Motorbikes

[davidbr]

I know there are some of you who, like me, are interested in pre-1920 vehicles.  I have just made a couple of WW1 motorbikes:

 

 

They are a mixture of cast resin and etched brass, quite exquisite.  It is unfortunate that the only two air bubbles show in my photograph but they have been filled easily.

 

The bikes come in kit form as a pair for £12 from WD Models.

[PhilJ W]

Are they generic models or do they represent a particular make?

[davidbr]

The bike is a Clyno.  I hadn't heard of them either.  The firm was not long-lived.  Wikipaedia has a bit about them.

[rockershovel]

I'd say they were 750cc Clyno v-twins, judging by the magneto behind the engine. Typical Big Twin from the 1907-20 period, used by the RFC and specialist units like the Machine Gun Corps.

 

They used proprietary engines from the Stevens brothers, better known as AJS, so you could paint them in Matchless or AJS black if you liked!

[davidbr]

There is a lovely civilian combination here on the Bonham's site - £17,841 worth.

[Nearholmer]

Isn't this the "Lawrence of Arabia" bike?

 

BTW, scale?

 

K

 

(He was famed for his collection of Brough Superior's, but I think he may have started on a Clyno while he was in the RAF)

[PatB]

It's worth remembering that big v-twins were predominantly (though not exclusively) used as sidecar tugs in the UK. Their displacement and number of cylinders put them into a road tax bracket that rendered them uneconomic for many riders as a solo, whereas adding the third wheel meant that they were, for some, a cheaper option than a car for transporting the family or as a tradesman's hack..

[davidbr]

Isn't this the "Lawrence of Arabia" bike?

 

BTW, scale?

 

Answer 1:  No idea!

 

Answer 2:  4mm

[JimF51]

T.E. Lawrence rode Brough Superiors. A very high quality bike, one of the few that could do over 100mph at that time, without any modifications.

 

Jim

[PhilJ W]

T.E. Lawrence rode Brough Superiors. A very high quality bike, one of the few that could do over 100mph at that time, without any modifications.

 

Jim

The Brough Superior was not produced until the 1920's however.

[Coppercap]

T.E. Lawrence rode Brough Superiors. A very high quality bike, one of the few that could do over 100mph at that time, without any modifications.

 

Jim

and they were sold as guaranteed to be able to do 100mph.

[rockershovel]

and they were sold as guaranteed to be able to do 100mph.

Not quite. The 1000cc ohv SS100 model was sold as "guaranteed to have done 100mph" but the more common SS80 11-50 side valves were not, the SS80 was guaranteed to have done 80mph. The touring version of the SS100 was fitted with low compression pistons and was not guaranteed to do 100mph.

[PatB]

Regardless of actual figures, given that the average small car of the era was pushed to exceed 50 mph and was happier cruising at 40ish, any of the big Broughs was blindingly fast by the standards of the day.

[rockershovel]

... which is why the side valve SS80 was their main seller. Fast enough for most situations, more reliable and easier to maintain than the big ohv JAP engines, a better all-round machine

[davidbr]

 . . . and now I have painted them.  They are on 14BA bolts soldered to 13amp plug pins.

 

[PatB]

... which is why the side valve SS80 was their main seller. Fast enough for most situations, more reliable and easier to maintain than the big ohv JAP engines, a better all-round machine

 

My father learned to ride, in the early 50s, on a 1930s Matchless Model X which his father owned and ran variously as both a solo and a sidecar tug. The Model X, IIRC, shared an engine with at least some SS80s. Dad reckoned that, although not staggeringly powerful (about the same, in his estimation, as a Triumph Thunderbird owned by an affluent friend), the torque available was tremendous and easily capable, on sidecar sprockets, of laying out the (awful, 1940s austerity rubber) back tyre along the (awful, 1940s austertity asphalt) road.

[rockershovel]

I owned a Model X in the late 1970s. They did, indeed, have the same engine as the BS SS80. Many British bikes of that era were assembled from proprietary components.

 

There are still a number of them around the vintage scene, their old-style buff logbooks read like a "who's-who" of the VMCC up to about 1980! They were a well-regarded machine for rallying as it was then practiced, having the punch to pull a sidecar but not the fragility of the later ohv 650cc twins.

[rockershovel]

. . . and now I have painted them.  They are on 14BA bolts soldered to 13amp plug pins.

 

Painted-bikes_4207.jpg

those really are quite exquisite..

[Penlan]

There is a lovely civilian combination here on the Bonham's site - £17,841 worth.

Is that a 'Swallow'* sidecar (*As in the later SS100 etc., and finally Jaguar company).

 

I saw a couple of these models at the SWAG do last weekend, they are very good,

I might just be able to include one on my circa 1910 layout - Or perhaps I had better say 'pre WW1'.

[Jeroen1975]

Nice model! i'm looking for a Ner-A-Car motorbike in 7mm scale.

 

thanks Jeroen.

[JimF51]

The Brough Superior was not produced until the 1920's however.

 

Sorry, been away, so late with this. Yes, building started in 1922, and Lawrence bought his 1st one the same year.

 

David, the bikes look excellent, super job on the building and painting.

 

Jim F

[PatB]

Nice model! i'm looking for a Ner-A-Car motorbike in 7mm scale.

 

thanks Jeroen.

 

I doubt if you'll find a kit or an r-t-p model, but the Ner-A-Car, with most of its twiddly bits enclosed within bodywork, might not be too demanding a scratchbuild. Apart from carving all those curves of course .