And thereby hangs a tale, for several times John Pape has been nitpicked upon by persons saying the lines should be black. Similarly, the camshaft outer bush allowed a dribble out, and in this instance the bush was retained but the housing was bored out and a lipped oil seal pressed in. Brakes: 6in internal expanding drum front and rear The usual round of information gathering followed, with the VMCC library and articles by Bob Currie proving most useful. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. It had been rebuilt specifically with the DJ Run in mind. “I looked in the oil tank and it didn’t look like nice clean oil,” he says. After draining and cleaning the oil system, Curry tried to start the Velo without success. It’s the feature or benefit that makes your product or service stand out from the crowd. Is this the first recorded application of those words to a motor cycle? To overcome this the bush was lengthened and an 0-ring fitted. But by 1938, the company was in financial trouble, and was sold to Bruce Douglas, nephew of the founder of Douglas Motorcycles. In this case, the machine would be ridden in runs and rallies and it had to be mechanically original, but perfect. Clive Curry is a recent emigrant from South Africa now living in British Columbia, Canada. Bill Healing's first impression was of the Ivory's surefootedness, and he puts a lot of that down to the rigid duplex frame. HUGE 30% off at Mortons Books this Black Friday weekend! In the 1920s Calthorpe used Villiers as well as Blackburn and JAP engines. Inside the engine Bill found the cylinder worn to a .018in clearance (although he notes wryly that the carburettor slide had an even greater clearance). Calthorpe produced motorcycles from 1909 to 1947. John intended to restore the Ivory himself, but time went by and he realised that it would be impossible for him to tackle a serious project like that for some years. For 1928, the two 350s were re-positioned as the “Popular” and “Sport,” but with similar specifications. Curry first entered the DJ Run on the Calthorpe in 2009, with follow-up rides in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Most of Bill's cures involve applying modern techniques to old internals. In ling so, he has to be sure that the leaks are not intentional, for sometimes a designer would deliberately use an inferior sealing arrangement to allow oil mist or throw or dribble to lubricate an adjacent area. Everyone admitted that it looked a cracker, but how did it go? An oil reservoir was cast into the front of the crankcase, and a patented oil feed to the engine used the timing gears as an oil pump. Classic British Motorcycles - Ivory Calthorpe, 250cc, 350cc and 500cc Road and Track. Bonhams 1793 Ltd – Motorcycle dept - ccts5823. And for 1932, the 350 (now called “Ivory Junior”) was joined by a 250cc 2-stroke Ivory Minor and 500cc Ivory Major. So Curry entered in his first DJ around 2007. (From Motor Cycling.). Clive Curry needed a motorcycle built before 1936 for a regularity run. Armours of Bournemouth supplied the basic blades, which Bill lengthened to match the Calthorpe's catalogue appearance. If you were a maker of mid-size motorcycles in Britain in the late 1920s, it was a crowded marketplace. He quickly realised that had he done the job himself it would, by comparison with Bill Healing's craftsmanship, have been a bodge-up. "There is no doubt that the Calthorpe is one of the prettiest machines of the day . By then, however, the engine had been redesigned. The motor cycle was fine, but the rider got lost! The DJ Run also allows competitors to choose whether to run in faster or slower groups. This bike is one of only 32 known surviving Ivory Major M1 models. is America's premier magazine for collectors and enthusiasts, dreamers and restorers, newcomers and life long motorheads who love the sound and the beauty of classic bikes. Overall, though, Curry is very enthusiastic about the DJ Run. The lining was blue. The DJ has run every year since, now over two days, and with an entry list in 2019 of 79 riders (www.djrun.co.za). But he lacked one essential ingredient: a motorcycle built before 1936, as the rules stipulate. The cylinder head and the front fork were revised, the latter getting a new center spring. Bonhams 1793 Ltd – Motorcycle dept 101 New Bond Street, London W1S 1SR Tel: 020 8963 2817: LIVE adverts (0) C.1936 IVORY CALTHORPE 500CC (LOT 417) SOLD by … Electrics: 6v, BT-H magneto Perhaps the greatest challenge lay at the top end, in amongst the semi-enclosed rocker gear. Engine: 348cc air-cooled OHV single with twin exhaust ports, 74mm x 81mm bore and stroke full of exciting and evocative articles and photographs of the most brilliant, unusual and popular motorcycles ever made! Hands also introduced Calthorpe automobiles in the early oughts, using proprietary engines from White and Poppe. However, his widow took over the Calthorpe. 1. When Calthorpe launched the Ivory in 1928 it gained immediate acclaim from press and public alike. See more ideas about motorcyle, vintage bikes, motorcycle. Login. “She remarried and did quite a few DJ runs on it,” Curry says. Was the color a USP — or just a gimmick? Gearbox was a Burman three-speed (ratios 5.2, 8.2 and 13.2 to 1) which was adjusted by means of a pivot fixing, and a particularly neat touch was the hand-change lever, the quadrant of which was fixed to the side of the petrol tank and covered by the knee grip. The first was a meeting with an old gent who used to sell Calthorpes; the second was overhearing a conversation between mother and daughter. In 1933, Calthorpe announced its “one model” strategy, that being the 500cc Ivory. Palmer riding a 1926 Royal Enfield, with an aggregate timing error of 5 minutes, 34 seconds. There could be no mistaking the new Calthorpe, and at £47 the company could truly say — as they did in their sales brochure — that it was the only enclosed OHV at anything like the price. A new carburetor and a rebuilt magneto did the trick. The wheel bearings were also modified extensively. The rocker gear had also been altered. Weight: 320lb (est.) Regardless, it seemed like the perfect bike for the run, and Curry got to know the owner through the Veteran and Vintage club. Its first big outing was this year's Banbury Run. Valve seats had been hammered about a bit, but rather than simply recut them, Bill machined out a space around the old seats and inserted new material, partly to accommodate the new, larger valves. The machines were built by the Minstrel and Rea Cycle Co of Barn Street in Birmingham. But he returned the next year, again with the MSS, and this time finished the run — in spite of a broken frame tube! “I went to the start of the DJ one year. . The Ivory could be ordered with a speedometer, Lucas or Miller lighting system and “specially tuned racing engine.”. So blue it stayed. The front fork was probably Druid or Webb. He didn’t get very far. Between 1910 and 1924, Calthorpe continued development of its motorcycle range still using proprietary engines, mostly from Precision, JAP, Blackburne, Villiers, and Pearson & Coles (“Peco”).