Could someone identify this classic motorbike please?
Could someone identify this classic motorbike please?
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Discussion

Hoonabator

Original Poster:

602 posts

255 months

Saturday 13th October 2018
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As the title could anyone identify this motorbike my Mum is sat on?

Sorry about the bike content.

Boosted LS1

21,200 posts

289 months

Saturday 13th October 2018
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For a start it's a 2 stroke single. Could be a Villiers engine in a Greaves frame.

Maybe it's a francis barnett. The tank badge looks right as does the huge clutch cover but I can't match up the tank pinstriping paint job.





Edited by Boosted LS1 on Saturday 13th October 21:10

littleredrooster

6,358 posts

225 months

Saturday 13th October 2018
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Not sure that it's British - lhs exhaust suggests something foreign, as does the pressed steel cover on the right - magneto/points cover rather than clutch?

MZ, Jawa, Morini, DKW or am I thinking too exotic?

SilverHarrier

217 posts

193 months

Saturday 13th October 2018
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Think that might be a Francis Barnett Falcon, looks like plunger suspension so around 1950?

Boosted LS1

21,200 posts

289 months

Saturday 13th October 2018
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Falcon engine is tiny though.

Boosted LS1

21,200 posts

289 months

Saturday 13th October 2018
quotequote all
littleredrooster said:
Not sure that it's British - lhs exhaust suggests something foreign, as does the pressed steel cover on the right - magneto/points cover rather than clutch?

MZ, Jawa, Morini, DKW or am I thinking too exotic?
The clutch cover is perfect for a FB.

lowdrag

13,181 posts

242 months

Sunday 14th October 2018
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I owned two FBs and that certainly isn't one. The clutch cover is the other side so we can't see it and that is no Villiers engine either. Greeves front suspension is nothing like in that photo either. I had a 250 Greeves trials until the turn of the century. It is foreign, DKW or somesuch, but not a Zundapp either. Sorry I can't help more.

sjwb

561 posts

237 months

Sunday 14th October 2018
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James Cadet circa 1953 perhaps?

Auntieroll

543 posts

213 months

Sunday 14th October 2018
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It looks like a a James Cadet with either a 122cc or 150cc Villiers engine ,definitely not a Greeves though.

lowdrag

13,181 posts

242 months

Sunday 14th October 2018
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That looks more like it! Here's a 122cc James Cadet of the same era:-


Boosted LS1

21,200 posts

289 months

Sunday 14th October 2018
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^ Clutch cover looks good as does the pin striping. Also the rear end looks like a match. Think we have a winner. It's a pretty cool bike to.

Edited by Boosted LS1 on Sunday 14th October 12:08

Hoonabator

Original Poster:

602 posts

255 months

Sunday 14th October 2018
quotequote all
Thanks chaps. The James Cadet looks a good match, nice looking little bike 👍

lowdrag

13,181 posts

242 months

Sunday 14th October 2018
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I had so many bikes in the day, starting off with a Sun 98cc 2-speed and moving on to a Tiger Cub, then an F-B Cruiser 82, then a Tiger 100A, a Goldie, then a break but all the time keeping my Greeves trials 250 Villiers, then a retun later in life to a VFR800. Now looking at another T100 or such for high days and sunshine.

Morrisboy

72 posts

169 months

Monday 15th October 2018
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The clutch cover is actually the flywheel magneto cover. The clutch is on the left hand side.

Boosted LS1

21,200 posts

289 months

Monday 15th October 2018
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Now I remember. My viliers had a huge brass magneto. Proper engineering.