Stuart from South London

[statik]

Hi all, I was looking through Ebay for interesting things and I come across a greeves. It is in a sorry state but cheap. I went to work and passed a comment to the wife that it was an interesting lot. When I got home I found I was the new owner of the rusty pile of metal. Never mind.

I picked it up from a very nice man in Canterbury and I can confirm it's a Greeves of some sort. The frame has gone through several changes with bits cut off and scrap metal added. It's all a bit sad. Tank has been modified and covered with some sort of plod-filler.

It will become a bike of some sort in time and I must admit I always wanted a Greeves. Don't have a clue what engine to use yet. It will end up as a trail bike I think but not sure. Going to look at lots of photos and do some reserch.

Took a blowlamp to the wheelnuts and they came off with a bit of huffing and puffing and the threads seem OK. It's a start.

[Buzzer]

Congratulations on your new acquisition; I wish my wife would buy me things like that! Best thing you could do is to join the GRA - there is a lot of information and help available.

[statik]

I will do that but at the moment I am in the middle of a bike rebuild. I took my 1951 Sunbeam apart 18 years ago but never had the room to put it back together. I sold my car and that gave me an empty garage and some spending cash.

One thing at a time........................maybe two........................OK three!

[John Wakefield]

Hi Stuart
Such is eBay my friend, most people selling stuff on eBay are economical with the truth & hype up the their ad & as ever its buyer beware. I note it went for £281.10 which I suppose is not too much over the top in terms of parts. What you need to do now is check the frame number against the Identity listing on the GRA web site to assertain what it was originally. If you join the GRA you can then have access to the despatch records for the bike to find out a bit more as to what dealer sold it etc. The frame number should be stamped at the top of the alloy beam on l/h side near top steering head bearing housing. Its then back on eBay to find the missing bits.

[statik]

I am going to do that, I want to know more about it.

I can weld and cut metal so not much of a problem to repair the frame. The more I look at it I think I did OK. The forks are in very good condition, hubs not bad and the alloy down tube is nice and clean. The frame number is clear to see.

The swinging arm is OK but the back frame has been modified many times. I may cut off all the tabs and start again with fresh metal. The rear loop is a mess so that will be replaced.

I might fit a Honda CD250RS engine (Greenda) for reliability but that's a long way off. Ideal engine would be a BSA Starfire or C15 but they are getting hard to find (Greesa).

Follow the progress in Photobucket with the link below....................

http://s305.photobucket.com/albums/nn233/statikly/Greeves%202011/

[statik]

I am shocked at the condition. Under all the gunk and many layers of pain it's still blue. Even the wheel bearings are good. So far not much missing.

[John Wakefield]

Whats the frame number?

[statik]

It's 20DC316. I was going to wait until I joined up proper and reserch it.

[John Wakefield]

Its a 20DC roadster with197cc 9E Villiers engine like this one

[statik]

That answers a few questions. The footrest hangers have been cut off roughly with a saw. I can see the pressed steel shape in whats left of them.

I don't think it will ever look like the photo again. Such a shame. I hope to give it life again but not sure how just yet.

[statik]

I just noticed I wrote PAIN instead of PAINT, but pain will do. My fingers are worn to the bone.

Would like to know what threads were commonly used BSF, UNF, cyclethread?

[Pete Walton]

Hi Stuart....
Noticed this on E Bay myself, and seem to remember the seller saying he thought that a c15 engine had been installed... Well i'm in the same position as yourself, ie bought something similar from e bay but with a villiers 4T engine which was in very poor condition, so am opting for a c15 implant.... I've been considering the possibility of just mounting the engine to the frame (front and rear) with a couple of plates (like the japs do) then incorporating a bash plate, which from the pics look's like what's been done to your's ????? Any chance of a close up photo of that section????.... Was the tank modification a cut and shut job on the underside to fit over the head ???? And lastly just out of curiosity what's the large box type thingy? an oil tank????
Good luck with the project and best regard's Pete

[statik]

Hi Pete, the bash/engine plate is a heavy piece made up from plate steel. The box is an oil tank and battery box, again made from plate steel. The tank has been cut out and a plate welded in. It's very basic and done badly. I will take some more photos at the weekend and load them here for you to look at.

I may make up a similar engine plate out of ally but not settled on engine yet. I will make that decision when I see something I fancy. Like the paint, it will be whatever car colours I have in the back of the garage.

All the wheel bearings are now sorted and roughly asembled. The forks are in pieces and soaked in paint stripper. Didn't take any photos today, too wet.

I'm going to weld in Renthal handlebar mounts to compensate for vibration. I broke my wrist in a trail accident a little while ago so need them on all my bikes.

[Brian Catt]

Please remember the big steel plate is a structural part of the frame (or should be!) so take care when designing a replacement. Many of the Pre-65 lads seem to ignore this as their bikes are never ridden at any speed, but just bolting plates back and front of an engine will allow twisting points.

[Pete Walton]

Sorry Brian looks like I worded my last post rather badly.. By "just" two engine plates front and rear, I meant "just" to set the engine position/alignment, not "just" as in finished product... Once this has been done and a bash plate fabricated the idea being, to weld the whole lot together thus producing an independant engine cradle... 8mm alloy plate is what I intended using, this coupled with the rigidity of the engine, bolted to the original frame fixing point's with the addition of a head steady to the top tube, should, I think be equally as strong as the original Greeves/Villiers set up, but as alway's I am interseted in other peoples comments.....
Also I have fabricated a bolt in tube section to replace the battery/toolbox, to tie in the top tube/lower rear subframe, as discussed in a previous post, this I am sure is "stronger" than the original design.....

Regard's Pete