Stefano

Radek, Just in case you're interested, there's an incomplete set of forks for sale on Ebay - item number is 180313857054. He's also got a front wheel apparently. All the Best, Stef

Thanks Hanno.. Coming from you is high praise indeed! Thanks for the extra pic. Stef

Ah yes.. Well I actually bought that one and it's now living out here in Italy. I saw it on Milweb and lost no time flying out to see it. The gentleman selling it was a really nice bloke, a genuine East Ender wheeler dealer, and he lived in this amazing place down on the Devonshire coast. He said that a previous owner used it as a breakdown lorry for cars that couldn't make it up Porlock Hill. Getting it back to Italy was a pain, because it had been stripped to quite an extent (read fell apart), and although it doesn't look bad in the photo, it needs alot of work. Unfortunately, restoration is at a standstill for the moment, but it will get it's turn as soon as the WOT2 and the Fox are up and running. And the James. And the 'Flea. And the C15.. Hope, of course, springs eternal! All the Best, Stef The photos below are how I found it, and when I'd finally got it loaded up

Radek, Glad that you've managed to find the bits, although it's always frightning to see how the bills add up. Keep us posted on how the bike comes along! All the Best, Stef

Radek, Don't get me wrong, the 350's are brilliant bikes (the o.h.v. ones anyway), and the only way that I'll part with my Triumph 3HW will be when they use a crowbar to prise it out of my cold dead hands... All the best, Stef

Radek, For the front wheel you could try Hitchcock motorcycles or Burton's bike bits - they might be able to help. CO stuff comes up quite often on Ebay as well. As for the sidecar chassis, from what I can see I would hazard a guess and say that it looks like a Watsonian - but I could well be wrong. Your best bet would be to ask someone like Charnwood Classics, they should be able to help. From what I have been led to beleive, sidecars (and not a lot of them at that), were attached to the BSA M20/21 and Norton 16H, because the 350's would have found the going remarkably hard in anything approaching off road conditions due to their limited torque and lighter construction. I agree with 79 x 100's comments, the non military sidecars I've seen photographed all seem to be of Swallow maufacture, although I know for a fact that The RAF used 16H's with box sidecars to ferry tools around - An Italian collector had one that was original down to having it's full complement of tools. Unfortunately he died some years ago and despite my best endeavours to find it that particular bike seems to have fallen off the planet........ Of course I live in hope! All the Best, Stefano

It may not be very well kept, but this Pioneer at the Cecchignola museum in Rome is probably as original as it gets

I would think that "Topolino a molla" would be the closest approximation.... Honestly I don't know why the crankcase went where it did, because the layshaft 1st gear would really have to fly around to do that sort of damage. I think some mechanic of yore probably hit it with a hammer, just for the hell of it. The crankshaft on the flywheel end is bent as well, so maybe he just had it in with this particular bike..

Here are some pics of the beadblasted engine cases, hmm.. not so good, the flywheel side crankcase needs a bit of welding.. Incidentally, has anybody out there got a decent rear wheel/hub? My backplate is saveable but the hub comes from goodness knows where (bit of a problem that...) Will keep you all posted as it goes along, All the Best, Stefano

Hello there you lovely lot, As I've promised myself that both the ML and the 'flea are going to Pegasus, and Normandy '09 draws inexorably nearer, I've decided to bite the bullet and have started to blitz the James. It's a bit of a mess, but it's refreshing to work on a bike that can dismantled and bagged up in less than a day! Here are some pics. Funny how I'd never noticed the contract plate until I took the rear number plate off, and how this early example was painted originally in S.C.C. 2. The footrest/centre stand area has been pretty badly mucked around with too...

If you're going to do a CD/SW in early war camouflage, you can't do better than copy this one, probably in G3 with G4 disruptive

Ottimo!

Andrea, Good pic of the Corazzieri V7's there, I had one just like it for a while - never got around to getting it to go so I sold it on (shame...). Ah, the Falcone. Now that was a completely different proposition, at least in Sport guise (Sports were usually given to the Airforce and Customs and Excise, whereas everybody else got the cooking Turismo model). Best Italian bike of the era, great handling, good brakes, spectacular forks, and amazingly reliable as long as you didn't tune it too much. Even the gearchange wasn't bad. Horrifyingly expensive nowadays, and not as fast as people think, even a really good one being hard pressed to do more than 95 without breaking something (the overhung flywheel was the limiting factor - it just doesn't like revs). All the Best, Stefano

....And also, any ideas on the finish of the various fixing bolts used for the accessories, would they have been black phosphate? I can't immagine that they were originally painted white... Cheers, Stefano

Hello everybody, After ten years of hard work our GM Fox has started to look lived in to the point of being shabby to say the least, so it's time for a respray. The last time round we painted the interior of the hull in matt white, but was this correct? Could it possibly have been gloss? It would be a whole load easier to keep clean if it was.. Any ideas folks? All the Best, Stefano

I'd be interested in the Mk 2 sten....

Once upon a time, when I was 19.... I had a job reconditioning ex army Italian bikes, Bianchi MT 61's, Guzzi Superalce, Nuovo Falcone, Airone and V7's. Most had little or no mileage on them, thanks to the fact that sometime in the early seventies the Carabinieri took over convoy escort duties from the army. In any case, when I got a bike up and running I used to take it off for a test ride (best part of the job, no number plates, insurance, MOT etc, and no helmet either in those far off days...). The V7 was heavy, fast and had absolutely no brakes over 90mph, although admittedly, they were the early 703cc ones with 2 leading shoe brakes. The Airone was gutless, although it held the road surprisingly well, and had spectacular brakes (which was a waste). The Nuovo Falcone was awful: heavy, slow, no ground clearance with incredibly soft suspension and spongy brakes. Reliability was not a strong point either (on a Guzzi!). The Bianchi would have been an excellent bike if it had been given a proper engine, but 10,5 bhp was just pathetic, with reliability issues into the bargain. It also had the most complicated wiring loom that I've ever seen on a motorcycle. The Superalce was, by comparison, brilliant. I bought a minter, and kept it for years. I went all over Italy with it, nearly flat out all the time, and it never broke down. The books say that it was good for just over 60, but mine would clock nearly 85 on the flat. The riding position was completely awful if you're over 5'6", the gearchange an aquired art, and the brakes definitely not up to the job, but the handling was exceptional, and it would go anywhere thanks to it's awe inspiring ground clearance. In the end I swopped it for a basket case WW2 Bianchi 500 sv (which is pretty much how it still is). If you find one, make sure it's all there, because cycle parts are a lot thinner on the ground than they used to be, but on the mechanical side there isn't a problem, unless the crank is totally knackered, which is rare. Gearbox mainshaft bearings can be difficult too, but they last for a loong time... Good luck, Stef

HF, For that sort of money you should be able to find a Superalce - and it's a far better bike than a NF into the bargain

Hiya, I've got photos of: Z 5872952 (taken at Duxford in 1990), and Z 1633--0 (Southsea 1991, can't make out all the numbers) Cheers, Stef

Hiya, Here are some pictures of the Universal Joint that came out of the WOT 2. As you can see it looks nothing like the one in the workshop manual. Is it the correct one? Or has somebody been a naughty boy... Cheers, Stefano

Hello there one and all, I've got a problem with my WOT2 and I'm throwing it open to you clever chaps. It's a bit difficult to explain in writing but basically at around 30mph a colossal knocking noise starts to emerge from somewhere in the transmission (not a good thing), and running with the floor up it seemed to stem from the front of the torque tube. I dropped the rear axle and took out the UJ, and although there is absolutely no play in the bushes the central spider has an axial play of about an eighth of an inch between each of the forks. If this was an open propshaft I'd be certain that this is bad news, but I'm a bit leary of torque tubes and their mysteries, so I'd like to know if this is correct or not. the manuals don't help much, because all they say is that if the UJ is shot it needs replacing!. Another thing that may or may not be important is that in the spares catalogue the reference number for the UJ is 9070, whereas mine has 9071 cast into it. Has anybody got a WOT2 universal joint they can check? All the Best, Stefano

Hiya, Just a thought.. Seeing as the engine is running rich for no apparent reason, I'd have a look at the carburetter float just in case it's leaking. BTW, congratulations, that's a lovely job you've done on the body!

And here are some more:

Hello everybody, Just thought you might like to see a few pictures I took this spring at the "Museo della Motorizzazione Militare" which is in the Cecchignola military base in Rome. Due to the scrapping of military service and a general downsizing of the Italian defence budget over the past few years, the museum has more than just a scruffy look to it, but there are a number of incredibly rare vehicles inside that make it more than worth trying to visit it (not always an easy task it must be said). However, with the excellent Italian airforce museum not far away (or the Anzio beaches for that matter, General Mark Clarke notwithstanding), it would be worth the trip. Museo della Motorizzazione Militare, Viale dell'esercito 170 00143 Rome Tel. 0039 (0)6 5011885 All the best, Stefano

Engine spares are easy however, and a rebuild of a complete bike is going to cost a lot less than a four stroke machine. There are a couple of companies that specialize in villiers engines and they've got basically everyhing that you could require ;-). Cycle parts are a different matter though... BTW, anyone out there got a front mudguard for one? Stef