welbike

That picture is, sofar as I know (Rick??) from a company called Vanguard in the UK, the other ones, see more above, are frome a mate in Holland, who had them made in China, they have the casting numbers, he also had the Panzer 1/Maultier tracks made, many sets, and went all over the world, pictures of those below. Cheers, Lex

Those are different carrier tracks, no casting numbers, but the more options the better for Jon. Lex

Ok, I have emailed my friend, but he's slow. In the meantime I saw this on FB, dug up in Russia, guy says it's for Pz. 2, I seem to recall, you already made one? Cheers, Lex

I had a couple of trailer hitches cast in London, last year, and was amazed at how expensive they were (forgot the exact amount, around 300 quid a piece), but with only a couple, it's not worth it to go to china for that.

With castings, China is the way to go now, but better use a British company to order and they will have the experience to deal with the foundries there. A mate here in Holland has just taken delivery of the first Bren Carrier tracks that were made there, I can ask him how much a set is, but the Pzkw 2 will be a little bigger and heavier. Cheers, Lex

The bodies of the carbs are the same for Flea and ML, it's just the jet that is different, Ron will know what's what. Very difficult to find the filters nowadays! And probably cheaper to have a piece welded on the choke lever, than buying another one! Cheers, Lex

Can't directly help you but on the FB Halftrack page there are some very knowledgable guys, who can date it for you. Cheers, Lex

Oh, yes, there is a relation to the frame number, but can't be calculated, I am keeping a register. Lex

Ok, if that is on the rear engine mount lug, it could be wartime, but don't buy anything without pictures, value could be thousands more or less. Cheers, Lex Pictures of one I restored a couple of years ago.

Sounds postwar to me, does it have a "works" number? wartime ones had this on the rear engine lug, see picture. There are more ways to check, does it have folding footrests? what centre stand is fitted?, rear brake plate rounded or squarish? does it have the special headlamp? Any pictures? Lex

There were other prewar James bikes, so could have been anything, no pictures survived? Lex

That was most probably an Autocycle, Ron here has one, he'll post a picture. Cheers, Lex

Most, like 95 percent of brit bikes had the chain tensioners on the outside of the frame. Except maybe the ones with the snails house cam tensioners. Cheers, Lex

Usually, always on the outside of the frame. Lex

Ok, here 2 pictures, don't know if they are OK? Lex

Ok, Ron, have to search for it, they are quite substantial! Lex

Some more, but still not the right colour! Lex

Some more random pictures, colour not 100% here. Lex

Hi all, Have never had a James ML, but 2 years ago, I was offered a lot of them, all in bits, and in a terrible state, but had the right numbers, so did buy 3 of them, 2 went to the UK, and I was going to restore the last one myself, so I started with that, but then was offered another one, so it had some parts that were missing on mine, and bought that too, so now am stuck with 2 projects! I had already bought several parts in the UK, even before this, like an NOS petrol tank, headlamp, cylinder, and more small bits, and a nice valve lifter lever from Ron, so had most of the parts grit blasted, and primered, the frame numbers suggested they should be painted brown, and it took a lot of time, to get the colour to my liking, but it's OK now. So hope to spray in coming spring, and assemble everything. But the thing that prompted me to start this, is, that I bought a second NOS headlamp yesterday (after I missed out on another one in Italy, last year), so I'll start with those pictures! wasn't cheap, but am very happy with it! Cheers, Lex

Very nice info!! thanks! Lex

Maybe it were the last ones that were not sent to Holland, because the war broke out, and were sold in the UK instead. Lex

Yes, that's about it, have much more info on the Baby, and it's origins, most DKW RT100's that were made went to the Dutch market, as their road tax system had the lowest class up to 60 kilo's and this RT100 was therefore very popular in Holland. The size of the engine was enlarged to 125cc, because the famous "Schnurle" two-stroke design patent could not be used by Royal Enfield, in fact, when the first RB arrived in Holland, a team of DKW engineers were all over it, to see if any copyright infringement was abused! After the war this patent amongst many others were void, and everybody could use it! A friend of mine had all the correspondence from the importers to all the major British manufacturers, I saw it many years ago, but along the line he lost sight of it, still hoping it will turn up one day! I think, but am not sure, that the first RB's sold in the UK were badged as such, several survivors in the UK confirm this, not sure when the name change to RE exactly came about? It's a very interesting story, and a lot can be found on this website: Motor Joop; DKW RT; Royal Baby (jgvanheusden.nl) Cheers, Lex Below, one of the first "Flea" prototypes, also sports the first pattern of the Miller taillamp, as recently surfaced.

In Holland all dummy/repro weapons are forbidden, if the 37mm's were properly deactivated, and have certificates, then it's OK. Cheers, Lex

What I have heard is that there were replica A.T. mines on the outside, and that is forbidden in Holland, all repro weapons are in fact! Chauffeur and lorry have been released, but M8's to be destroyed, I hope the latter is not true. Seems the transport came from Belgium, and on the way to a ferry port in Holland to go to the UK, when they were stopped in Limburg on the motorway. Think the transport company should have looked at the regulations a bit better! Cheers, Lex

Send the shoes to Villiers services, they are excellent with relining. Alternatively I might have a set of original linings spare, but am in Holland. Lex