welbike

On 2/10/2022 at 10:09 PM, 79x100 said:

The WD/C saw limited service with the BEF in 1940 and several hundred may have been left in France.  A handful of survivors are known. They mainly saw service on the U.K. Home Front, as in fact did the WD/CO,  many of which had been transferred to the Home Office by 1944. There is actually no evidence that any of the four-stroke Enfields were officially on the establishment of any of the British-supplied army units in NW Europe...so any parts in The Netherlands will have arrived there later.

The scene is very international though and the Dutch have been plundering UK jumbles for years !😁

I get this Rik, but the motorcycle scrapyard I visit about once every 2 months here locally in Holland has a lot of WD-D parts, primary chaincase (now on Ron's WD-D) engines, and heads, there was also some WD-C and CO, also NOS stuff, but bought all that 4 years ago when mine was being restored. 

Cheers,

Lex

Nice '35ish Panther model 100 with the deluxe twin headlamps setup.

Bit of an overstaged picture, but nice to see again.

Lex

OK, was more going off of the top clip handlebar mount, maybe it's a hodgepodge of Webb like parts.

At least it has girder forks now!

Lex

ps, picture of Panther forks

It's 3BA, and guess M4 will work too, they need to have a rounded cheesehead screw, with a small serrated washer under the head.

Sorry no picture available atm.

Lex

Forks are Webbs, like from a Panther or Velocette or so, but no Idea what the front wheel is? a picture from the other side would help.

Lex

Like this, on the left had side, under the petrol tank.

Lex

No, try to find the frame number, left hand side, on the front tank mounting lug.

Lex

Casting numbers, not frame numbers.......

Cheers,

Lex

Here a plate of the (prewar) Norton importers in Paris.

Grtz,

Lex

I was told that the Spanish got their Nortons from the French importers, I have emailed Rob about it, he knows about these things, you can also check out his website: 

Norton wd 16h and wd big4, British military motorcycles of world war 2 (wdnorton.nl)

He just wrote about them!

Grtz,

Lex

When did they started using the special Enfield font for the C number? that Jan re-created, and now can be bought from a couple of stencil guys in the UK.

I'm using 00 grease, can be found everywhere, and is very good inside gearboxes, leaks less, and works well.

Hope this helps,

Lex

I believe this was the number that showed in what order the contracts came in, or were given out by the War Department, not much use for us.

But others may have better info?

Cheers,

Lex

Ok, but don't scratch it with a fingernail, it will break. 

Here a picture of when applied to the glossy surface (did mark off the rectangle with masking tape), I don't have one with the matte varnish applied, but will take a picture soon.

Lex

Nice Tank Ron! (looking at it, while typing this) Re. the transfers from Classic Transfers, they are a bit old, and need to be applied to a very shiny / glossy surface, otherwise they won't adhere, like on your bike. The last one I did was, after painting in colour, to apply a very glossy clear varnish, let dry, and then apply the transfer, and then overcoat with a very matte varnish.

But the varnish you got me years ago isn't available anymore, and am on my last can, so have to find a suitable replacement.

Monty, keep us updated on the headstock bearings, I'm still building 2 ML's.

Cheers,

Lex

The oil would have certainly seeped through the bearings into the primary chaincase, best drain that first, leaking might stop then.

Cheers,

Lex

AD is Gloucester County Council, but have no lists on the number, difficult one!

But would say around 1908.

Cheers,

Lex

Where's Ron when you need him? Anyway, I will try to answer some questions,

Valve timing could indeed be incorrect, easiest to check is to take the cylinder head off, valves should be rocking at TDC, when not on the compression cycle.

Mixture screw starting point is 1,5 turns out from completely closed.

There should not be a small hole in the cap in the timing chest, maybe it has worn through somehow?

Cheers,

Lex

Nice, it looks very much like a copy of a WW2 US sight.

Lex

Yes, Ron, to me too please!  I think I have this original, I can picture the rest.

Cheers,

Lex

I'll have a look later today, but my toolbox has a different lock on it.

Lex

Yes, I need a new laptop, with storage for 13 million pictures!!

Thanks,

Lex

Here's the parts chest, it's really big! cannot find the pictures of the exterior, but will add some over time.

Cheers,

Lex

Ok, some more on rubber saddles, very late war, or even postwar, there was this circulaire given out with metal brackets to use German saddles on British bikes!

A saddle like this was found last week in Germany, and they sent me pictures of it, the paper instructions I already had for some time, but now it makes sense.

Cheers,

Lex

Every make had their own manuals, parts lists and riders handbooks, and then there were the more general REME, and Royal Artillery school motorcycle manuals and questionaires, but they are not that interesting, there's some that were put together with articles from the wartime motorcycle magazines, about the more popular makes, will see if I have any pictures of those, I must have over 250 different manuals, for all the bikes I have, and more, it's a disease.....

Cheers,

Lex