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Excited from Thundersley

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  • Excited from Thundersley

    Hello. My name is Jon and I was born and raised in Thundersley, a few hundred yards from Church Road where the venerable Mr Greeves worked his magic.

    I’ve been fortunate enough to have been gifted a 1965 Scottish by a relative in Yorkshire. I don’t know which model it is, I’m not picking it up for a couple of weeks yet. Attached is the only picture I have of it. As you can probably imagine, I’m very excited.

    Click image for larger version

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    I’m not a complete novice at bike fettling, I’ve been caring for an ‘81 BMW R100 airhead for the last 12 years, even stripping it down and rebuilding it about six years ago. But I’m no expert either, and couldn’t have done any of it with the help of the amazing chaps on the BM Bikes forum. I’m hoping to find the same guidance and patience here for the Greeves. One thing I do know is there’s no where near the amount of online information - YouTube videos etc - around as there is for an airhead.

    The Greeves has been sitting in my wife’s uncles garage for about 15 years, but I believe he had it properly prepared for the lay up by a professional. Any advice about what I’m likely to need to do to get it running again would be most welcome. I’m guessing a carb rebuild and obviously oil, plugs, etc, and probably fuel lines, fork oil, tyres, chain… oooh I’m scaring myself now! Any ideas what else? Rubber bits maybe?

    I know nothing about two strokes, in fact my mechanical knowledge doesn’t extend beyond my old airhead. Is there even a workshop manual available? I can’t find one on eBay.




    Thanks for accepting me onto the forum. You may regret it




    Jon.

  • #2
    Hi Jon, you've every right to be excited! That looks to be quite a bike! Welcome aboard. You'll find all the help you're likely to need right here on the GRA Forum. It will be a bonus for you to upgrade to full membership, thereby giving you full access, and delivery of the Club Newsletter, which contains even more!

    As a starter, I can help you with info about fork oil ........... you won't need any!

    Take care, and enjoy your Greeves.

    JR

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    • #3
      Thanks JR, and that’s just the start of my voyage of discovery. No telescopic forks, who would have thought. What next, no battery?

      Jon

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      • #4
        Parts list and service sheets are available from the club contact John Henry editor.leadinglink@btinternet.com workshop manuals for engine a Villiers 9E or 32A are available from Villiers Services https://villiersservices.co.uk/index...dex&cPath=8_19
        Are you sure the bike is 1965 it looks older than that, what is the frame number and we can positively identify it.
        Last edited by John Wakefield; 30/05/2021, 12:57 AM.

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        • #5
          Thanks John, all I know is what I’m being told but as soon as I’ve got my grubby mitts on the bike I’ll be sure to let you know.

          Jon

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          • #6
            Hi Jon, what a lovely gift that is, looking forward to seeing some more pictures of the bike and seeing what you’ve got , cheers Paul

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            • #7
              Hello and welcome to the forum, Jon. You've come to the right place. We can help you to get the bike registered with DVLA if it hasn't already got a V5C. Do have a look and see if you're getting an old-style logbook - if so we will be able to help you recover the original registration number

              We'll be able to tell you exactly what it is once we know the frame number. Are you sure it's 1965? if it is it would be a 24TES or a 24TFS, but both those models had full-width alloy hubs. and alloy fuel tanks. The steel hub your bike has does imply an earlier model. At first sight the bike looks to have been very well restored. The headlight arrangement looks to have been nicely done.
              Colin Sparrow

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Colin Sparrow View Post
                Hello and welcome to the forum, Jon. You've come to the right place. We can help you to get the bike registered with DVLA if it hasn't already got a V5C. Do have a look and see if you're getting an old-style logbook - if so we will be able to help you recover the original registration number
                .
                Colin, the bike obviously has a V5c as tax disc shows an expiry date of November 2006

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                • #9
                  I’m told it’s road legal and has a ‘log book’ - as you say, the old tax disc bears that out and suggests a modern V5?

                  I’ve got a tow bar on my car so I’ll probably rent or borrow a trailer to go and get it, North Yorkshire to Essex so quite a long way. Any tips on how to strap it down securely for the trip without risking damaging it? Would it be different to other bikes?

                  Jon

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                  • #10
                    If you want a trailer I have a box/camping trailer needing a new home, modified to take a bike and with tie down mounts. send me a pm with your mobile no if you are interested and I will return some pix. I am in west yorks so its on your way ish! It could be fully sorted ready to use. To strap a bike down do not rely on one set of straps, double up preferrably using different mountings and with padding to protect the paint if needed, and put a bungee or bit of old inner tube round the front brake lever to hold the brake on. Peter.

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                    • #11
                      Very kind Peter but I don’t have anywhere to keep a trailer. I think my father-in-law’s got one that might do and, if not, then there are a few places round here I can rent one.

                      thank you.

                      Jon

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                      • #12
                        Why not hire a van to do the job they are quite cheap to hire these days and probably not much more than renting a trailer

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                        • #13
                          Nota bad idea. Cheers John.

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                          • #14
                            Which ever transport you use, do not tighten down on the suspension too much! Secure the wheels and just take a small amount of tension on the suspension to stop the bike "dancing". Loading into a strange van needs a fair amount of thought! Have you got a bike stand to go under the frame?

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                            • #15
                              If it is 1965 it is likely to be one of the last of the low-spec TE models, which ran alongside the TFS. They had no chain oiler, a painted rather than dull chrome tank, no alloy tank badges, and, according to the brochure of the time, the engine cradle wasn't boxed in, although I have never seen one like that. Direct lighting set was available. This one looks to have alloy tank badges, in which case I would say circa '63 TE; or it's tank has been changed at some point. It has TE forks, and the decompressor lever indicates a 32A trials spec motor. Nice.

                              Ian C.

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