Today, whilst buzzing around the local streets making small adjustments to the cycle-motor, a youth on bicycle drew up alongside me, while I was standing still I might add, "Wow! Is that one of those things from the 1950's?"
Me "No".
I gev' it an 'and-full' and shot back to my shed.
Having finally got the bike moving I find I'm not at all happy with it.
The major problem being the 'style' I've tried to impose on it.
I used this site for inspiration: The Moped Gallery
Most of the difficulty I've experienced during this build, and the delay in getting it to this stage, has been trying to accommodate the 'style'.
I was so blinded by the desire to make the finished product look like something that could have featured in the Moped Gallery I lost sight of what I should have been trying to achieve, an efficient machine.
The bicycle I ended up using is a poor quality machine of a dated design, and that's being kind.
I could have used something like my current bicycle which, although not great, is light years away from the gas-tubing donkey I chose.
I went up into the attic to do a bit more thinking and to do a bit of work on the 'Dobson', then it dawned me.
The 'Dobson' is, and always has been, the perfect bicycle for this project.
The build quality of the frame is superior, the frame angles are much better and the powder-coating I had applied to it is more robust than the thin layer of nail-varnish on the current frame.
On further consideration it makes even more sense to return the Black Tractor to it's original condition and fit the engine into the 'Dobson' (an afternoon's work at most in both cases).
This plan also means I can sell the Black Tractor, which I initially had misgivings about, then liked for a while, but very quickly cooled on again as it revealed it's many faults.
This is a temporary blip.
4 comments:
Sorry you're feeling teed off with it. Custom building anything often seems to involve more expediture than first thought, several false starts, rethinks, etc.
I enjoyed looking around The Moped Gallery. Saw this 'Vincent Firefly on Raleigh cycle'.
A friend of mine bought an electric bicycle. I think it was a PowaCycle or a PowaByke. Quite a heavy thing if you you ran out of juice and had to peddle it, and it looked rather er... modern, but it was quite a nifty thing. He rode it ten miles to my house with the electric motor assisting (depleting the battery by 50% on its meter), put it on charge chez moi, drank several cans of beer, told me a few stories about the last days of steam (he was the locomotive's fireman), and rode it home again (this time letting the electric motor do most of the work). Modern battery technology like Lithium-ion is pretty damn good.
One of my favourites is the Bianchi Aquilotto (if only for the name!)
Following the link on it's page to Smiths Autocycles reveals some beauties.
I'm also a member over at the MotoredBikes Forum which has been an invaluable resource during this protracted build.
Fortunately the changes I plan making won't cost any more money, just time.
Should I be moved to build another I'm going electric an' no mistake.
Anyway, the sun's out, if anybody wants me I'll be in my shed.
"Following the link on it's page to Smiths Autocycles reveals some beauties."
I never spotted the link and then got sidetracked by the Iceni CAM Magazine!
Eventually I googled and found this modern company in Skipton: Smiths Autocycles.
I give the links here for the benefit of anyone interested.
I never realised motor-assisted bicycling has such a rich history - so many manufacturers and different approaches. It reminded me of when I first started motorcycling, I often found myself talking to old boys who went misty-eyed reminiscing about their two-wheeled youth: Douglas, Matchless, Ariel, Vincent, Sunbeam - names I'd never heard before.
I'm having a tea break.
Most of the motorcycles in my youth had the names you mention.
Me and a friend of mine used to look after a collection for a bloke who'd had a heart-attack and couldn't maintain them anymore.
We basically went round to his place twice a month and ran all his bikes along a four mile stretch of disused railway line.
The list included :
Scott Squirrel
Brough Superior
Ariel Square Four
Ariel Arrow
BSA Starfire
BSA D1 Bantam
There was also a nutter in our village who used to jump an ex-police Velocette over his chicken shed to amuse the youths of the village.
Tea-break over, back to work.
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