OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums General Discussion Forum Off Topics Hello Everyone!

I was a kid in the early 1950s Blue, when the Malvern Star moped was probably at its popularity peak. I don't recall ever seeing a woman on one, though there may have been one exception. More importantly though, I'd say I saw several BSA Bantams for every moped.

You may have something with the "you can always pedal if the engine fails" line. There were a lot of motorbikes in those days, very nearly all of them British, and nearly all of them at least 500 cc. They were ridden by males of barely licensable age up to about about 40 I suppose, and as far as I know, all of the owners maintained them themselves. The mopeds and at least some of the Bantams, on the other hand, were ridden by people who looked as if they were constantly praying for the thing to start when they needed it, since if it didn't, they were clueless. Pedals are a useful argument in selling to people in that frame of mind. I can't imagine most people would actually succeed in pedalling one for any distance, though: they were quite heavy, and the seat seemed far too low for sustained, effective pedalling.

I have a malvern star motorcycle in storage, it has no facility's to pedal, was last road registered in the 50's quite a cool bike, goes really well with its villiers midget engine....
The only pic I have of it handy is with it in the background (it's the black one) the red bike in the foreground is a beardmore precision, one of only 6 known left in the world, it's a family heirloom and will never be available.

G'day Kori good to see ya back

Shes a beauty MM....Very good original condition. I love the single springer front and light assy.

The Precision is Amazing! Ive never seen a leaf set up in the 45 position on any automotive machine, Very cool.

A remarkable original Machine, I was unaware even existed.

The wheels and a few other parts indicate to me 40's. ..is this accurate?

Quite Intriguing. ..Thanks for showing us:)

The other machine looks familiar. ...The tank style looks 20's Motor cycle The Frame thinner than a Motorbike and the rear wheel is Bicycle...May I ask what this is? As it looks a cross between Autocycle and early Motorcycle....But the tank/cowl is huge...I have no idea from the Image....:)

Im trying to get a friends Velocette ive been working on up, but im still having trouble get images up before it times out...grrrrr

The malvern star is 40's I belive (I would have to check with dad, the beardmore is a lot older Would have to check with dad I am led to belive 1920's, grandad used it for motorcycle rallys in the 70's hence more modern tyres, the oldest is on the right, a work in progress, a 1914 bradbury, the frame is the crankcase.

On the beardmore the wheelbase changes depending on the spring position, apparently it could be interesting during cornering, it was handed down on the promise we never ride it. Its very odd, it has what could almost be called a column shift for the gearbox on the handlebar, dont forget the hand claxon horn either!! originally it would have been black, when grandad restored it he hand painted it with a brush, then redid all the original decals with a brush, he was and still is a very talented man.

Begind the bradbury, is one of the hottest N/A holden 202 motors made, thats for my torana.

Yes The bradbury Is what I was refering to:) The tank is the givaway for age...I assumed 20's mostly because there isnt much left from before. This also explains the frame guage...The rear wheel looks bicycle hence more confusion...The Bradbury is the one Id love to own most out of the 3.

Unusual shift, but I think I get your meaning...Ive used a side shift on at least 2 bikes and its a wierd enough challenge. ..

You can race my apprentice then he has a Turbo 202 in his LJ Xu1...Not much can down him..Not even a Porsche GT3

Oh and The Malvo ran from 38 to 52-3 Im sure so 40's would be close enough:)


Eclectic and interesting stuff mate:)

The front suspension on the red bike appears to be a piece of completely wrong-headed design engineering which cannot work except when it shouldn't. Bumps on the front wheel are always received from in front - the distance in front of the tyre contact patch depends on the size of the bump and the radius of the wheel & tyre. However that suspension achieves its "ride movement" by moving the wheel forward, in the opposite direction to the horizontal component of the applied load. Because that bike uses standard bicycle front fork design dimensions, nearly all very small bump effects will be just about exactly in line with a line through the front axle and the pivot at the top of the fork, hence the suspension will not articulate at all. However if you hit a large bump the suspension will articulate backwards, with unfortunate results. Note that the bike seems to have a small front brake, and when it is applied, the front suspension will also articulate backwards. This is an even worse engineering design disaster that the old Morgan Sliding Pillar front suspension, which was simply worthless. In case there are any bike front suspension enthusiasts out there, compare that design with a pivot-type front suspension which actually worked, the one on the old BSA M20, the ubiquitous WW2 British and Australian despatch rider's bike:
http://s4.hubimg.com/u/1220647_f520.jpg

Much more interestingly it seems to have a swinging arm rear suspension, which I can't see properly but actually looks promising. (On the other hand, the Sliding Pillar looks promising until you think about it in detail.) Until I saw that picture I hadn't known any bike had swinging arm rear suspension before Triumph adopted it in about 1952, from memory.

Hi Kori, and welcome back to OutdoorKing. It's been awhile mate...Great to see you posting again.

Hi DeeJay!

It's good to be back around again!

Also, Your name was blue the last time I was here! Congrats on the promotion!

Kori

Thankyou for the compliment Kori, it is a pleasure to be able to assist Bruce more actively on the Admin side of things...I am learning new things all the time....which, I guess, is what OutdoorKing is all about....
Great to see you back mate,