And Hagon grass track forks were rubber band suspended...
The Moulton Comet
- Thread starter Upstreeter
- Start date
The real blame is squarely with the auctioneer. I shall never forgive them for what they did. I know the bike (having worked on it to some extent) and the late owner was a friend of mine. The Moulton parts have been with the bike since they were fitted in the 1940s. The late owner elected to put it back to standard for a short while - so that he could research the Moulton pile of bits, restore them and have the few missing small parts (mainly brackets) manufactured - with a view to fitment in the near future. Alas, due to cancer, that was not to be. The family had the bike completed, as original, and then put it in the hands of the auctioneer - complete with the box of unrestored Moulton bits which represent a major part of this bike's one-off history.Certainly did and I used to have a light weight Italian frame with a central single rubber block suspension component. But as I say we shall. Never know the comet is back to standard
So guess what the auctioneers did then; they sold-off the box of Moulton bits, for a pittance, to a third party even before the bike auction took place.
So now this piece of HRD history is lost - unless by some miracle the right bike and Moulton parts get reunited sometime in the future.....Peter B
Bristol, UK.
It is a difficult one (for me anyway) I understand the logic and sentiment, but I do prefer the Standard look and set up (having found a small picture of the Moulton set up on the net) Most inventions and adaptations that work and improve upon the tried and tested get adopted pretty quickly, think the Fosbury Flop, which was far from a flop, and the transverse car engine, I can't help thinking on this occasion that Moulton didn't quite get it right, and as such it was not adopted by the motorcycle manufacturers.
This is getting most interesting...conjecture, history, engineering, the lot! I assume that Moulton chose the Comet as its existing rear end configuration was closer to what he was planning - a plunger-frame or a rigid would have required considerable re-fabrication. The question is, did he actually pitch the idea to Vincent, or was this merely an exercise that when proven, might have been sold to any manufacturer?
How fascinating that the dismantled collection of parts were or are still around...all we have to do is find them. I for one would love to try them out on my Comet!
How fascinating that the dismantled collection of parts were or are still around...all we have to do is find them. I for one would love to try them out on my Comet!
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Would be interesting to know what 9-10-11 are described as in the drawing
The real blame is squarely with the auctioneer. I shall never forgive them for what they did. I know the bike (having worked on it to some extent) and the late owner was a friend of mine. The Moulton parts have been with the bike since they were fitted in the 1940s. The late owner elected to put it back to standard for a short while - so that he could research the Moulton pile of bits, restore them and have the few missing small parts (mainly brackets) manufactured - with a view to fitment in the near future. Alas, due to cancer, that was not to be. The family had the bike completed, as original, and then put it in the hands of the auctioneer - complete with the box of unrestored Moulton bits which represent a major part of this bike's one-off history.
So guess what the auctioneers did then; they sold-off the box of Moulton bits, for a pittance, to a third party even before the bike auction took place.
Peter B
Bristol, UK.
HI Peter
I have recently joined this Forum as i have just taken delivery the Meteor in question. I purchased the bike from Comet Classics a couple of weeks ago. The history file with the bike is huge and i am taking my time in reading it carefully. I am in huge admiration of the research and work that Mr Edwards put into this bike. I have never owned a vincent before and am relatively new to the classic bike scene so have a lot to learn! I have fired the bike up a couple of times but have yet to ride it as there is an issue with oil leaking out of the the rocker towards the front of the cylinder head and around the exhaust clamp, something that with my very limited mechanical skills will need help with. As you said you worked on the bike could you possibly help answers some questions that i have? please could i ask that you email me directly at jpoakes@btinernet.com and i will get back to you. Regards John.
another image of the exhaust clamp and area where oil is leaking/splattering out of - help!
It looks lovely, they all leak bit, but, that's what soap and water is for. Unless, you've adjusted the oil feeds to the rocker arms as per instructions, and the oil is still literally running out, don't worry about it. Conways have o ring seals to fix things.
Cheers, John
Cheers, John
Very interesting design, I can see its longevity could be an issue around oil and petrol though, not unlike oil soaked engine mounts on old car engines.
Hello John,
I know this bike. It was (if I'm correct) owned once by Alex Moulton?
It belonged to a mutual friend, Chris. Chris lived in Bath and was a keen engineer. He was in the process of restoring the bike but sadly passed away before he could finish it. Under the guidance of a good friend his wife sent the bike to Sammy Millers to be completed. The bike was delivered back to Chris's widow Eve, where it was placed in a bike bubble and the family perused it for a few months, admiring their fathers work.
I was invited up to see the bike and sat and drooled over it for an hour at least!
Thats about all i know, so, if it is the correct bike, you are a very lucky man!
Good luck with it.
Kind regards,
Steve Morris.