Very nice Ian,well spotted and so complete, I nearly bought a 1917 ,Douglas few years back , but fear just out of my reach now, unless anyone knows of one for sale,but no bitsas please , Keep the pics coming, Andrew.h.
There's plenty to do Noam...I think photos generally 'lie' in favour of the bike...I'm going to have to look for/ make a few missing parts and that in itself will take some time...
Also I only have part of the acetylene lighting set which I want to fit...
And I'll want it to be as good as it can be mechanically...I do intend to use this thing as much as is practical...
There's also the small detail that I know virtually nothing about these bikes from a 'hands on' point of view having never had anything anywhere near as old before...
What could possibly go wrong?... ...
Nice picture Jan...about 1916-17 I think...It has the black 'utility' finish introduced in 1916 but not some of the detail features of the later 1918 model....Ian
The 1954 legislation requiring fitment of a brake light was only retrospective to 1936 so won't apply to this bike, regardless of whether it was to be MOT tested or not (WW2 bikes are required to have a stop light in the UK...and an illuminated speedo !)
Acetylene lamps are considered purely 'decorative' so don't have to conform to Construction and use regs, nor be working. It's debatable whether a vehicle lit solely by them would be legal on the road at night...probably best to have some LED bicycle lamps as well.
I find it quite amusing that having built a faster M20, Ian is now regressing....How long before he markets big-bore conversions and a twin burner carbide conversion. ?
Ian, so far I haven't found a makers name. Maybe under the paint somewhere?
The overall diam of the rim is 5 1/2" The magnifying lens is about 4 1/4". The mirror reflector is cracked as can be seen in the pictures and some small dents in top of the WD chimney, which can be mostly knocked out from the inside before filling. The rim swivels open nicely. Can bring to Netley if required. Ron
Perhaps this would do the job Ian? 111388198525 It's stamped with the broad arrow. Ron, if you've got another one of those WD stamped carbide lights, I'd be very interested.
Hi Guys,
I've just joined the stone agers club too.
Purchased this 1916 2 3/4 Douglas today.
I've wanted one for years and when I saw this the missus said well you had better get it then. Say no more!
Just got to work out how to ride it now.
Cheers, Mick.
Hi Mick...Very nice and 'ready to roll' by the look of it..I see you have the even less efficient stirrup brake at the front!...
The information I have is that from sometime in 1916 the Government stopped the supply of vehicles to the 'civvy' market and from that time on all production was for the military...
Do you know if this bike was for the military?....
Also in 1916 BSA introduced an all black 'Austerity finish' on all their bikes which continued for the remainder of the conflict...
I have wondered whether other manufacturers did that as well, though I haven't heard about it yet if they did.....
I haven't thought too much about the challenge of riding mine yet...I'm still trying to figure out how some of it works and concentrating on finding any missing parts...
Hi Ian,
Now I have it I've started doing some digging. In fact its the engine that is 1916, the rest is 1917. All Douglas production was for the government by then.
It was 1918 before Douglas went over to the khaki finish and so far all the period pictures I have found of these all have the silver tank finish.
Its certainly going to be a new riding experience, two speed, no clutch, lever throttle, no brakes etc. Which is safer, the Somme in 1917 or todays' roads?
Cheers, Mick
Very nice, welcome to the unridable old codgers club! My Douglas has a 1913 engine, a 1916 frame and forks that came in sometime in 1918, so it's not only a WW1 vintage, it dates from the whole of WW1! I've got a few issues with it at the moment. I've only ridden it about 100 yards so far, but it was a joy. It started well, ran OK (for a while!) and was surprising comfortable. My tank was green underneath the silver, so I've returned it back to military trim. I'm sure there are a couple of photos of a late war green one in one of the Douglas books? As has already been said, Douglas were selling everything to the military by the middle of the war and at the end of the war, they bought them all back again, sorted them out, painted them silver and sold them on to the civvy market.
From left to right, valve lifter/engine stop instead of clutch, single lever for mag, then on the right hand side of the bars twin lever for air/throttle then the jokingly named front brake lever, which as far as I can see does nothing and is actually just there to add symmetry to the bars?
You've also got the tram handle in the middle and don't forget to give the oil an occasional pump from time to time. Have you looked into the starting procedure yet? Put the fuel on, set the levers, put it in low gear, push it along until it starts and then jump on! remember, there's no kick start or clutch. I was warned that if you mess it up and let go, it will go merrily off down the road without you. You have to do this every time you come to a stop, even at the lights as you can't go from neutral into gear.
Hi Bill,
Thanks for the heads up on what lever does what.
I was told to knock it into neutral when stopping and push or scoot away with the engine running, when seated knock it into low and hopefully the belt will slip a bit and act as a sort of clutch! I am not confident about this.
At the minute I'm happy just to look at it and fiddle. Those Great War motorcyclists were definately a breed apart.
Anyone got details of that leather mudshield contraption they fitted?
Like Ian, I will be on the lookout for a suitable lighting set.
Chers, Mick
I now have the complete lighting set...I bought a virtually perfect P&H gas generator, with its mounting bracket, through the 'old boys network', got a NOS P&H rear light thrown in as an extra with the bike and Ron provided the WD headlamp from the nail in his shed...
It turned out that needed a lot of work to repair previous bodges/damage and it's currently stripped down to the component parts for extensive remedial work...However, I'm well pleased to have picked up this particular item..
A couple of other missing parts are in the pipeline as well...It's amazing that there is still anything about for such an old machine...Ian
Ian, Your levers on the Model K are on the left- inverted/ Decompressor & on the bar the Advance/Retard. On the right- inverted/ Front Brake & on the bar the lower is Fuel & the upper is Air.
Because the clutch comes after the gearbox,(believe it or not) to start you have to engage 1st gear & disengage the clutch. As I said they are different. I can send pictures if required Greg.
The London Douglas Club are very good for certain spares for your old 2 3/4 if you need anything. I don't know if the BSA Owners Club do anything this old? I think the best catered for of the WW1 period bikes is probably the Triumph, isn't there a company somewhere out there making all sorts of brand new bits for them?
Hi Greg...Thanks for the info...I'm currently on the lookout for the twin lever as mine is a l.hand one....Shame as it's in nice condition..
There's no rush with finding this stuff though as I'm not really working on the bike yet...I may find some parts at the 'Founders Day' jumble in two weeks time if I'm lucky...
A photo of the handlebar layout would certainly be useful if you have standard parts fitted...Ian