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79x100

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Posts posted by 79x100

  1. 44 minutes ago, Hair Bear said:

    I noticed recently some new vehicles with twin dipped beam lights notably Merc and BMW. I thought twin dipped weren't allowed?

    German car makers are allowed to do what they like. Who decided to allow VW to fit LED strip lights along the bonnet edge ? It's almost impossible to shut them out of the field of vision. The same VW that hides indicators in the middle of a circular stop lamp.

  2. Lots to think about here. I'm  not sure that I've seen a 40 3S model stamped "3SW", even those from contracts such as C5708 so it may be that the lack of a "W" at this stage did not  indicate a civilian spec.

    The "C" number makes no sense and the R.A.S.C. (The 3S / SW was an RASC machine used by them and third-line units) were not very professionally done. The only way though that I could imagine an engine leaving Triumph with no number would be if it had been built as a spare unit. Even that is strange though as I'm not aware that they had any other "Shop" number to identify a build.

    I'm fairly certain that the frame number is an over-stamp. The height of the numbers seems greater than on Ron's example and that deep serif on "7" looks typically Continental. If I look at the "0" figures, both seem to have a line across as if there is an indication of a previous number and the gap in the "6"  seems to have been peened to cover something.

    Post-war France had extremely tight import controls and locals went to great lengths to put machines back into circulation, using pre-war documentation. The removal of the Triumph logo from the engine casing would have been part of this process too.

    Are you aware of the old French registration number ? I believe that some records still exist. They may show what it has been registered as.

    • Thanks 1
  3. On 12/12/2023 at 9:55 AM, wally dugan said:

    on this subject you will find more questions than answers as RICHARD as said it is not straight forward

    ..which surely makes it all the more useful that "Rewdco" has decided to share his extensive archive research and combine it with existing knowledge and discussions. I'm sure that he's hoping for constructive comments and further documentary evidence.

    • Like 2
  4. 2 hours ago, Ron said:

     

    The next jumble or bike shop I go to, I'll take a pice of 1" tube to test one of those switches before I pay out over £20 each.  Ron

    Ron, I never go anywhere without a 1" tube, but if it's a cold jumble, it could be down to a half-inch !🫢

    • Haha 2
  5. There is no requirement in the UK to have a main beam on a pre-type approval vehicle, the only requirement is that they don't dazzle. Almost uniquely, when rear brake lights were made compulsory in the 1950s, that legislation was retrospective and applied to vehicles from the 1930s too.

    WD motorcycles were of course exactly that and normal civilian regulations didn't apply.

    On the subject of those switches, Ron,  they were used as late as the 1970s on the two-tone horns of Commando Interpols...clearly on 7/8" bars and I had no trouble fitting one to a 1" handlebar.

    The post-war dip switches that you often see on WD bikes (I don't have a photo handy) came in LV6 packaging marked "Switches, Dipping to suit 7/8" and 1" Bar, for motorcycles..

    • Like 1
  6. 6 minutes ago, Ron said:

    No date Rik. Looking for it is when I read the B4 small print with a spy glass. It looks like I need them on both mine then? Which is good fun finding 1" switches!! Ron

    If you're not running steel headlamp masks, then probably. The Wassell Lucas replicas of the clamp-on type are quite good. Although they state 7/8", I can find no trace of Lucas ever offering alternative sizes. I'm fairly sure the clamp is universal and will cope with both sizes.  You do need the "rat turd" type lever rather than the diamond shape though.

    010.jpg

  7. Is there a print date on that, Ron ? The DME Circulars list gives a May 1941 date for removing the dipper switch and fitting "New type headlamp mask" (which would be the steel type rather than the card with a hole).

    It would make sense if the switch was deleted when the new masks were introduced. As far as I can tell, Nortons altered on production machines during the early part of 1941.

    Diagram W2053A clearly came later than W2049.

    DME 1.jpg

  8. Yes, you're in luck. I recently bought a small quantity of pre-war Lucas wiring diagrams which included this November 1939-dated scheme "For Motorcycles used by H.M. Forces". It confirms what I found on my BEF-abandoned 1939 Norton...that WD machines from the outbreak of war were fitted with a dip switch along with the WD-type OTLH four-position main switch.

    Incidentally, MCR1 CVC regulators dated between September 1939 and mid-1942 were marked "Lead-Acid" to distinguish them from the Ni-Fe type that had been the pre-war standard WD fitment. It's only really noticeable on Nortons though, due to the location above the tool box.

    Lucas W2049 HM Forces Wiring Diagram.jpg

    1942 5 42 33015A Cover 33019A L32 Lead-Acid.JPG

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 1
  9. That's exactly the same situation as the WD16H. In order to give a less rear-set and more upright trials type riding position with footrests mounted in the only place they can be, between the gearbox and the engine, it's necessary to have a longer lever, assuming it's pivoted on the frame behind the chaincase. I don't think it's a weight thing.

  10. I know that forum / website owners hate adblockers, and to be honest I have nothing against static, relevant ads but I simply can't read anything if there are moving images on a page.

    The answer as others have said is a browser like Firefox that enables the easy use of an adblocker. I see no ads here at all, neither do I when using Microsoft Edge at work, using an adblocker. They really work.

  11. 4532232 and 4532252 had a "Z" prefix and were Bedford water tankers...so not possible. There were no motorcycles with 7-digit serials beginning with  "453"

    Lex or I could confirm pretty well any individual component as Norton in seconds if you can get a photo to us !

    • Like 1
  12. Ron, as John implies. A bit of a parts-bin special.

    Going back to the photos which Jan posted earlier in the thread, C4379578 seems to have a narrow box which extends roughly to the centre line on the silencer.  FOM 785 which Jan suggests might be the RN contract factory hack seems clearly to have a wider toolbox which sits roughly in line with the outside edge of the silencer.

    My worry is that regardless of the toolbox, the straight ("narrow") kickstart is going to conflict with the silencer.

    If you clear the silencer on a low level system, then you clear the toolbox.

     

     

    BSA WB30 a.jpeg

    BSA WB30 b.jpg

  13. Ron, will you be fitting the low-level silencer ? I've seen it suggested more than once that WD Nortons had kickstart levers with more offset due to the wider WD toolbox, but in fact the silencer extends well beyond, as it would have done with the civilian models.

    You don't have a kickstart from a high pipe version, do you ?

  14. In my opinion, 50w is too thick for a primary chaincase and will cause contamination and slip. 30w from the lawnmower shop would be better. It doesn't have to be particularly high specification and just enough for the chain to dip in and drip some mist onto the bearing (which is only operating when the clutch is withdrawn).

  15. I'm not sure that the parts belong with each other. The hubs look like to be 1950s or later. Is the girder fork blade the wrong way round ? Does the rigid rear end belong on the frame ? I'm inclined to suspect a failed custom project based on a 1950s European lightweight.

  16. I'm pretty sure that the movement card reads as follows :-

    Due Aden 13/9

    ar  (arrived) 18/9

    sd (sailed) 20/9

    Due Suez 26/9

    Estimated disch.compl. abt.5/10 Oct (Estimated discharge completed about 5th October ?

    She had been allocated on 23/9 to "Liner Div" ?  to load Mid-East to U.K.

    I wonder what the reverse cargo would have been ?

    It's a shame that the cargo list is not "out there" at high resolution so that it can be looked at closely by everyone.

  17. Simon, It's pretty much impossible that these uncrated pre-war India-contract motorcycles were loaded in the UK during 1941 and I'm not aware of any Indian Army presence in South Africa, where the ship had previously docked.

    Is it possible that this cargo replaced something that had been unloaded at Aden ? Obviously, I don't have the knowledge of the ship or any real idea of what would have been possible in the short stopover there. I've been passed a copy of WO169 / 3226, the War Diary for HQ Army Troops Aden, but it's skimpy and seems to stop at June...I'm chasing it up further. 

    I see that some details of Thistlegorm's cargo have appeared on-line, but at very low resolution. I wonder if there any mention of motorcycles.

    Going back on topic, do you know if the saddles photographed have rubber Lycett 'aerolastic' springing or steel Terry springs ? I imagine that the rubber would have survived better than spring steel.

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