Hello All,
I have recently rejoined the GRA after about a 30 years absence, it's a long story ....
I bought my Greeves, I believe it is a 24DC Roadster, fitted with a 32A engine, when I was 17 in October 1980 for the princely sum of £140 from the pages of the Exchange & Mart (no Ebay in them days !) I contacted the owner who was a policeman and he agreed to meet me at the nearest train station and take me to see the Greeves, which was stored in a shed & didn't run. I liked the look of it and struck a deal, I think I knocked him down a £10er.
I then arranged & paid for my boss at the time to hire a van and collect it the next week. Once home I set about getting it running, which at 17 and zero mechanical experience, wasn't that easy. I seem to remember taking the Cylinder head off and beating the piston down the bore with a mallet & broom handle to free it off !, please don't judge me I was young. A re-bore & new Kick start return spring and it was back on the road with 'L' plates
The story from the previous owner was that it was bought (first registered 09/12/60) and used during the first few months of winter until the first owner fell off it. The Greeves was then thrown in a shed & left, that would explain the 2705 miles it had on the clock. It has a London dealer plate riveted to the back mudguard but carry's a Sussex registration ?
My Dad an Aircraft Engineer was working in Canada when I bought the Greeves and I spent the next couple of months worrying he'd not approve, as my elder brother had already come home with a knackered Bantam which he did nothing with, this infuriated my Dad and put the fear of God into me that he would demand I get rid of it upon his return. Fortunately as I had at least got it running by the time he'd got back he seem OK about it and I think it must have rekindled his love of Bikes as within a month of him returning he'd gone out and bought himself a 1962 Triumph Thunderbird.
I rode the Greeves around for about a year and then it all stared to go wrong the gear lever return spring broke, I took the gearbox apart, but didn't time up the gear selector quadrant correctly so could only ever get 3 gears, out of a 4 speed box, occasionally it would simple jam in neutral or between gears and that would be my lot, a long push home and take the gearbox apart again. I never thought about getting a workshop manual for it, just blindly took it apart again & again.
Eventually the gearbox could take no more and it cracked around the high gear bearing boss. I took the Engine out and has this fantastic idea to 'do it all up'. I joined the GRA and through them & the Leading Link contacts got the wheels rebuilt by Alan Foster, got the gearbox casing welded up and got a local painter to match the colour and spray it all up .... and that's as far as I got ....
A few months later I had passed my bike test & bought a BSA B40 (which I still have as well) The Greeves was just left.
I left home but did take the Greeves with me and kept it as I moved from house to house for the next 5 years. When I finally settled down & bought a flat there was no room for the Greeves so it stayed round my Mum & Dad's for me to complete at a later date, it was about 1987 now so what later date I have no idea.
A few years later in 1992 my Dad retired and I presented him with the Log Book for the Greeves saying it was his and he could restore it if he wanted, keep him busy I thought. Over the next decade or two my Dad got the engine rebuilt at Villiers Services but somehow it never got to put back together, time ? money ? who knows ?
Unfortunately my Dad passed away just before Christmas last year and while clearing out the Garage I re-found the Greeves so now it is my turn again to finally get it back together and on the road.
Most of it is there, but I can't find the Speedo (Smiths SN3103/55 ?), inlet manifold or Carburetor (Villiers S25 / 2 or 3 ?) also both the horn & lighting switch are broken so I'll have to keep a eye out form these when I'm next at the Jumble, lord know when that'll be. I've tried to post a picture so finger crossed it has worked ?
I apologies for the lengthy introduction and for the endless stupid questions that'll I'll be asking.
I hope to bump into some of you at some events / show or other in the future ....
Cheers
Piers
I have recently rejoined the GRA after about a 30 years absence, it's a long story ....
I bought my Greeves, I believe it is a 24DC Roadster, fitted with a 32A engine, when I was 17 in October 1980 for the princely sum of £140 from the pages of the Exchange & Mart (no Ebay in them days !) I contacted the owner who was a policeman and he agreed to meet me at the nearest train station and take me to see the Greeves, which was stored in a shed & didn't run. I liked the look of it and struck a deal, I think I knocked him down a £10er.
I then arranged & paid for my boss at the time to hire a van and collect it the next week. Once home I set about getting it running, which at 17 and zero mechanical experience, wasn't that easy. I seem to remember taking the Cylinder head off and beating the piston down the bore with a mallet & broom handle to free it off !, please don't judge me I was young. A re-bore & new Kick start return spring and it was back on the road with 'L' plates
The story from the previous owner was that it was bought (first registered 09/12/60) and used during the first few months of winter until the first owner fell off it. The Greeves was then thrown in a shed & left, that would explain the 2705 miles it had on the clock. It has a London dealer plate riveted to the back mudguard but carry's a Sussex registration ?
My Dad an Aircraft Engineer was working in Canada when I bought the Greeves and I spent the next couple of months worrying he'd not approve, as my elder brother had already come home with a knackered Bantam which he did nothing with, this infuriated my Dad and put the fear of God into me that he would demand I get rid of it upon his return. Fortunately as I had at least got it running by the time he'd got back he seem OK about it and I think it must have rekindled his love of Bikes as within a month of him returning he'd gone out and bought himself a 1962 Triumph Thunderbird.
I rode the Greeves around for about a year and then it all stared to go wrong the gear lever return spring broke, I took the gearbox apart, but didn't time up the gear selector quadrant correctly so could only ever get 3 gears, out of a 4 speed box, occasionally it would simple jam in neutral or between gears and that would be my lot, a long push home and take the gearbox apart again. I never thought about getting a workshop manual for it, just blindly took it apart again & again.
Eventually the gearbox could take no more and it cracked around the high gear bearing boss. I took the Engine out and has this fantastic idea to 'do it all up'. I joined the GRA and through them & the Leading Link contacts got the wheels rebuilt by Alan Foster, got the gearbox casing welded up and got a local painter to match the colour and spray it all up .... and that's as far as I got ....
A few months later I had passed my bike test & bought a BSA B40 (which I still have as well) The Greeves was just left.
I left home but did take the Greeves with me and kept it as I moved from house to house for the next 5 years. When I finally settled down & bought a flat there was no room for the Greeves so it stayed round my Mum & Dad's for me to complete at a later date, it was about 1987 now so what later date I have no idea.
A few years later in 1992 my Dad retired and I presented him with the Log Book for the Greeves saying it was his and he could restore it if he wanted, keep him busy I thought. Over the next decade or two my Dad got the engine rebuilt at Villiers Services but somehow it never got to put back together, time ? money ? who knows ?
Unfortunately my Dad passed away just before Christmas last year and while clearing out the Garage I re-found the Greeves so now it is my turn again to finally get it back together and on the road.
Most of it is there, but I can't find the Speedo (Smiths SN3103/55 ?), inlet manifold or Carburetor (Villiers S25 / 2 or 3 ?) also both the horn & lighting switch are broken so I'll have to keep a eye out form these when I'm next at the Jumble, lord know when that'll be. I've tried to post a picture so finger crossed it has worked ?
I apologies for the lengthy introduction and for the endless stupid questions that'll I'll be asking.
I hope to bump into some of you at some events / show or other in the future ....
Cheers
Piers
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