Mid 40's BSA (?) with Lauterwasser bars: "The Dreadnought"

[keithglos]

Re:

My guess is a New Hudson made by BSA, after 1950, the brakes are clearly BSA.
The chainwheel and the 1938 AW not original.
The frame is very much like a BSA that I had in 1948. If you look under the bottom head lug and bottom bracket you might see the large dents inflicted by pneumatic chisel to retain the tubes in place during brazing.
The bottom bracket adjustable cup would have flats on it for a cone spanner, and possibly BSA trade mark.

Those tin can Resilion hubs made by Phillips are rubbish.

Keith

 

[Jonny69]

I don't think it is a New Hudson. The outline of the head badge suggests it's not a Sunbeam or a BSA, definitely not Raleigh shaped, but it does fit the shape of the Gazelle which was another bike made by that group.

Jonny, I thought you said AW8 for the hub gear.
The frame looks to me to be BSA from the early 1950s.
I actually went round the BSA works in 1954 and was horrified to see how they anchored the tubes before brazing.
Can you see the BSA trademark on the bottom bracket bearing cups with the cone spanner flats?
At the time BSA bikes had a transfer on the head, no badge. They only made BSA, New Hudson and Sunbeam.
A picture of the rear fork ends would confirm as they are distinctive.

Keith

Have had a check and I've take some other pics. Bottom bracket adjustable cup lock ring is notched like on a fixed gear lock ring and the cup itself is adjusted with a pin wrench. Can't see anything BSA-branded on the cups. I can't see any dents or anything that has been particularly butchered around either.

Pics of the dropouts for you:

(Edit 25/01/2023 these images are lost for now, but may be on a hard drive somewhere)

Those Resilion hubs, according to the Classic Lightweights site they were fitted to medium to low price sports bikes. This isn't a lightweight I'm building and I felt that these were more appropriate to the style of bike I'm aiming for. I didn't feel that aluminium hubs like Normandy or Harden's etc would look right on this bike. It's the same reason I'm looking for galvanised non-butted spokes if I can find them, because they'll look more correct than double-butted stainless.

 

[PeterPerfect]

Have you tried sending the pictures and the info that you can confirm to the national Bike Museum in Wales? They have a great deal of info on Vintage bikes from this period and they may be able to help. I'd want to know before I started a restoration as the parts that may seem to be original are not and vice versa.

Hope this helps.

 

[keithglos]

The forks are not original, were made for an old roadster. The original would have had brazed ends, not trapped. The frame and brakes are BSA, various other bits do not belong, Raleigh chainwheel, earlier AW hub, Hercules saddle Handlebar same date as the AW etc.

Keith

 

[Jonny69]

Re:

I laced these up last night. They are the 40/32 spoke 26 x 1-3/8" rims that came with the bike on the Resilion hubs. Everything else is packed into a crate in the shed.

 

[Jonny69]

Did a quick mockup with the wheels since I brought the frame in to true them up some time later this week.

 

[Jonny69]

Squeak, squeak, squeak...

(Edit 25/01/2023: this image is lost)

 

[Goldie]

Are you going for the Gazelle head badge Jonny?

 

[keithglos]

On a BSA made New Hudson frame????

 

[Jonny69]

Odd string of events this morning; I was at Brooklands for a photo shoot but needed my bike in work next week, so I threw it in the car since I was driving. Cheeky opportunity to have a ride on the banking (with permission) and take some shots...