Hi,
I want to introduce you a VB-ESO Bastard.
The upper half are two barrels, one liner and the ESO Head.
Does anyone has informations about this bike?
There are some changes made on the frame, maybe the frame was a ridgid one before.
Look on the cast frame lug immediately above the oil tank for the original frame number. Judging by the rest of the bike it is likely to have the prefix letters AM for a rigid frame or AS for a plunger version.
Paul Jameson
34 OHC 4F 600 (project), 35 LG 250, 37 RH500, 52 ex ISDT KHA, 54 KH(A), 75 Healey 1000/4.
Former Machine Registrar & Archivist, General Secretary and Single Spares Organiser (over a 25 year period).
Now Archivist (but not Machine Registrar), Gauges and Clocks Spares Organiser.
Is that part of an X just above the filler cap? (could be the start of a wartime frame number).
Nick, if you were scraping the paint away to try and find a number it will be on the part of the lug above the oil tank, not at the forward end.
The gearbox and engine numbers would give further clues.
That's not the first rigid/plunger frame I've seen modified for a swing-arm like that; many years ago I saw an 'off-road' single at the back of a garage in Backwell with the frame rear top-tubes similarly bent up to take the tops of the dampers.
What does this one go like with it's stacked barrels??
That looks very like part of an X prefix just above the oil tank filler. You might just find more by doing a brass rubbing or (subsequently) polishing. Judging by the angle of the casting though, you have either a 1937 frame (prefix XF) or 1938/39/40 (prefix XG). Both would have been rigid frames.
Paul Jameson
34 OHC 4F 600 (project), 35 LG 250, 37 RH500, 52 ex ISDT KHA, 54 KH(A), 75 Healey 1000/4.
Former Machine Registrar & Archivist, General Secretary and Single Spares Organiser (over a 25 year period).
Now Archivist (but not Machine Registrar), Gauges and Clocks Spares Organiser.
Hi,
so I was looking again at the frameand tried to scratch the pait of, but there was done some hard welding (not with brass) so I was not abe to get the number.
My opinion is that the bike is a 1954. The gearbox ist stamped so and the Monoblock indicates a post war VB.
For now I didn’t made a ride, no brakes so far, but I’m sure the bike must run fine.
The compression is very high, I can stand on the kick start and stay so!
Frame is definitely 1954 or 1955 - it's got the rib on the back of the headstock that only features on the rigid/plunger frames produced concurrently with the swing-arm frames. (Should have noticed that earlier)
That would also pretty certainly make it a VB.
I hate to say this but just being able to stand on the compression doesn't make it 'high', only 'good' (I can stand on the compression on my VH for a long time and that's only 7.5:1.)
Nick - can you see the engine number? ('54 VB should start with letters PE)
Nick:
Has the engine number also been removed from the duplicated position on the drive-side crankcase between the front engine plates?
I can see there is another number stamped on the drive-side next to the primary chaincase, I guess this was put on by the guy(s) who did the conversion....
