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My Welbike Restoration


MHillyard

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  • 3 weeks later...
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Awaiting a price up for parts, the first batch of parts shall be:

Front forks

Front wheel and spindle

Rear wheel and sprocket

Exhaust Silencer

Handlebar lowering pole and clamp

Tyres and inner tubes

Tank pump

Cables

 

Need to undo the brazing on the front of the frame, luckily the bearing mount is still in place and has been worked around rather than removed.

 

Found out that the forks on the rear for the wheel have been widened, will have to get a bit of weld put in and file it down.

 

After that just need to prepare for painting and then paint

Edited by MHillyard
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Nice work, great little machines, when I watched that video I swear I could smell that thing, they where so unwanted in the early 60s kids had them given to them, the big thing was to dare to ride the length of the village without getting caught..........nothing changes :-D

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  • 2 weeks later...

had a good go at it today, attacking the modification on the headstock. Luckily (see photos) it was only brazed in and brazed in badly.

 

Only disappointment is that the headstock has been cut through where some of the frame numbers are :banghead:

 

Uncovered one more number though "6" so only missing one number. Might be able to work out what it is using some mathematics.

 

The two tubes came out well and the bearing mount is still in place so little more is needed to be done there apart from a good clean-up

 

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Forgot to ask as I noticed on the other thread the headstock was also modified. Is this a common problem and why?

 

I am assuming that these bikes were only made to last a short time something wears out?

 

I dont know exactly why but my main guess is that these bikes were used by teenagers etc after the war and probably used off road and at high speeds. There is no suspension which meant that every impact with the ground affected the bike, also because of the impacts people would fall of, crash etc doing damage to the bike when it crashed/fell. The front forks, i believe, are just metal tubes which with a certain amount of force would just crush or bend. My one the forks have been replaced completely and on the other on they have been bent back.

 

Also the bearings i am sure were not designed to be used for years after the war, so these would wear out making the bike more unreliable.

 

Just my theory:D

Edited by MHillyard
another idea
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I dont know exactly why but my main guess is that these bikes were used by teenagers etc after the war and probably used off road and at high speeds. There is no suspension which meant that every impact with the ground affected the bike, also because of the impacts people would fall of, crash etc doing damage to the bike when it crashed/fell. The front forks, i believe, are just metal tubes which with a certain amount of force would just crush or bend. My one the forks have been replaced completely and on the other on they have been bent back.

 

Also the bearings i am sure were not designed to be used for years after the war, so these would wear out making the bike more unreliable.

 

Just my theory:D

 

My memory is they were made for D-Day invasion. Did they have any service after that i.e. post war did the units retain them in service or were a one off item?

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My memory is they were made for D-Day invasion. Did they have any service after that i.e. post war did the units retain them in service or were a one off item?

 

They were first designed for the SOE so when spies dropped in France etc they could ride away, this was rejected by the SOE for obvious reasons, the sound of a 98cc Villiers engine is quite loud and distinctive and would give away anyone's position. Although the SOE were not interested the parachute regiment took a liking to them and they had several made for the idea that they would drop in containers with the paras, the paras would then retrieve them and ride them to their destination then chuck them away. This is what they were made for.

 

Several Welbikes were issued to other units and some can be seen landing with the British on D-day (will try to find the photo), there is even one photo of an American on one, and not to forget one with a German on a captured one!

 

A number of Welbikes during and after the war were used as airfield run-arounds for officers or anyone who could get hold of one. They were easy transport for going short distances eg. from Hanger 1 to hanger 3, or from barracks to mess hall etc. Several were on airfields in the middle east, not quite sure how they got there. One story which i will have to check up on is that a fighter pilot used to attach one under his plane in a container and use it when he got to his destination.

 

After the war, i think, several were given to India and Australia and a few to Russia. i will have to check up this next bit but: Those that were not kept on bases were either scraped or sold to America, this was because they did not fit the specifications for an MOT so America bought them and sold them in shops. I believe that it was not allowed to let the bikes sell in the UK because of laws etc but this was often ignored and many did find their way out and were used by teenagers for on fields or on farms. In America quite a few were also used as parade bikes for some organisation who few flags from the back of them.

 

It is often thought that the bikes were completely pointless for their task and highly un-necessary but they were great for propaganda saying that we had things very well made for such small tasks and that we were prepared for anything.

 

Well i think that covers most things :-D will check up on details

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It is often thought that the bikes were completely pointless for their task and highly un-necessary but they were great for propaganda saying that we had things very well made for such small tasks and that we were prepared for anything.

 

 

 

That's something I was wondering about also i.e. use after the war etc as often it gets lost in the glossy overview.

 

Not that such things detract on the collectable value as a lot of military kit are like this. The Land Rover Lightweight was supposedly built to be helicopter liftable. But the Lightweight is heavier than the bog stock civilian model.

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The Land Rover Lightweight was supposedly built to be helicopter liftable. But the Lightweight is heavier than the bog stock civilian model.

 

It was designed that body sides, tailboard, doors, etc could be removed, yet still functional, in order that it could be lifted by the then in-service Westland Wessex helicopter, a stock civvy model would have been too heavy.

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It was designed that body sides, tailboard, doors, etc could be removed, yet still functional, in order that it could be lifted by the then in-service Westland Wessex helicopter, a stock civvy model would have been too heavy.

 

I rebuilt one of these a few years back so went mad into the history as one does. Even stripped it could not be picked up by helicopters in service at the time. The removable gear box cross member and 24v generator were some of the extra weight issues. Best Land Rover built but in the initial stages did not fulfil the stated purpose. Not sure what year the helicopter that could lift it came into service, got the book here somewhere :readbook:.

 

Anyway the comment was made about, whether or not a mil vehicle was a pefect success in service does not really affect is collectable value. The RB44 may yet get it's own cult following

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It was designed that body sides, tailboard, doors, etc could be removed, yet still functional, in order that it could be lifted by the then in-service Westland Wessex helicopter, a stock civvy model would have been too heavy.

Like the 101 the 'Lightweight' (Which is heavier than a standard), was mainly designed to fit into the RAF transport aircraft of the time, then mostly VC10 frieghters. But someone then had the bright idea of buying Hercules.

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Here are a selection of photos of the Welbike used in different services

 

Obvious use, the paras:

 

 

Man from SOE trying it out

 

 

Welbikes used on RAF bases in far east

 

 

Polish Paras:

 

 

D-day:

 

 

Welbikes on Vehicles:

 

 

Welbike with Princess:

 

 

Yank on Welbike:

 

 

Captured Welbike:

 

http://www.welbike.co.uk/index.html

Welbike C5154465 being assembled in field.jpg

post-3-12808127755499.jpg

Welbike with SOE man 001.jpg

Welbike in Far East 001.jpg

Welbike in Far East 002.jpg

Welbike in Middle East 001.jpg

Welbikes 001.jpg

Welbike with Polish Airbornes 001.jpg

Welbike with Polish Airbornes 002.jpg

Welbike with Polish Airbornes 003.jpg

Welbike in Normandy 001.jpg

Welbike in Normandy 002.jpg

para9.gif

para12.jpg

Yank on Welbike 001.jpg

german welbike.jpg

Welbike with princess 005.jpg

Edited by MHillyard
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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Got all the parts i need now to get going again. Welbike UK were extremely helpful, the parts are of an outstanding and accurate quality. They know everything there is to know about the bikes and how every single part works and fits. Most pieces are hand made to fit perfectly and as per the original specification. They fitted all my parts so slack was down to a minimum. They had to do quite a bit of work on the seat tube on my bike as it has been bent at some point meaning the seat would not go in but this was sorted. Great people with a wealth of information, highly recommended!

 

Now to strip paint off the rest of the parts them prime, then paint

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

For the past week and a bit i have been sand blasting everything down. I have pitted the chromed parts enough so that the primer should stick.

 

Today was spent priming the parts. Used acid etching primer which seemed to work well. It certainly looks a lot better now.

 

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