PaulJager

I see that this thread is from 2018. And besides giving me already a lot more information about the RE WDC and WDCO, I was wandering what went on after October 2018? How are things now with this bike and are there more pictures of the restauration to be shared?

Kind regards, Paul.

11 hours ago, Chris Hall said:

Things will show up, they are far from rare bikes and it’s amazing how much will start showing up once you know where to look. For instance, I needed a centre stand for a WD/C, searched for a good 2 years with zero trace. Then, at the Newark auto jumble, I noticed an Enfield Rifle transit chest for sale, as I was looking it over I kicked something over with a clatter and the stall holder gave me a glare. As I bent down to recover the item I kicked, it turned out to be 2 NOS centre stands complete with wired on store’s labels, £10 each. Unbelievable!!

 

Petrol tanks, went to Netley marsh and bought 2 WD/CO, 1 WD/C and 2 post war Model J tanks (the type that were the same as the WD/C but with the large cut out for the cylinder head, may have been pre war J carry overs).

Its a good plan to identify the issues, get it running and then find the correct parts. Ron’s forever correcting things as new information comes to light. I’m always keeping my eyes peeled for parts and I’ll try and remember to post here if I see anything.

Thanks in advance. I don't know if the market for spares is a lot bigger in England, but I would think a lot of stuff was left behind here in Holland and thus the market here should be also not that small. But finding things is just started, so I will just have to learn where to look for it I believe.

Hi Chris,

Thank you for your sharp eye. The bracket I had not noticed yet myself. Mainly because I haven't been working on the frame until now. I was planning to compare the frame to the drawing a came across here on the forum with the three types of frames depicted on it. Also the manuals that I have would have been compared to the frame itself, so maybe I would have seen it in the end. But it helps a lot if people with experience and know-how point these kinds of things out. 

In regard to the frame at the headstock, I already was pointed to this by Jan. We had a good look at the frame front last Saturday and can see there are repaires carried out somewhere in the past. And although they may not be carried out as we would do it right now or how the repaires would have been carried out by the army, it does look to be kind of period correct and the structure seems to be strong enough not to brake again. Our conclusion was not to fiddle around with the frame at this point and just leave it as it is. Only the future will have to show if any new, and in that case proper, repair is needed.

Regarding the petrol tanks, again, this was also the conclusion from Jan. The smaller model looks like a post-war model G type. And unfortunately the Swiss cheese tank is the right one for my bike. Because this one needs serious surgery, I'm first going to prepare the post-war version because that one is good and already prepared with new fittings and the right mounts. This makes the bike ready for using much sooner and with less money spend. In the new year or so I will have a look if I can find soemone who can repair the original tank for acceptable money and then replace it. Replacing it will be a small job anyway. We are aiming for a working bike first and getting it more and more accurate and complete in the months and years to come. Only the essentials I would like to have as soon as possible to get as close as possible to how the bike was probably delivered in 1942. But some room for improvement I will have to accept at first.

Regards, Paul.

On 2/8/2022 at 1:13 PM, Andy Tizzard said:

Hi Paul

Ron emailed me regarding your missing centre stand as I may have a spare for sale? The WD centre stand (correct) is almost unobtainable, as I found recently when I went searching for one. I was lucky, if that is the correct word, to find one which Ron was able to get replicated. I will be collecting it and my original shortly, subject to everything being okay with them I am prepared to part with one and it’s fitting bits. Email if interested.

Andy

Hi Andy,

I sent you a message.

8 minutes ago, Scammell4199 said:

Welcome and good luck with your project.

All the best. Richard

Thank you Richard. Hope to have it ready at least around the big LTF tour 2024. But since I don't have my motor driverslicence I'm not sure if I will bring it to the tour and be able to ride it already. We will see. In my build topic I will keep everybody up to date about the progress and obstructions.

Kind regards, Paul.

9 minutes ago, Ron said:

Hello Paul. I've restored several of these over the years from 1st contract to later WD/C. I have loads of pictures, so just ask. Jan has probably already told you that the RE models were mostly fitted with this distinctive "D" plate on the front nose of the saddle. 

Have you got the often missing center stand? If not I think I know of a freshly cast one that is probably for sale.  Ron

 

Hi Ron,

Thank you for your reply. Jan already mentioned your name and I also saw your replies in different topics, including your own. The saddle was mentioned by Jan and because I left it at the place where the bike is I could not verify which type I have. It now has been determined that I have a Lycett type fitted. For now I think I will use this saddle and at least try to get the springs fitted that I'm missing and maybe replace the cover for a repro one to use and keep the original cover in the garage so it won't be destroyed by using it. 

The stand was also mentioned by Jan and he already told me that you might have one available from a reproduction run that you did some time ago. Because I didn't pay attention to this particular part last time I was at the bike, I had a look last Saturday and I don't have any stand with the bike. So, no field stand and also no center stand. If you have one available for sale, I'm interested to know. 

Nice to hear from you and again thank you for your reply.

Paul.

Hi everybody,

I introduced myself in the other topic, so here I will show some pictures and give some updates on the build of my RE WD/C from 1942. Already I learned a lot and got a lot of information through Jan that makes the build even more interesting and hopefully better. 

The bike is completely dimanteled right now, besides the engine and gearbox that are in the frame, but the rest needs preparing and fitting in the next coming months.

With the bike came 2 petrol tanks, but we believe the left one is the one to go for. The right one seems to be far too big, but we don't know to what bike it should belong because it looks pretty period correct. The saddle is not the Terry type, but a Lycett type. It looks old, but could have been swapped offcourse somewhere in it's lifetime. I think I will leave it for now and just replace the cover and complete the springs. The tyres will be changed to Heidenau K67 3.25*19. I will probably end up missing some parts, but first I will start with prepping the bulk of the metall items for paint and assembly and see if the bike can be made running.

The final goal is to make the bike like one of the pictures Jan posted somewhere in one of the topics here on the forum, because mine should be from the same contract and probably from the same series as the one that is seen on the picture.

If you have any tips, trics, comments, additions etc etc, please let me know. I'm very new to bikes and restoration, so any help is welcome.

Kind regards, Paul.

3 hours ago, welbike said:

Thanks all, here a picture of the front number plate after careful sanding.

Also a couple of pictures from our holidays in Normandy in 2020, much rain, but nice rides!

Done over 900 miles now, bike always starts first or second kick, only downside is, that it's relatively slow, and a bit loud, the internals of the original silencer have long gone, but Jan made me new silencer internals, but now I have to cut the silencer in two, to weld it in, hopefully it can be done without seeing the welds afterwards.

Cheers,

Lex

What a very nice looking bike. If I come even a bit close to this I will be very happy. Job well done.

On 3/25/2020 at 2:33 PM, rewdco said:

Three types of toolboxes have been used on the WD/C:

• The first type is the pre war toolbox with a key lock. The toolbox was used for storing the tool roll, and being immobilised on a battlefield because you lost your key and couldn’t repair your motorcycle must have been an unpleasant thought...

• The second type looked a lot like the first type, but a knurled screw, to keep the toolbox closed, replaced the key lock... (August 1940 onwards)

• The third type also had a knurled screw, but the lid was bigger than on the second type. (July 1941 onwards). This one was also used briefly on the very first WD/CO models.

 

This looks really great. Have to take a look at the boxes that came with mine to see if the toolbox is even there. If not, this is definitely something to put on the wanted list. Very nicely done.

Hello all,

I'm Paul from the Province of Groningen in the Netherlands and I just bought a Royal Enfield WD/C 350cc from '39 or '40. At least that is what it is supposed to be. Papers are non existing, thus I'm a bit in the blind here. I already made contact with Jan, so I have no doubt he will come up with more information if I see all his contributions to other members their quests. He sounds like a walking encyclopedia for information about these bikes. So, very greatfull for that already. Like I said, I just bought the bike, which is currently in 1000 pieces and awaiting rebuild. The plan is to do this all with my 13 year old son and make it a nice and fun road to completion. I want to bring it back to how it was delivered for the war effort. This will fit my reenactment depictions of Canadian infantry, Britisch airborne, Belgium SAS and Polish tanker crew I think. At least it will be nice to have this piece of history and save it from being conferted to a custom bike like the previous owner was planning   

I hope I can learn and read a lot here which will make the restauration more accurate and smoother and maybe I can contribute just a bit to this forum.

Kind regards, Paul.

On 5/21/2021 at 7:39 AM, rewdco said:

Hi Jiri,

I'm keeping a Register for the WD Enfields. Please send me a PM with some pictures of the frame and engine numbers, then this will enable me to tell you the despatch date of your bike. I can also calculate the census number for the petrol tank, the one that you're using now is not for a Royal Enfield.

Regards,

Jan

Hello Jan,

I just joined this forum because I bought a Royal Enfield WD/C or WD/CO from a friend of mine. He was able to acquire this bike from Denmark and has just little information about it. It is said to be a 1939 or 1940 bike, but I cannot confirm this because there is no documentation. I did find the framenumber and duplicate number on the engine to be the same, but could not find data about the specific number via Google. At this time I also did not find the number of the engine and gearbox. I saw that you keep a register and information about lots of WD/C and WD/CO bikes and would like to ask you if you can help me out? The framenumber, which is also on the engine below the cilinderhead is 18147. On the gearbox I saw in permanent marker number 26625 written down, but I have not been able to see any stamped numbers on it because of where the bike is now stored.

Kind regards, Paul.