I enjoy seeing les, and he's very good and is a huge fund of info, when he's gone you will all miss his dry sense of humour and the parts cos they will disappear to be seen on Epay at twice the price andrew

email (option): warbikes@gmale.cum think about this

I have to add that I have always valued my conversations with Les and he has always been very helpful to me and an invaluable source of information and advice as well as parts. I have always been courteous to him as I was brought up to be and he has been the same with me. I too have seen many characters in the motor industry through the 60's and 70's and have to say that life was made more interesting because of them. Nowadays with all the legislation we are all hemmed in with there does not appear to be any room for anybody who dares to be different! I will definately mourn Les when he succumbs to his inevitable destiny.
Just value his presence and don't be in a great hurry.
Paul

email (option): paul@holmesfamily.ws

Russells is usually my last resort as I have not got a clue what faxing is or how to do it. But a few times I have made the 80 mile ride down to buy stuff over the counter.
I find Les a taciturn man who does things his own way and at his own speed, much like some of the older guys I worked with when I was younger. Like most of us as we get older he has seen it all and done it all and is not going to make any effort to keep up with modern styles---- it's his way or the highway
It is an experience to buy from him and he usually has all that I want and offers advice as well.
Which does not help you in Arizona Mike, but I hope you understand and get sorted out with what you need.

it's great to see such a long conversation about Russell's - I wonder if Les will ever read it!! Somehow I don't think so. As I've said before, living nearby I often see les and the 'boys' as the twins are called and in my opinion they are really great, really helpful and really reasonable. Lets hope they are around a very long time yet - it's a great shop and I've always had my MOTs done there, until I haven't needed to anymore.

all best everyone, peter

I have never known Les to be taciturn, in fact the last time I spoke to him over the phone we had quite a laugh together in a lengthy natter.
Then again we both have the same graveyard sense of humour re dealing with the motorcycling public, and I have been buying stuff from Russells/Myers motors sinceI was 17 some 50 yrs ago, both in the trade and out.

I think, no disrespect to our ex-colonial mates, that to expect someone to change the habits of a lifetime just to conform to their modern whizz kid ideas of service is a bit off frankly.

I have been folloing this thread with a great deal of mirth .
So it seems that an owner of a totally obsolete motorcycle is offended by the fact that a major retailer of parts for that old, obsolete, out of date period technology does not want to convert the businness into ultra modern one with all the electronic bells & whistles that modern motorcycles have.
So if you have to deal o the web.
BUY A MODERN MOTORCYCLE and leave pariod historic vehicles to those who not only appreciate the vehicles but the mannar in which motorcycle shops of the same period were run.

Oh and I seriously doubt that Les is worried about becomming the next multibillionere evilbay retailer.
He dose what he likes in a mannar that he enjoys and has managed to do it without your professional assistance for the past 50 years

email (option): wariron@tpg,com,au

Russell Motors are found by a google search and you can print out their parts/price lists which are about the same price as when first printed in October 2006. I have always had great service from Les as I just fax him my order then ring next day with my visa details. On my one and only trip to UK last year and I went to his shop, made me feel welcome and supplied the matchless parts that i wanted new old stock at a very cheap price. Very cheap when you struggle to get them at all in Australia. He does not need an email address at his age and I dont give mine out much as my hobby is selling Amal carb parts and get emails from guys to say their bike is running rough its a 1948 model with a Concentric on it what should there needle jet, slide cutaway, main jet size be. I usually try and help them but after twenty emails back and forth wasting my time they give up. I later find out that they had a burnt out exhaust valve or broken valve spring. I know of several great bike mechanics who have sold up because guys buy a Bonneville that has been imported from USA by a large company and sold off as just needing a tune up. When the mechanic checks it he finds the exhaust valve is burnt out, the rings are worn out, the bearings are worn out when he tells the customer that he needs a full engine rebuild they accuse him of robbery as the rebuild will cost more than they paid for the bike. I say Les is doing a great job and I wish we had someone in Australia with his stock at his prices.

With everybody's help, I was able to make contact with Les at Russell Motors and have since placed and received several orders. They are straight up honest folks and one of the few people out there that original issue parts. Thanks. All. Mike Margolis

email (option): mikemargolis@cox.net

['I know of several great bike mechanics who have sold up because guys buy a Bonneville that has been imported from USA by a large company and sold off as just needing a tune up. When the mechanic checks it he finds the exhaust valve is burnt out, the rings are worn out, the bearings are worn out when he tells the customer that he needs a full engine rebuild they accuse him of robbery as the rebuild will cost more than they paid for the bike']


I think few people realise the real cost of an engine rebuild carried out to a good standard by a proper engineer...and that is just the components..

It's best not to even consider tuned, non standard engines at all...

Many also don't realise you have to earn a living wage equivalent to theirs AND pay to run a workshop, cover the expenses of consumable items, fuel and time to get work done by external companies such as platers etc. and the postage costs of buying in parts if needed....

The main reason I gave up rebuilding engines and gearboxes was that what was brought to me was getting worse and worse in overall condition and often it wasn't even complete..far from it in fact...

That had to be turned back into an 'as new' engine and it was gradually becoming impossible to explain to most customers that the bill they were getting was actually entirely reasonable...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

"...The main reason I gave up rebuilding engines and gearboxes was that what was brought to me was getting worse and worse in overall condition and often it wasn't even complete..far from it in fact...

That had to be turned back into an 'as new' engine and it was gradually becoming impossible to explain to most customers that the bill they were getting was actually entirely reasonable...Ian"



BUT MY MATE SAYS IT JUST NEEDS A SERVICE............

There have been a number of posts on this thread suggesting that Les doesn't need to go ultra high tech, etc, with all bells and whistles, etc. I don't think that anyone is suggesting that he should.

The point is, although email is intrinsically high tech, at the point of use, it's as simple as a fax. It's certainly no more complicated than the card reader gadget Les has, or a cashpoint machine, or a TV remote control, or any number of other tech devices that have been introduced in recent years.

By all means Les can do what he wants. But it's not unreasonable for people to wish for a few small trading concessions to modernity, especially as it's now a global market. This isn't about ex-colonials being intolerant, or whatever. I know of a number of people right here in the UK who gave up years ago with Russells. I haven't given up, but at times I could be happier. And yes, I've shared jokes and suchlike with Les and he's helped me out. No argument. But the service is frequently inconsistent, and that's what spoils it for many. Good relationships involve give and take. But at Russells, as has been pointed out, it's always his way or the highway.

What many people are saying is that they want the best that Russells has to offer, but without the worst. It's not a demand. Just a wish.

Note that this thread is being played out not on a fax machine but on what is effectively email, and much of it by guys either as old as Les, or very nearly.

It's just isn't that hard to accomodate people with an email interface - assuming, that is, you can be bothered.

Here's the bottom line: Would we rather Les had email as WELL as a fax?

Game over.

email (option): dannydefazio@sumpmagazine.com

What's going to come first ? Russell Motors on line or a proper paper copy of 'Sump' Magazine ?

email (option): 79x100(at)gmail.com

I like 'Sump' just the way it is and it's the 'other site' I consider worth visiting most days...

I'm sure Les will carry on as is...I can live with that, but as Danny says e mail would be easier...

Mind you...I'm the bloke that refuses to use text because I think it's ruining the English language..doesn't have a television, thinks social media is largely a waste of time, has a mobile that only makes phone calls and doesn't think the whole tech thing is 'Like..Awesome'.. ...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

Hi Rik, I get asked often about a paper copy of Sump (I assume your question is serious - but I don't mind if you're being ironic and/or cheeky). All the bike magazines are way down in sales. Looks like the game's up for some of them.

MCN used be 200,000 per week. It's down to around 100,000 copies.
Performance Bikes used to be around 90,000 per month. I think it's down to around 20,000.
Ditto for Bike Magazine.
BSA is down from around 45,000 - maybe 20,000 or thereabouts.
Morton titles aren't ABC'd, so we can only guess.
Classic Bike is a little down (I think), but holding up.
Sites such as this are putting magazines out of busines, and long may this site continue.

Sump wouldn't work in print for various reasons. Maybe that will change. But not soon, I suspect. With print, it's not so much the production as the distribution. The web reaches people faster and easier (note to Les there).

email (option): dannydefazio@sumpmagazine.com

Danny, a bit of all of that really.

I was once a committed magazine buyer but lost interest first in the 'modern' magazines (still have all my 1970s issues of 'Bike')...then gradually the Classic mags as well.

CB decided that Japanese Classics were better as they are faster and more reliable (Had that argument thirty years ago and chose the slow unreliable stuff). Classic Motor Cycle gradually came into the hands of whipersnappers. I can't blame them for not having been there in the day alongside Bob Currie, but I can blame them for not getting off their arses and doing some proper research. The material is out there.

My only current subscription is to Real Classic. Not for the technical information but because it's like a conversation with fellow enthusiasts (much as this forum. I like magazines, I look forward to RC, to the NOC magazine and 'Windscreen' from the MVT.

I'm blowed if I'm going to shell out on a tablet or something and a hugely expensive mobile subscription in order to read a motorcycle magazine whilst I'm waiting for daughters to dance / skate / shop or whatever.

email (option): 79x100(at)gmail.com

Hi Rik. I'm with you on practically all of that. But I wonder if it's partly simply that we're getting older and are harder to impress. Been there, done it, rode that, read that, etc.

But you don't need a high tech tablet to read an online magazine of any kind. You just need a low-tech tablet to swallow while you're reading most of them (but not when reading through Sump, I hope).

email (option): dannydefazio@sumpmagazine.com

Well, despite my running my own website,using this spawn of Satan device to entertain myself, using evilbay and the rest to get all sorts of kit I now need to ask WTF is Sump? I gather some kind of online magazine?

Real Classic started that way and look at it now or what its become, a club for a favoured few.

I haven't bought or looked at any bike magazine on or off line for over 12 years, not interested in any way in modern stuff.

I find reading long runs of text on screen quite hard work.
I also find it much longer to type, say this post, than to write it with pen and paper.

I do a fair bit of writing for various things, even when putting a new page on my website I write out what I want to say with paper and pencil, it allows me to get my thoughts down as quick as I think them.

when I ry to type on screen quic it a lod of arbafeg no blody spel ccek her efer

and had to read back 3 times thruogh this to check imade sends

Not enough technical depth in the classic mags for me these days..It's mainly road tests and 'impressions'...

Some of the technical articles are unfortunately written by people who don't know the subject and just regurgitate information they have acquired from others...

That's a risky strategy as a) you rely on the fact the people you are talking to know the subject in detail and b) that you have sufficient skill to present that information in a credible way to an audience that no doubt contains some who are familiar with the subject...

A recent article in Classic bike by the 'technical wizard' Rick Partington what's his name, on measuring equipment was cringe inducing...

He obviously doesn't have an Engineers grasp of that subject...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

Hi Ken, Sump is where all the oily dregs go to get their big ends lubed. It probably wouldn't suit you.

email (option): dannydefazio@sumpmagazine.com

I just did a search on Sump magazine.......
Not for me I'm afraid, when I see "old skool" I invariably skip that text,the white on black pages are too harsh for my old eye sand the wrong choice of font.
In my opinion its all a bit fussy and crowded.

I used to write for some of what were the premier rank of the mags back in the 1980s, Bob Currie days pre Mortons evil empire and I concur with what Ian says re content and the crap for what passes as informed advice.

I was often embarrassed with sharing pages with some of the ignorance that got printed, people who thought a dynamo was an alternator, that a magneto was a generator, who think AJS is the parent company of Matchless and so on.

Later on the content became mostly advertorial especially under Mortons.

I agree with Danny on some of what he says in Sump re ebay, but he's got no chance of reforming that USA/Luxembourg based megalith.
I have no complaints re ebay after 10 years of it, bought and sold and done well from it.


As for the magazines reduced sales possibly its because this is mostly an old mans hobby and we've seen it all before, you can only warm up a stew so many times before it gets unpalatable.

Plus they are far too expensive.Rehashed stew or a bottle of wine? no contest



" Sump is where all the oily dregs go to get their big ends lubed. It probably wouldn't suit you"

No I only go where the cranks go.....

Take a look at this listing on eBay for a matching-numbers WM20. The engine number looks original, not so sure about the frame number. What do you guys think?

Jeff

email (option): jjbandoo@aol.com

The link did not print: http://www.ebay.com/itm/BSA-WM20-M20-WM-20-1944-MATCHING-MOTOR-AND-FRAME-T-TLE-MAG-GEN-/251702283945?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3a9aa00ea9

email (option): jjbandoo@aol.com

If anything, I'd say the other way round? Where is the WM20 prefix on the engine?

Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

I think the engine stampings are original..The font and spacing look good...and I've come across engines before without prefixes...

Replacement cases came from the factory with no numbers and the individual workshop (or fitter) may not have adhered to normal practice...

If anything has had a restamp I would agree the frame looks to be more likely... The letter spacing is a bit more erratic than normal..Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

Hijacked thread! Time to start a new one about numbers matching.

cheers

So how did you watch Henry Cole's Motorbike Show that that you were ripping apart in another thread?

Forums, you can be who and what you want!!!!

I need to correct that, I've just been informed by mutual acquaintance that the TV in your house is not owned by you, it's owned by your partner!

['Forums, you can be who and what you want!!!!']....

I'm afraid you've been misinformed Mike...Niether I nor my partner have a television, want a television or have had a television for at least 10 years...

However, I have friends who do own televisions and therein lies the clue.... ...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

I understand, when they visit they bring their TV with them, which explains why it can be seen through the front window curtains when it's on! You're lucky they call around when there is something on that you want to see!
How do you spell 'Pinnochio'?

As I said...I don't have a television..I'll repeat that...I don't have a television....

I have been known to visit my friends though and most have them do have televisions...So where did I see the programme?...Give it your best shot....

How do you spell Dumbo?....Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

Yes it would be easier for me, but my computer has a fax application so I just send a fax directly off the screen.
I used to deal with a lot of commercial kitchens, and guess what, they all use faxes. Most have computers in the office as well as a fax but orders come in via fax and confirmations go out via fax.

From my responses Les takes the fax in his hand, walks down the isles, markes on the fax paper when he has your parts walks back into the office , sticks the marked up fax, back in the fax machine and sends me back the quote.
This ia a lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot faster & easier than getting an email, printing it off 3 times till you get it in a font size you can read then commng back pulling the email back off the computer, adding your response to it and sending it back.

If you have spent 50 years dealing with pieces of paper then you will find you shuffle paper a lot easier than pressing keys on a keyboard. Tha last place I contracted to spent $ 350,000 upgrading the system so we all had to suffer those totally useless PDA's then they could not work out why productivity actually dropped some 30%.
The fact that I can reshuffle the paper deliver dockets while I am driving when the run needed to be changed was beyond their imagination ans while you can reorder the PDA, you can not do it while driving and oft can not even read the screen during daylight hours. I am yet to find some one who typer their name faster then they write it.

Now as a customer I have to accept that some suppliers only take cash, others will take only some credit cards some will take cheques others won't some will use a delivery system that suits me some will use a system that won't.
And last but not least, We need Les a lot more then he needs us.

email (option): wariron@tpg,com,au

Good to see.
I don't have a TV either.
Mine got pinched a log time ago & I realized that the crooks actually did need it more than me, so we never replaced it.
Then when I suddenly became a lot happier person, the crud they tried to teach me at uni finally sunk in.

"The mind is most responsive to suggestion in a depressed or anxious state "
So TV sets out to make you anxious or depressed for the benefit of their advertisers.

Ever wondered why you feel so good after a week bushwalking or camping ?
It is because you have been out of contact with the malavient manipulators.

Frank Zappa got a lot of things right, have a listen to the lyric of "I am The Slime "

email (option): wariron@tpg,com,au

I just want to make it clear that the Mick/Mike chap that isn't sure how to spell "Pinnochio" and can't grasp the fact that Ian doesn't own a T.V. set is no connection to me.
Back to the original thread.Russels system has always suited me,i'm happy to work to Les's system.Never had a problem with any attitude.Bantam John on the other hand.

Let's get back to motorcycles, guys.
(the other Mike)

Just bought some bits from Les and he managed to "up-sell" me some M20 tools. Placed the order Thursday over the phone, got the bits Friday next day.

I think he has been watching "Open all Hours" re the up-selling.....Arkwright would have been proud.

email (option): sacombsashtrees@hotmail.com