excellent handling. It’s easy to see how these bikes could be purchased from the factory with a 100mph guarantee.

Over the winter, oil leaks have been fixed with a new timing cover and the slipping clutch relined by Saftek. But more work is needed.

The chainstays are from a later model which don’t really work well and the front brake drum is oval. Although a common problem the braking does make riding the bike a problem and will need to be addressed before the bike can be used regularly. The most practical fix is to shrink a strengthening “muff” onto the drum before rebuilding the wheel and skimming to suit. And, if anyone has a pair of the correct chainstays for sale, I would be extremely grateful if they would get in touch.

I had thought about selling the bike to someone with more time as, with the Sunbeam 90, this makes for two 1930 saddle tank sports bikes. But yesterday’s ride showed what a lovely bike this could be with some work. So, after a clean and polish for now it is under cover at the back of the garage until the time comes for its place in the sun once more.

Sunbeamland shop now open for business

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A variety of items are for sale on the new Sunbeamland shop. I will be adding new items over coming months as I get around to photographing them should the shop prove effective. Other bits and pieces will go via the eBay route. The parts are a mixture of vintage Sunbeam spares and assorted vintage motorcycle spares for bikes from other manufacturers.

The first items up for grabs are not actually vintage spares but were, until the arrival of sparkly new ones, my spare pair of Honda RS250 NX5 cylinders.

Back on track with vintage parts we are also, selling on behalf of a good friend, a rather lovely Amal T10TT. Not sure what this would be from, maybe Norton or Velocette? Any information would be appreciated.

We are always interested in acquiring vintage spare parts, particularly for Sunbeam and Rudge motorcycles.

Stafford Spring Show

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Along with many others, a fascinating day was spent at this year’s Stafford Show. A biting cold wind and hail storms on the Saturday made scouring the auto jumble a hard-core experience. Richard Jones had an interesting Royal Enfield project on sale that caught my eye.

The Bonham’s auction had collection of treasures for the well-heeled but one of the nicest had to be this Indian board racer.

But as my childhood hero, I would dearly have loved to bid on one of Barry Sheene’s helmets.

However, for me the most poignant moment was seeing Mike Farrell’s 1934 Rudge “Syndicate” bike that has been repatriated from a glass case in an Australian museum. I had been trying to “acquire” this very bike myself for many years and am of course hugely envious of this very special motorcycle. Mike’s efforts have been well rewarded as he has since discovered the bike has a fascinating history and was raced by the great Tyrell Smith himself.

No visit to Stafford would be complete without a visit to the Sunbeam club stand and it was another chance to see one of my favourite bikes, the Dodson 1928 TT winning Model 90. A real piece of motorcycling history that goes as well as it looks.

RS250 ready at last

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Departing from the vintage theme a little, the 1999 Honda RS250 rebuild is now complete and the bike is ready for careful running-in. It has basically had a much needed “proper” clean and full chassis and engine refresh including new crank and cylinders. Many thanks to Rob at Racing Lines for his patience and much-needed support. A new paint-job will be in place soon but for now we are running the old bodywork.

After a quick visit to Maxton, I’m trying a heavier spring as the one fitted seems more suited to a typical jockey-sized 250 pilot but in truth I’m too slow to really notice. Japanese Battle factory pegs and lever add a touch of bling as do the Samco hoses.

Charlie Dodson’s Model 90

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Some time ago I was lucky enough to take a few snaps of the bike I understand was used by Charlie Dodson to win the ’28 Senior TT. Archie Beggs later rode the bike at the club Centenary rally and also at the 2012 festival of Jurby. More pictures are stored in the gallery.

Welcome to the new Sunbeamland web log

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This is the first post on the new Sunbeamland “blog” where I hope to share pictures and information of interest to others fascinated by the world of old and vintage motorcycles. There is obviously a keen slant towards vintage Sunbeam motorcycles that were produced at the Sunbeamland works before the war.

12th April 2013: It’s a holiday

Latest recruit is this rather smart 1967 Triumph TT which is having a few months holiday in the dining room. One of Hugh’s restorations from The Bike Shed, it features 11:1 compression, Carillo rods, racing ignition and lowered gearing to make it a real hot “desert sled”. These rare bikes were the most successful desert racers of the era and I can’t wait to fire it up… open pipes… Castrol-R….

4th April 2013: 1928 Model 90 Dry build completed

The engine/gearbox have now been fitted to the frame so we now need to check the primary and rear chain aligments before proceeding.

 

18th March 2013: 1928 Model 90 Dry build begins

The engine/gearbox have been collected from Chris and the frame/forks returned from Archie and Kenny. These had been used to fabricate jigs in order to repair damage to Archie’s own ’28 bike after Kenny’s little incident. As Archie said, “be careful, we’re running out of stock”

As I get to grips with the project, it is becoming increasinly apparent that the work Peter Woodward has done on the bike is of the highest order. Everything is beautifully done and there is little remaining work other than wheel building, paint and plating. It is a joy to work on.

My vision of the bike is a gentleman’s sports tourer rather than out-and-out racer but the 21″ front wheel looks so right on a 90. The wheels from the ’30 racer fit perfectly so there won’t be any clearance issues when the wheels are laced up.

Of course it’s not all vintage in the dining room here. The ’99 RS250 Honda has had a complete chassis overhaul and the motor a new crankshaft. Low 1st/2nd gears are coming from belle France and lovely new cylinders from Rob at Racing Lines

23rd January 2013: The 1928 Model 90 engine is ready for collection

Chris Odling has just sent me pictures of the completed engine for the 1928 Model 90. The quality of Chris’ work is staggering.

There were quite a few problems with the bottom end of the motor, the worst of which required repairs to broken cylinder head stud positions and for the drive side main bearing location to be sleeved. The crank was in a sorry state too. In the end, Chris made and fitted a new crank pin and drive side main shaft. Although the existing main bearings were OK, after all this work it seemed only right to fit new ones. The top-end fared better requiring new valve guides, hairpin springs and for the valves to be ground in to new cut seats. We had a choice of high and low compression pistons and went for the lower of the two as the idea is for the bike to be a gentleman’s sports-tourer rather than a racer on the road. This also means we can use the high-compression piston in the 1930 ex-racer. There is an unusually large 2″ inlet valve and it will be interesting see how well the bike performs.

There are a 1001 other jobs that Chris has done to bring the engine and gearbox to this state. It has obviously had some major trauma in the past and it is only through Chris’ expertise and knowledge that it has been possible to bring it back to life.

Click here for a set of photos of the work done.

7th November 2012: Fore-and-aft

A friend has recently acquired this rather nice little 1923 350 “fore-and-aft” Douglas. Apologies for the poor picture quality.

21st October 2012: The grand sale begins

Time for a clear out and to experiment with e(vil)Bay. There’s a lot to get rid of and to begin, thanks to the country’s punitive 60% import duty, it was somehow cost-effective for a gentleman in Brazil to pay £130 shipping costs for the Alpinestars leathers (below). Sir, I thank you. Moving swiftly on it seems there may still be an unrestored Triumph Bonneville out there as bits left over from the ’64 restoration are selling like hot-cakes. They should all be gone by the end of November at this rate. However, a word of advice… Spanish language books don’t fetch much. Should have given them to Age Concern where I would most likely have bought them back a few weeks later having forgotten that I’d given up trying even if the language is Latin based which should make it easy but bloody-well doesn’t when you discover that your brain is now barely as agile as a clay wrapped hedgehog

One thing I am learning quickly is that the joy of “doing rather well” at fobbing some clapped out old rubbish off to an overly-excitable optimist can be short lived when the listing costs, final value fee and paypal charges amount to 15% or more of the final sale and postage price

14th October 2012: It’s not all about Sunbeams of course

If you take one of these….

Then add a little bit of TLC on the bench…

Maybe, if you’re lucky enough, you can end up with one of these…

It always helps if you have the right friends…

Many thanks to Mr. Hugh Brown (left) of Bike Shed fame for building this absolutely stunning 1966 Triumph Bonneville T120R

15th September 2012: Oulton Park, CBR600F, fold back the mirrors and hang on

Too tight leathers are now up-for-sale on eBay. Oh the pain, the pain….