Wierd frame no

[MALCOLM POWLEY]

hi every one its been a while since ive been on lie ,but I have a friend a lapsed member who has just aquired a sports twinn ,but it bears the frame no as 80359115 strange any ideas im sure you must know Colin Regards Malcolm

[Colin Sparrow]

hi every one its been a while since ive been on lie ,but I have a friend a lapsed member who has just aquired a sports twinn ,but it bears the frame no as 80359115 strange any ideas im sure you must know Colin Regards Malcolm

My first reaction is that someone's been messing around with it, 250cc roadster twins (apart from the Fleeting of 1957/58) would have frame numbers starting 25DB, 25DC, 25DCX or 25DD. Alternatively it might be a trials frame which has been built up as a roadster and someone's altered it to disguise the fact.

I have seen a very nice 32DC which bore a 24TES frame number...

What does the logbook say?

[Phil Hyde]

Frame Numbers

Clearly, not a factory number.

As Colin says, Does the number in the V5 match? Are there any signs of the number being altered? Is it in the right location? What font and size of number are they?

Like Colin I have seen some strange happenings with Greeves frame numbers. Many years ago an ISDT model and a normal one day trials model with the exact same frame number. Spooky. No, not really. Simply explained as an early example of re-cycling from the Greeves skip!

Perhaps one of the factory boys will comment.

Phil

[John Wakefield]

mystery frame number

Malcolm has spoken to me about this, my feeling is that it is a replacement frame which has been stamped with a number that at the time represented something. ie date 8th March 59 (80359), maybe original date of registration, followed by the original frame number (115). The reg number is a Cambridge series UER *** issued in April 1959 so this ties in. This was presumably done pre DVLA when licencing was done by local councils. Some authorities like Kent used to issue a new number with a KENT prefix. There is an East Coaster & a trials bike around with these number formats. The bike apparently came from the Norfolk Motor Cycle Museum, North Walsham & according to Malcolm has a Silverstone front hub, so maybe someone in East Anglia knows of it.