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  • Side valves as solos

    Side valves as solos

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    I was pleased that the article on the Ariel VB (OBM April) did not concentrate solely on those old side valves as just being able to pull a heavy sidecar around, but were also capable of a useful performance when used in solo form. How do I know? Because over the years I have owned…

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  • West Indies Indian?

    West Indies Indian?

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    After speaking to Dave at the Bike Shed Show in London, here’s the pic that I mentioned at the time. The photo was taken in 1934 in Aruba, in the Dutch West Indies, and I’m keen to find out the type of bike in the photo. On the bike is my grandfather who was a…

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  • Does this Velo still bellow?

    Does this Velo still bellow?

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    I would really like to find out if my Velocette still exists. The DVLA say it’s not on their records so, if it’s still around, it must be in a shed or garage. This is a picture of it circa 1967. It was fast in its day, beating many a 650. Me, my girlfriend Jane…

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  • Lowe not Rowe

    Lowe not Rowe

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    I have just realised that there is a small, but significant, error to the write-up to the Morton’s Archive picture on the front cover of the April issue. The rider of the Sunbeam, is I believe, Bob Lowe not Rowe, a one-time specialist in Long Distance Trials. Bob ordered the Sunbeam direct from the factory…

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  • Chair rubber

    Chair rubber

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    Here is a photo, above, of the Norton Dominator 99 that Roger Maughfling built for me in 1964. I soon found that the 16” tyres did not last long (500 miles for the rear) and Owen Greenwood put on a used sidecar racing tyre for 10 shillings (50p to youngsters). From then on I’ve used…

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  • Poetic licence

    Poetic licence

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    I’m enclosing a little poem I wrote about a project I’ve recently completed. I’ve been restoring Triumphs for quite a number of years now and I have to admit, believe me, this was some project. I am the owner of seven classic Triumphs and never had one in such a bad state. But it’s been…

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  • Colin Clark’s Cadwell continues

    Colin Clark’s Cadwell continues

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    Thanks again to Dennis Prosser in helping to identify riders from Colin Clark’s images from the late ‘40s and early ‘50s. I will include any details that Colin may have added to these pictures, but notes are few and far between. The images this month show a Norton outfit (number 92), with some exuberant riding…

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  • Sidecar tyres

    Sidecar tyres

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    Having studied with interest Mick Payne’s article ‘Rubber Side Down’ in the May 2019 OBM I’d just like to add my £2.20 pence worth.  Obviously, as you indicate, the practice of fitting car tyres to motorcycle rims is a practice that, in theory and due to difference in rim design, gives cause for concern and…

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  • So Cal society

    So Cal society

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    I send my Old Bike Mart papers to my friend in San Diego, US, and he’s replied as follows…

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  • Heading downhill

    Heading downhill

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    There have been several recent issues of Old Bike Mart featuring DMW motorcycles.

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