MHillyard

Good luck with the restoration ! Just as difficult is the wartime "Flying Flea" ! I've had two of these, and parts are just as frustrating !!!! Steve (co-author "British Forces Motorcycles")....

Yeah i have read about those, the thing i like about the welbike is that i can keep it in a shed and it can fit in a car boot. I'm not sure about the Flying Fleas but a lot of the engine parts for a welbike, for example:Air cleaner, are standard on a lot of villiers lawnmowers and autocycles, the only diference i can find is that the welbike parts are often brass but not on other villiers engines.

I took a look at your book on the internet, looks pretty good, i may have to save up some money.

Good luck to you with any current or future restorations

Thanks

Martyn

Nice project....have you got Peter Miller's book "From Welbike to Corgi" (2nd edition is best) ? This contains a wealth of info on these bikes, even showing copies of the original WD contract build cards........I haven't got my copy to hand but I suspect the build date to be 1943-44.....(the cards show the contract ordering dates I think).......if you know the frame number which should be on the front of the frame headstock you can work out the original WD serial number allocated to your bike........

 

There was apparently a 4th contract for these bikes but it was cancelled due to a lack of need for these.......a good original idea, the reality was that the little Welbike was rarely used in combat or for the role originally intended.....the bulk of machines actually used in combat and service originating from the first contract........this was the model with the earlier fuel tanks, no rear mudguard and slight differences to the frame......many of the later machines were purloined as runabouts within the military and an even greater number sat unused in ordnance depots until the end of the war....You can obtain (at a price) most of the reproduction cycle parts for the Welbike, although wheels are a persistent problem to acquire. Very early post-war Corgi wheels are similar before going over to the solid non-spoked variety.....engine parts are still fairly easy to obtain, new and 2nd-hand, and I am sure I still have several spare gasket sets for the engine buried somewhere....

 

Your machine MAY have left the factory in "SCC No2" colour, which is a sort of medium brown shade used on many British military vehicles and equipment between 1942 and April 1944 before switching back to green (British olive drab), although stocks of earlier shades had to be used up first.......if you check the frame closely you may find traces of the original paint shade (say beneath the contract plate or on the engine, which was factory-painted)......? The military Villiers Junior De-Luxe engine is pretty much standard in design although was factory-built with greater clearances than normal in order that it could be hammered from new ! I seem to recall that the compression ratio may also be higher on the WD version.....?

 

I had a welbike myself a few years back now that I bought for £150 in bits as a "post war Corgi"......it had come from the Middle East and was from the first contract......it was missing the wheels, saddle and mount, one side of the handlebar plus the exhaust system but was otherwise complete. I had a spare engine and fuel tanks thrown in with the deal......I never got round to doing anything with the project so sold it on, although at a slightly greater price than I had originally paid !!!

Thanks for your reply.

Yes i have got the book and in the second edition, it is a very good book. I do intend to paint mine brown but i will have to deal with the modification done to the handlebars which will ruin whatever paint i put on it. The green i am painting with is a standard green and it is just do i can display it. When the modification is dealt with then i shall strip it to the metal and paint it the proper colour.

I have found a supplier of welbike parts in the UK who make every nut and bolt necessary to restore a welbike, they even make full reproductions and they make wheels! Of course all this comes at a price but it is very well made.

looks like a great project

cleaned up the engine and have given the frame the first coat

wreck of RMS Justice?

http://www.malinheadwrecks.com/index.php?p=1_11_wreck-photos

found it quite interesting, it was somehow deferential from other documentaries

i have had problems straight from my files, so i upload them to a site like photobucket.com and use the direct link to add it to a post

Not really an expert so i cannot say that they are for certain but i found these in my collection.

Been working on the bike for most of the day, gave the engine a good clean and i am getting the frame ready for a coat of temporary paint. After i have fixed the handlebars i shall strip it down fully and paint the proper colour. I also striped the paint that was on the fly wheel and found out that the rear brake is the original.

ive got a few original photos of these in service, if you are interested in seeing them i will post them

Try this site

 

http://www.rotanazdar.cz/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=191:no4a&catid=61:nase-sbirka&Itemid=106&lang=en

 

Also try the WS19 group they gave me some instructons but I cant find them at the moment

 

Cheers

 

Paul

Thanks for the link!

I picked up a ww2 mine detector a few years back and never knew what type it was. The one on the link you posted is identicle, so are the headphones and back-pack

Are parts for these fairly easy to pick up? I cant say i look but i never seem to see parts for old british trucks like this

Nice to see that it has been recovered

seriously wish I'd had a bit of foresight many years ago.....

...round these here parts loads of lads had old motorbikes for tearing around the woods on in the early /mid 70s.........ex post office BSAs Bantams were very favourite along with C15s , Triumphs Tiger Cubs , various Royal Enfields and Francis Barnetts etc... also lots of Lambretta scooters and such were pressed into service.....and....

......one lad had a Parabike as we knew them as in those days.....

as I recall his Dad had brought it home for him from some fella he worked with..

Like everything else, it was ridden into the ground until it finally failed and was then unceremoniously scrapped like all the rest of our bikes

...ah well........opportunities lost etc !

Its a shame when things like that happen but thats just the way it is. After the war these were almost useless as they did not meet UK road standards, many were sent to the US but they didnt last long because they wernt supposed to. Its a shame because even the parts are expensive. for example a set of handlebars sold on ebay for around £500 and a seat for around the same price.

Bought these at a car boot sale for 50p. i bought them from a man who worked in the factory where they were made and he kept one which he decided he no longer wanted. They were issued around Iraq when they were trying to find him. On the back i believe it has his brothers or some people who have already been killed.

I love these trucks, looks like a great restoration

This looks really great!

Were these type of sales popular back then, as they wern't really collectables would it have just been landowners or what?

Its a shame to see vehicles and kit just left like that. I know it may not be worth a lot as it is russian, but it does deserve a better life than that and there is some great kit there.

I heard there was a lot of trouble at this years war and peace. For example some grenades were stolen off of a display vehicle and several stalls had their tents slashed and bits stolen

This is a lovely restoration, i know i could never do it

My first restoration piece has just arrived from California, USA. It is a 3rd contract Welbike built in 1942/43. Only around 3,500 of these bikes were ever made. As you can see the wheels need changing and several other bits done. Its not a hard restoration but its my first.

My Welbike which i have just received has some painting on the tank which i believe was done just after the war. He has painted some information about the bike and on the tank he has painted corgi. I believe he has confused the excelsior welbike the the brockhouse corgi but this is how it has been displayed for the last 40+ years.

I've seen one which is kept at ex RAF Bentwaters, unfortunately i do not know the guy

"Memo in the Chamber"

Came with a load of photos in around 1945 in Germany with WVS or something. I am yet to look into the story.