[oily bike bloke]

Gearbox

The Bewley 2-speed was dismantled and found to be in very good condition, so all that was needed were new bearings.

[oily bike bloke]

Blower

The Shorrock C75 span and made no horrible noises but went to Mr Chinn for an overhaul.

[oily bike bloke]

Rear Wheel.

When the bike was collected from the previous owner, it had a Suzuki cast wheel and disc brake.

Researching back, DC102 appeared to have had a spoked rear wheel with drum brake.

This was good news as, for myself and Andy, as this was the route the we wanted to take.

An iron head Sportster’s rough rear wheel was sourced, stripped and the drum & sprocket sold.
The hub was powder coated and fitted with new bearings, the offset calculated and new spokes and nipples sourced to mate to the new ally rim.

This was then laced in my mate Andy’s shed by me, under supervision.

A new M&H 4” slick was obtained from Furlong Tyres, fitted and the whole thing mated to a Triumph brake hub and sprocket. Being a Triumph sprocket meant the chain size matched that from the gearbox, and rear wheel sprockets could be changed f required.

[oily bike bloke]

Front end

The forks and front wheel are believed to be from a Suzuki T350 (or eqv), featuring a TLS brake.

Strip down, polish, new bearings and re-lined shoes by Saftek.

New spoke etc, rim polish, re-lace (me again, under supervision again!!!)

New tube and new Heidenau K40 to replace the old and hard racing tyre.

New fork seals and oil.

[oily bike bloke]

Frame.

New lug welded (by Andy) to accept modern steering damper. Superfluous bracketry removed.

Blasted and inspected.

Powder coated in a colour that isn’t black.

It’s similar to a metal flake as it glistens when the sun hits it and could be said to have a 70’s period vibe. Personal taste and all that.............

[oily bike bloke]

Fuel tank.

The original tank appeared to be a Hagon, or similar speedway/grass track unit, tucked between the frame tubes against the headstock.

Due to wanting to run an alternative exhaust system that included a silencer, which would hopefully allow the bike to be run at events with a noise restriction such as The Brighton Speed Trials, an alternative was sought. (the exhaust will be covered later)

Inspiration came from Mighty Mouse and Ray Law’s twin Triumph, so a round tank was sourced (did someone say Atco?), suitably modified and fitted.

[oily bike bloke]

Exhaust.

As was pretty much standard when DC102 was being used in anger, the exhausts were simply short stubbs.

The plan was to have a bike that could also run at events that had a noise restriction, such as the Brighton Speed Trials.

The options appeared to be either run two separate pipes with a silencer each, but this caused design / practicality issues with regard to space and ground clearance, or to run a Siamese into a single designed-for-a-car silencer.

A used Supertrapp (designed for a large ish capacity car) was sitting on a shelf having previously been used on 1400cc Buell drag bike. It had a relatively large intake and seemed a good option.

A new set of pipes were made by a young guy by the name of Chris Allen, who’s business (Bespoke Bodywork) is making bodies for vintage sports cars. A stonking job he did too.

The silencer sits in front of the down tubes, with the pipes running through the space vacated by the speedway tank.
This set up has the option of being removed in order to fit the stubb pipes.

[oily bike bloke]

Clutch. Some more detail than the earlier post.

This is ongoing at the moment.

The original clutch had an extra set of springs to stop clutch slip, which was a relatively common way of dealing with the power.
Activation was by means of a Lockheed hydraulic clutch lever and (I’m assuming) a home-engineered slave cyclinder.
Years of standing has taken its toll on the hydraulic internals. Replacement part needed were identified and sourced in order to reinstate the hydraulic activation.

At this time, my mate Andy was doing a scratch build reverse-head blown 750 Triumph running through a four speed Norton, and had friends who were competing in sidecar grass track racing.
They pointed out the NEB clutches that were being used. These units were light in weight, light in action, strong, plus parts were easy to get and sensibly priced.

A unit was purchased, its hub changed to suit the Bewley box, and dry fit started.
At present we’re looking into the alignment with respect to primary drive.

[supercharger]

This was my bike for a few years , I did well on it at long marsden ans especially santa pod . I have a lot of info , e mail me , davidknowler3@gmail.com

[oily bike bloke]

Thanks for your post David,

It’ll be nice to have some history; maybe you have some photos too?

I’ve emailed you the address you’ve given, so look forward to hearing from you.