1959 25DB with2t engine project

[mikerwt]

You know that feeling when you know you enthusiasm has got the better of you,but you are committed and there is no turning back. Well that's were I am, so here's the story so far.
I was looking for a project as you do on ebay and I saw an ad for a greeves frame so I emailed the owner and asked were the rest of the bike was next thing I;m on my way to Sheffield and meet the unbeknown to me legend Keith Baskell . Much lighter in the wallet I came away with all the large bits of what I thought was a 25DB.
when I got hope and surveyed my collection carefully I realised what a task I had taken on there was an awful lot missing so fisrt thing to do was join the club a good start. Then I had really carefull look at it all again and made a list of what was needed an set myself a budget to restore this bike to a usable state. Thanks to my contact with the club I have now got some guidance from a kindred spirit Keith Bolas .I'm not brilliant at all the computer stuff but will endeavour to get some pictures up in due course

[Guest]

Restoring a Greeves - Part one.

Good morning Mike.

We can all help with advice, possibly parts, and technical info. I'm writing this as a general guide so that other guys new to Greeves can see where to start.

The first thing to do is to Join the GRA and then ask for help on the forum. We will need your frame and engine numbers plus a few good photos of the bike or pile of bits. From this we can identify the parts and confirm which parts are correct.

This gives you a starting point. Contact me for a spare parts list, I specialise in road bikes from 1959. Once you have the spares list and know that all your parts are correct you can start the process. I know that experienced restorers know all this but this is just to help anyone not familiar with Greeves bikes.

We can send you photos and other factory info or you can download lots of pictures and spec sheets from the forum.

Good luck with you restoration.

Keith

[mikerwt]

project 25db

First mistake don't believe what is on the forum there was an inaudinate amount of miss information relating to "moorland blue"I purchased said paint from the recommended supplier and to say the result was good would be miss information the paint it's self was excellent quality and went on well It was only my poor preparation that let the side down except when it dried and in the light of day it most certainly was not what I expected to be Moorland Blue it was more like royal blue so that is what it will be a dark blue restoration .I will be having words with the supplier asap

[mikerwt]

project 25db

progree is slow but have rbuilt engine with the help of Villiers engines. reassembled t6he fram having made all the spacers to drawing of gra web site. rewired as per John Wakefields drawing . bought some bits at shepton . waiting for forks from Greeves and wheels from Charlies of Bristol. New exhaust complete from Armours on way not bad at£250.

[Brian Thompson]

Moorland Blue 'mis-information'.....?

First mistake don't believe what is on the forum there was an inaudinate amount of miss information relating to "moorland blue"I purchased said paint from the recommended supplier and to say the result was good would be miss information the paint it's self was excellent quality and went on well It was only my poor preparation that let the side down except when it dried and in the light of day it most certainly was not what I expected to be Moorland Blue it was more like royal blue so that is what it will be a dark blue restoration .I will be having words with the supplier asap

Mike,

I assume you are referring to the info I gave re 'RS Bike Paints' and their 'Greeves Blue' here.....? If not, which supplier are you referring to...it would be handy to know.

Firstly, any info I have given personally was merely to offer info to members for sources of paint suitable for Greeves, and to add other paints that members have used in the past which they have been happy with. There is a difference between recommended and suggested, just as there is between dis-information and mis-information (I'm pleased that you used the later term...) As we know, a definitive version of Moorland Blue appears to be elusive, so members tend to go with what looks right to them, by and large. I actually wonder if a 'definitive' version was announced, whether some members may in fact go with a slightly different shade out of preference, as more than one member on here as previously stated they have!

Finally, RS Bike Paints do offer a touch-up bottle of any of their paints for around £8, and I have always suggested to anyone looking at buying their product to buy one of these FIRST, in order to check that the shade they offer is to their liking, and this option is clearly stated in my original post on the topic. This is for the spraying option, of course. For powder coating, the 'recipie' given by Colin in the thread was based on careful colour matching to known original parts by respected restorers and knowledgable people, so as most members say, it's as near as you'll get.

If someone is building a bike to impress themselves, then as long as they are happy with it then what does it matter what other people may think? If it's about impressing other people, then I can think of a least one member who's superb restorations have won many awards (and have certainly also impressed me personally, as well as the judges!) and he has used Jaguar 'Squadron Blue' on at least one of them, which looks just great to me. I'm also pretty sure the member in question builds them to impress himself too.

Mike, I'm not 'having a go' here, but I felt I had to address your comment, if only for myself. Forum members do their level best to help out with info on here, in good faith, and some more than others at that....

Brian.

[mikerwt]

paint

Brian thanks for your observations. Yes it was RS and to be fair they were fair yes I was disappointed with the results but you live and learn I made the asumption that this was the "right"colour as it was recommended on the gra forum.My fault entirely never make assumptions. At shepton mallet I was pleased to see no greeves were the same colour blue so I did not feel so bad. I am having my tank professionaly sprayed as i could not stop it pickling and we decided to go for RAL5001 I will let you know what the result is . the bike is a number of different shades of blue .I'm sure some wag will come up with a joke on the basis of "50 shades" but i'm not that quick. thanks Mike

[mikerwt]

project 25DB

the project has ground to a halt as I am waiting for my forks from Greeves and wheels from charlies Armours have been shut for stock taking but assure me exhaust is on way,frustrating. oh no offence taken Brian thanks.

[Brian Thompson]

Nice one!

Hi Mike,

Good for you, and if 'some wag' does make such an observation just ignore them and enjoy your bike!

Speaking for myself, I'd rather see a bike being used and providing it's owner with all the fun that only a Greeves can, than some cossetted 'showpeice' that's 'too precious' to get dirty. Bikes are for RIDING at the end of the day in my opinion, especially for those of us lucky enough to still be able to do so, and anyway, life is too short.

Don't get me wrong, I love to see a beautifully restored Greeves just as much as the next person, but let's not forget that it is ONLY a motorbike....

Best wishes for the rest of the rebuild Mike.

Brian.

[Brian Thompson]

RS Bike Paint - 'Greeves Blue'.

For the record Mike, once again, as far as I'm concerned RS Bike Paints product is offered on here merely as a suggestion rather than a recommendation...!!

Having said that, as I remember, forum member Blackshiver used it on his (in my opinion) superb MDS restoration, and his only observation was that being 'sprayed' he found the finish somewhat brittle compared to other mediums such as powder coating/stove enamelling/brush painting. I think he may also have looked at other paints for his next restoration as he wanted to experiment with hand painting, as I remember.

Here's one of his threads; http://www.greeves-riders.org.uk/for...ead.php?t=1918

Here's another thread that you may find interesting, with Blackshiver's next project included; http://www.greeves-riders.org.uk/for...ead.php?t=2103 (I've copied a pic from that thread below, see pic 3.)

I've attached a couple of pics to show his fantastic MDS 'before' and 'after'. I personally think the bike looks a lot 'happier' in the second pic, either way....

Brian.

[mikerwt]

Brian
thank you for posting pictures see what you mean I will try and sort out a couple of picture of my "50"shades of blue.I'm glad no one is too obsessive about a concours restoration . I,m sure the factory must have had a lot of fun as if the paint sprayer did not stir the paint or thinned it to much as I have experience of such variations. the customer would not notice as the components for a production run would all be the same but the next batch would be different.Mike

[johnu]

Hi Mike,

Good for you, and if 'some wag' does make such an observation just ignore them and enjoy your bike!

Speaking for myself, I'd rather see a bike being used and providing it's owner with all the fun that only a Greeves can, than some cossetted 'showpeice' that's 'too precious' to get dirty. Bikes are for RIDING at the end of the day in my opinion, especially for those of us lucky enough to still be able to do so, and anyway, life is too short.

Don't get me wrong, I love to see a beautifully restored Greeves just as much as the next person, but let's not forget that it is ONLY a motorbike....

Best wishes for the rest of the rebuild Mike.

Brian.

Awesome post! This is the mantra I go with, I build bikes for me and how I like them to look and perform But I also admire those doing concours resto's my old man included

[Brian Catt]

Just the way I think! Nice to see a tidy bike, but if it's just a shiny object, it's a dead object! To me, the original Moorland Blue is a bit dowdy, so I'm not too worried if the owner wants to come lighter in the colour as long as it is on a bike that is to be ridden, that's what they are for!

[mikerwt]

25DB project

this is as far as I have got

[mikerwt]

25db project

these are pictures of my project purchased from Stuart Baskill in dec 2014 .I am almost there just waiting for tank and headlamp rim to run it up ,hope you like it I cannot wait to ride it hope it comes up to expectations.

[Buzzer]

That looks really good, look forward to seeing the finished bike!