Description
A sound bike for a restoration project, or ride as it is. Bike frame and tinware is essentially sound. I de-rusted the inside of tank, and the bike runs on fuel poured into the carb. Carb float needs fettling as the carb bowl overflows when the fuel tap is open. Bike starts on 3rd or 4th kick. All 3 gears select, and the bike runs, rides and stops. Engine has good compression. Chrome is in fair condition, even the pipe but overall, cosmetically the bike has "patina".
The wiring loom was removed by a previous owner. I started to reconstruct one using non-standard coloured auto cables, just to try and get the electrics working but at the moment, only the HT lead works. There is some rust on the frame where somebody had tried to fit a battery in the toolbox, and spilt battery acid on it. It has removed a little of the chrome from the silencer too. I acquired this D1 in 2019, and it's sat in the garage ever since lockdown. According to the Bantam Owners Club Dating Officer, it’s a 1950 engine in a 1954 frame so the numbers are not matching. The bike is not registered with the DVLA, having been garaged since the early 1980s, hence there is no V5C. The licence plate LKA 250 probably came from the same bike as the engine. It was issued in Liverpool in 1950 and the bike was sold through a dealer in Preston. However the Liverpool Council Archives have no record of the registration details, so it is unlikely that a new owner will be able to reclaim the original plate number.
Sadly, having recently got the bike running, I rode it around the block, and although the "Olde English" gear arrangement didn't bother me, it was at this point I realised that there was no way I'd be prepared to dice with cars on the 70mph dual carriageways and 60mph single carriageways of Milton Keynes on a bike with no brake light or indicators, so rather reluctantly I've decided to sell, hopefully to someone who can/ will use it. £1500 ovno.
