Mudguards

[Peter Holmes]

Just watched some lucky individual pick up a bargain on Ebay, a pair of original Birmabright mudguards complete but without hinges for £827.00!

 

[Alan J]

That is more than I paid for a good running Morini 350!!-the world has gone MAD!!-"I will only be rich when I sell my Vincent"!

 

[Peter Holmes]

Right, I am now thinking more clearly, i have just gone over to the Bounty, my local hostellery, very nice too, its right on the towpath on the Thames at Bourne End, and had a couple of pints of 'Grumpy' and my mind is now clear and working overtime. Someone has just paid £827.00 for a pair of very nicely polished original Birmabright mudguards and some other person bid with him all the way just missing out by a couple of £s. Now I could be wrong but I think there is a market here. When these were first listed I was interested but could not justify that sort of expenditure, but I would pay good money to replace my stainless guards with Birmabright. I am sure that I had a conversation with David Meadowcroft at the Isle of Skye rally some years ago and he told me they were very much on the agenda to get manufactured, now I am in no way blaming David for the fact that this did not happen, I guess someone down the line just let him down, as happens, but looking on the net, this material is very much still available, albeit by another name and surely the process of turning a flat sheet of metal into a perfect replica of a mudguard that was being produced 60+ years ago is not impossible if it is commercially viable. I notice that enthusiasts decided to manufacture a brand new steam engine recently(Tornado), I was due to take a ride on it but it broke down and a substitute engine of the same class was used, but that does show what is possible.

 

[chstorm]

The same seller offered a worn, but useable set of Vincent HRD Craven Vintage Carrier and Panniers off a 1949-model on E-bay. It sold for £565.00! I was interested, but this was too expensive. I believe that there also is a market for a vintage Vincent/HRD replica Craven carrier. Craven panniers are easier to find.

 

[Bill Thomas]

Hello All I have a pair of rotten hinges he can have for £500-00p!!! Cheers Bill.

 

[ET43]

For what it is worth, I have a set of full size drawings of the later Craven/Vincent side rails, stays and fittings, plus a near as dammit drawing of the later rack. This can be supplied as an attachment to an e-mail. I can also supply a cd of 'undreds of pictures of Craven items should it be necessary. I sold the Craven effects on to a well known purveyor of Ariel parts, but they seem to have no intention of producing any items in the near future. Making replica Silver Arrow pannier boxes will not be a cheap job, and I suspect that today a pair would have to retail at around £550 plus to make even a small profit. If made of GRP, the mould costs will be close to £2,500, and at least 50 pairs would need to be sold to break even, and no, I'm not going to do it!
ET43

 

[Albervin]

Just watched some lucky individual pick up a bargain on Ebay, a pair of original Birmabright mudguards complete but without hinges for £827.00!

Now I can justify the price I paid recently for a complete set of new alloy guards made to the original dimensions. Hand rolled on an English wheel not pressed. Luverly.

 

[vincenttwin]

Phil
Peter Allen here ,I would love a copy of those drawings ,I know I should have got one when you were making them , Did Annie get our ralley pin to you 2 years ago. if not she still has one for you
CHEERS
PETER
VINCENTTWIN@AOL.COM

 

[Len Matthews]

Peter, regards Tornado's breakdown, when was this and why? It cannot have been substituted with "an engine of the same class" because Tornado was built to fill a gap in preserved locomotives. No original A1's survived so it was decided to build a replica- an amazing achievement. Re. Birmabright mudguards: surely the tooling used to produce those currently available could be used with this material?

 

[Peter Holmes]

Len, The Tornado was supposed to be running between Minehead and Bishops Lydeard on the 17th July, we were told that the German Built boiler had developed a problem and the loco had to be replaced with a loco of the same class, the loco was Braunghton ( West Country Line) and very nice it was to, i am not an expert in these matters so cannot comment whether the information that we were given was correct. Google Tornado boiler problems and all will be revealed

Peter, regards Tornado's breakdown, when was this and why? It cannot have been substituted with "an engine of the same class" because Tornado was built to fill a gap in preserved locomotives. No original A1's survived so it was decided to build a replica- an amazing achievement. Re. Birmabright mudguards: surely the tooling used to produce those currently available could be used with this material?