1954 Excelsior Consort F4 BFA 856

The latest project is this 1954 Excelsior Consort, Villiers 98cc engined. It has no registration documents but I know that the original number, now unobtainable, was BFA 856. If any reader knows anything of the history of this little post WW2 commuter please let me know. I understand that it started out its life in Burton on Trent which is where I acquired it.

As the registration number is not now obtainable I will have to get an age related number for it. To do this I will need to get it MOT'd. And for this to be successful the front forks will need renovating. If you dear reader have any information or experience of sorting out girder forks as fitted to the Excelsior, please let me know.

SS50 in Big Sky County

As you can see the little Honda SS50 is now on the road and has covered about 600 miles since the (budget) renovation.

Lincolnshire is not all flat as you can see.

Although the muffs are not very cool they keep me riding in cold weather. They probably also reduce the top speed of the bike (already puny) by 10%, though they do help with a tailwind. Bit like a spinnaker really.

Two other broken SS50's in the garage which I will refurbish slowly. Have just started on the tank of one of them which has thirty years of gunge in it and two dents on it. It will be sprayed by me with rattle cans. The problem that I need to surmount which I have with the moped pictured on this post is that of the petrol softening the paint round the filler hole. I have sprayed the red bikes tank with petrol resistant lacquer but the petrol seems to be able to get under it at the edge of the filler hole. If anyone has the solution to this (apart from getting it professionally sprayed at ten times or more what it costs me to do it myself) then I would appreciate the advice.

Honda SS50 almost complete

It has taken me about 6 months to transform what was a sad and shabby looking vehicle with many parts missing into what you see here now. It is far from perfect, particularly if you look carefully. Remember digital cameras often lie, particularly on Ebay!

It is a budget refurbishment to achieve a tidy, safe and reliable machine that I can potter around country lanes on.

The seat looks a bit strange. I don't like it. It is a pattern part and as soon as I learn how to weld and re-cover seats it will be replaced by a refurbished original. I have two more of these bikes in the garage awaiting treatment so if you have any spare parts you don't want, let me know. I would be particularly interested in an engine, mudguards for the four speed model, rear swinging arm or a good seat or seat base.

The refurb can be seen on the sport moped site (link on this blog) if you are interested in an old man's pain and suffering.

Is it badger hair?

Went for my regular walk down Clay Lane today and came across this hair, and lots of other bits like it strewn around on the earth. I have noticed this in the same place before and assumed some wild or domestic animal has been attacked there. Given that it is always in the same area and has occurred frequently I now wonder if there is a badger sett nearby.

Honda SS50 and limping cat stops blogger

Haven't been posting anything on the blog lately. However have now been spurred on by a torrent, ..............well dribble of interest, from two readers. I have a public!

I supposedly retired from work in May but cat health problems and subsequent vets bills encouraged me back to work two days per week. At least on a temporary basis.

The cat's tale. In brief she had a limp (long term) caused by some problem with her wrist probably caused by jumping from a height. Vet quite clear that she would be experiencing pain to some degree and that operation to fuse the joint was required. Eventually I agreed to this. Procedure carried out at great expense (I could have bought every cat in Nottinghamshire for the price of the op and follow up). Although insurance covered it the premiums will go up next year without a doubt. Maisie has now recovered but still has a (worse) limp and has turned into a house cat. I feel bad that I seem to have contributed to a worsening of her lifestyle. I don't doubt the sincerity of the vets advice but I would advise anyone to ask very searching questions about the possible range of outcomes for an animal when a significant procedure is advised. I thought I had done but with hindsight not enough. Enough of cats, now on to dogs.

Shortly after the last published post I got the Honda 1977 SS50 5 speed moped you see pictured here. It came from Mablethorpe and cost me £60. I have probably spent ten times that on it now. Another cheap hobby for my retirement. If you are interested in the renovation so far you can see it in detail on the following website:

www.sixteener-special.co.uk in the section on "Restorations and Rebuilds" under the title of something like "SS50 Commencing Countdown Engine Off"

And when you see the ups and downs pictured there you will understand why I have not been on the blog.

Horse chestnut "sticky buds"

When I was a child in the 40's and 50's we rarely had cut flowers in the house. My mother certainly would never have bought any and although we had a large country garden my father thought the correct place for them was in a flower bed. The exception were bowls of bulbs at Christmas which were "forced" in the airing cupboard.

In addition to flowers and vegetables in the plot we also had trees including a horse chestnut that, it was alleged, my brother had grown from a conker. At this time of the year it sprouted "sticky buds". My mother would cut budded stems from the tree and put them in a vase in the house where we would watch the buds burst and leaves unfurl in their bright green splendour. The same was done with hazel catkin buds when we could find any. Cheap pleasures and no air mile cost.

Just a walking in the rain, with my MS by my side

Took my Puch MS50V for it's MOT the other day. Only 143 miles since the last time so even I "Mr Everysilverlininghasanevenbiggerdarkcloud" felt it had a reasonable chance of passing. After the (successful) test I stood around chatting to the tester and his mate extolling the high quality Austrian build and reliability of the thing. Stepped forward nonchalantly to flip it into life with a half turn of the pedal. Nothing happened. After five minutes or so of panicky and sweaty activity I gave up. "Its never not started before" I said feeling that this sounded a little unconvinving. After ten minutes advice and suggestions the other two cleared off for a cup of tea and left me in the testing bay to try to sort it out. In the end I gave up and pushed it home through driving rain. Fortunately I did not see anyone I knew. I bet those two from the test place were watching me through the garage window as I left, sipping steaming tea and laughing. Blocked carb so perhaps I shouldn't leave it with petrol in over the winter.